- Pronouns
- They/Them
tomtomgags
Villager
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The Grand Collegium
A Merchant's Guild founded out of Astrakhan, serving the people of Astrakhan.
Magister: Eyvind Herdsman
- Summary -
The Grand Collegium is first and foremost a merchant's guild. It organizes trade inside and outside of the city of Astrakhan for the Collegiate of Astrakhan. As such it is the most influential collegium in the city, commanding the nation's commerce. It does this with the granted authority of the Basileos. As the foremost collegium, it oversees the craftsmen's collegium throughout the city. While it cannot directly influence the individual craftsmen's collegium, the Grand Collegium mediates disputes between the collegium. The Grand Collegium works directly with the craftsmen's collegium throughout Astrakhan to trade their goods inside and abroad. When trading outside of Astrakhan, the Grand Collegium takes on much more authority as they command both trade caravans and small ships moving goods. The free traders of Astrakhan work through the Grand Collegium when engaging in commerce.
- Founding -
The Grand Collegium was founded by Eyvind Herdsman, who was promptly elected into the position of Magister. The Magister did this using their connections with the merchants of the city, seeing that they were working individually for their own personal wealth. There was a common sentiment among the merchants of community within Astrakhan, that was not being realized in their trade. As such, Eyvind organized the merchants together to form the Grand Collegium, to serve the nation faithfully through the betterment of the economy. Merchants working together, pooling funds and organization for large and well defended caravans, directly improved the economy. As such, the importance of the Grand Collegium was realized.
- Influence on Astrakhan -
The Grand Collegium serves the community of Astrakhan directly. They pay the state an organization fee directly. This fee is a very small part of the organizations wealth, though. Hording of wealth is frowned upon in Astrakhan, which values its people and community highly. As such, the Grand Collegium is constantly seeking ways to give back to the state and community. Naturally, it's first role is to boost the local economy and help tradesmen and craftsmen sell their goods for higher prices abroad. However the Grand Collegium also participates in charitable endeavors. The Grand Collegium takes a small portion of their profits and donates it to the Temple of Charity in Astrakhan, to help serve the poor with meals and help in maintenance of the building. They also help fund public works, notably donating to the construction and future maintenance of the city's bathhouse. Furthermore, the Grand Collegium funds "mystery plays" occasionally, putting on plays in public spaces- often employing local children to fill roles. These mystery plays cover historical and religious events.
- Influence Abroad -
Being the foremost merchant guild in Astrakhan, the Grand Collegium is what all foreign merchants will interface with when trading with the city. These merchants create a network of contacts abroad to further the reach of their goods. The badge of a Grand Collegium merchant is well respected. These merchants control the flow of goods to and from the city. These goods include:
- Olive oil and olive products
- Wines, Ale, Beer
- Spices (Namely cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, allspice, and peppers)
- Grain
- Dairy Products (think Parmesan or feta cheese)
- Silk and Dyes
