Editing Pyromancer: The Authorities (section)

==The Guilds==

The Guilds have existed for most of the history of the ''Shining Domain'', and originally were simply collections of skilled tradesmen protecting their interests within their industries.

Over time, however, the Guilds have turned into something different - the equivalent of modern day corporations. Each Guild is now interested only in making money and maintaining its own wealth, and now Guilds have little relation to their names - the ''Masons Guild'', for example doesn't just chip at stone - it oversees mining facilities, has controlling interests in the construction industry, has a presence in the retail sector and is one of the foremost names in heavy industry.

Of all the hundreds of guilds in existence, half a dozen control 99% of the commercial and industrial interests in the ''Shining Domain''. Each and every one of these six Guilds has a presence in almost every sector of society, whether it is manufacturing, retail or finance. While they are vicious competitors in a crowded marketplace, they also are willing to team together to crush any upstart small businesses that want a portion of the market share, or unite to defeat any threat to the status quo. 


===Major Guilds===

The six Guilds are as follows:

* '''The Masons Guild''' - The largest of the six, the masons specialise in heavy industry, and have a reputation of producing durable and reliable goods. The Masons are well known for being extremely conservative - far less likely to hire free agents on black ops or engage in dangerous plays.
* '''The Weavers Guild''' - The main competitors to the Masons in the manufacturing sector, the Weavers are known for producing and distributing cheaper goods, making their brand more recognisable at street level.
* '''The Milners Guild''' - The Milners are well recognised as masters of the finance sector, dealing with investments and lending as often as they will deal with actual manufacturing or retail. A series of takeovers has left them with many subsidiary interests of course, and many "independent" names are in fact under the Milner umbrella.
* '''The Silversmiths Guild''' - Ironically the Silversmiths are very much a "down to earth" guild, dealing primarily in work outside of the cities - agriculture, mining and logging. They are the poorest of the six, but still a recognised part of the power structure.
* '''The Caskers Guild''' - The Caskers are kings of retail, though a certain amount of vertical integration means that they have a hand in high-skill manufacturing and product-finishing. Their power tends to wax and wane with the health of the economy.
* '''The Fletchers Guild''' - A minor Guild for a long time, the Fletchers rose to prominence just eighty years ago after developing a series of exciting new industrial technologies. The old hands consider them "upstarts" but are grudgingly forced to accept them as serious competitors. The Fletchers maintain two reputations from their early days - one is for being adventurous with R&D, and the other is for being willing to use whatever dirty tricks are necessary to expand their market share!


===Guild Ranks===

Structurally, the Guilds follow traditional lines of organisation, and most share the following terms:

* '''Guildlord''' - The ultimate authority of the Guild, essentially the equivalent of a CEO, typically elected from the Guildmasters.
* '''Guildmaster''' - A high senior in the Guild, essentially the equivalent of a member of the Board of directors. The group of Guildmasters is known as the ''Guild Sanctum''.
* '''Fabricator''' - A high ranking official, not necessarly involved in manufacturing. 
* '''Journeyman''' - A middle rank employee, essentially the lowest level that can be considered to be part of the privileged elite, and certainly the lowest level that is licensed to handle Pyros.
* '''Guildsman''' - A low ranking employee, but a professional one, likely with the prospects to advance if talented and ambitious.
* '''Worker''' - Also called "Affiliates" and "Indentants" these are the blue-collars who do the actual hard labour in the Guild. Workers have their own subdivisions of rank, but it is almost unheard of for one to make it even to Guildsman rank.


===The Hellforged===

The Guilds are not military organisations, and rely mostly upon mercenaries for their dirty work. However, the last fifty years have seen the invention of a new kind of soldier, thanks to the R&D department of the Fletchers Guild.

The Hellforged are bio-crafted monstrosities, incorporating pyrotech weapons into vat-grown clones. They are too few in number to be employed in squads, but each is a living engine of destruction, used as shock troops in high level inter-Guild actions. All the major Guilds use them (having bought specimens from the Fletchers, or reverse engineered their own variants) but all are circumspect enough to deny their existence and to perform thorough "clean-ups" to erase signs of their actions. For a Burner on the street, its well known that if you come up againsy the Hellforged, the best thing to do is to run...