“Yes, Master.” They said together with a small curtsie.
Marcos and Kaarthen entered the tower and went to the back of the library and found Augussi in the map room looking down on the world.
“What news have you received?” Marcos asked.
“Master, it is as insidious as you have noticed.” Augussi replied.
Marcos moved over to a seat. “Oh? Well let’s start with the ‘Guilds’ first.”
Augussi nodded. “Yes, Master. Here in Menthino we use guilds for large complicated tasks involving many skills. Shipbuilding for instance needs carpenters, architects, rope handlers, navigators, and experienced sailors to make a worthy vessel.” She described “Our guilds work together so that someone can simply contract for a ship and it can then be designed and created in the guild’s dry-dock. That is the limit. Our guilds don’t control industries just products. A man with time, materials, and fair amount of luck can build his own boat. Lots of fishermen actually do.” She paused.
“Sellis has a similar system. Their shipbuilder’s guilds are quite large from when they were an island up until sometime in the last cycle. They allowed them to control the industry. When the waters pulled back Sellis went from a fortified island city-state in a shallow bay to being surrounded by semi-arid flat sandy soil that doesn’t grow anything but grass very well.” Augussi moved the map showing a compressed city in waving emerald fields. From above they could see the old coastline that curved around the city on one side. Dots of horse herds grazed peacefully in the midday sun. Few yellow dirt roads streaked around. Most carried tiny carriages and carts moving along slowly. “They adapted and raised horses with imported grains. It was sheer coincidence they made horses their new focus industry. The king at the time happened to like them.”
She zoomed in on a narrow crowded road. Along it, a strip of tall four and five story buildings stood clumped tightly together.
“Because their society started on an island, the city uses oddly converted nautical units of measure. On land, the units of measure they use are miniscule. The building codes where also not converted or changed. So, they primarily build in tall stone and plaster buildings. This created another large guild that dominated the industry. People can’t build a home with just their family or a couple men with a cart like in rural areas in most places. Their specialized code requires a cadre of stonemasons, laborers, plaster mixers, and again architects. Because horses are a main industry the lands are mostly for their use.” Augussi finished.
“So that brings us to what their doing now?”
“Yes. The ‘Treaty of Passive Powers’ was signed because they felt Menthino was a threat. You likely engineered that consensus so they would sign it, despite, knowing they would be boxed in by their own hand. The treaty was a strategic one for peace. It reads they can expand with their population but they couldn’t invade the towns or cities of their neighbors.” Augussi said pulling a long roll of copy paper and holding it up. “The treaty goes on to state that they can include others by confederation only if done voluntarily.”
“That was also intentional.” Marcos remarked. “They would have had to make major social changes to become attractive to their neighbors.”
“Sellis sits in a great location with high naval walls and is surrounded by open easy terrain that won’t feed invaders for dozens of miles in every direction. The guilds were the ones that noticed they could help the neighbors. They helped build taller better granaries, walls, docks, and all the other things they specialize in.”
“Then someone got the idea to incorporate their neighbors.” Marcos finished.
“Yes, Master, it was an economic seduction. The Guilds were for a time over worked and they could charge handsome prices. They announced that for those who joined with Sellis and sent a representative to the senate they wouldn’t charge taxes to the crown.”
“So the Crown gets less money but appears to gain power.”
“Yes, Master. I wanted to see if the crown had any control or possession of the guilds but nothing until recently.”
“What happened?”
“Their Crown bought a fifth of the property of all guilds. But they did it with the stroke of a pen revoking their charter making them wards of the crown.” Augussi noted moving over to a map table on wheels. “They did it around the time the prince left.”
“Who is the heir now?”
“No one, it would go to a cousin around the king’s age. However, the royals are very young, thirty-six years old. No problems starting again, but no announcement.” Augussi noted.
“So let me see then, these guilds do most of the work, organize and build the cities, control prices, they don’t pay the crown, and they receive money from everyone and everything.”
“Yes, Master. they also don’t spend money among themselves. They issue credits to their workers. Apparently, few land owning nobles charge and receive rent from them. They also have a shadow government that parallels the Senate.” Augussi added.
Marcos leaned back. “Take in all this money as they obey the crown, force cities to fall in by sucking them dry and replacing their currency. But they don’t spend the money even on themselves so then the only resources are abroad.”
“That’s it Master, a trade empire gobbling up the western region up and down the coast.”
Arcos looked down on the city thoughtfully. “Someone is hording money and subjugating everyone in the pursuit. Who’s in charge?” He said looking up.
“Guild leaders are hard to find. There are chiefs in their fields. No real leaders are visible. Apparently, they are run similar to a senate, but break apart when needed and have smaller councils too. The Guild house they all meet in is extremely private. Our network doesn’t have a house in the city or palace of Sellis. Dar Delis admits they have Sister’s in the city. I got the feeling our inquiry caught them unawares.”
Marcos shrugged. “Then I’ll have to look for the expensively dressed person with a lot of imported stuff. Are there any nobles or visible people against them?”
Augussi shook her head. “No faction is organizing, or visibly against them. Politics and rumors about them are nonexistent, it’s actually very quiet.”
Marcos leaned in. “Dangers?”
Augussi could only shrug. “For you none, I alerted the safe houses. I can only assume you will go semi undercover?” She said looking at the glittering gauntlet on his left arm.
“Yes, is it worth taking the prince?” Marcos asked quietly.
Augussi shrugged again. “I can look into it. Honestly, the appearance of their Crown’s status matches your earlier description. They are likely being subverted and are barely holding on or are being distracted. Perhaps you can get him there, but all bets are off on the way out.”
“Bad news.” Marcos turned to leave. “I will meet with the Queen now then.”
Kaarthen followed but Mara, Ein, and Rinis demurred and stayed in the tower. The winding halls and staircases were familiar and still confusing as they walked through. They waited a moment outside the prestigious apartments.