Factions of Granmont

From Guilds to Great Houses Granmont is a city of Gangs. Street crews and Church organizations have more similarities than differences. Both will do whatever it takes to get and secure power. With constant backstabbing and intertwining alliances Granmont is a messy web of politics. This will get you up to speed or serve as a quick reference.

Great Houses

The Crown of Baudelaire, the nobility holds control of Granmont’s major institutions. Most of their strength comes from their assets; their wealth, the organizations they lead, and their retainers. But some of their soft power comes from their legitimacy as the nobility of Baudelaire. Even as the Houses despise each other they publically cooperate and behave cordial to maintain a face of unity.

• House Camus has a proud military heritage with countless members being officers. With command of the Security Commission and the support of the Gendarmerie they have significant influence on the security of the city.
• House Delvaux is known for their opulance and their operation of the Department of Infrastructure. Through their connections with Guild of Speculators, including a tendancy towards public contracts being awarded to friends, they are the wealthiest of the Great Houses.
• House Veilleux is the most private of the Great Houses, rarely making appearances outside of their circles. The run the Agency of Operations which is responsible for tax collection, censusing, record keeping, and more. Through this and their working relation with the Suretry they have strength through knowledge.

Church

The Church of the Golden Flame is the dominant religion in the city and a major politcal faction with significant power. For the belief system, see Religion.
They are responsible for adminstering the law in Granmont. The Office of the Inquisition takes an active role in investiagating crimes and has absolute control over what crimes are prosecuted in the first place.
Through the Order of Eleemosynars the Church maintains dominance. This “charitable” arm of the institution provides healthcare, childcare, and education to their faithful. The areligious, differently religious, and even followers of the same god excommunicated for criticising the church are left to their own struggles.

Guilds

Forty four guilds in the city have royal edicts to regulate their domain. Collectively these Major Guilds hold considerable power.
Each Guild is responsible for the statues establishing and regulating aspects of life in the city related to their craft or career. The have executive functionality to enforce these rules and these regulations can be grounds for criminal charges (see Legal System)
A few of the most inluential guilds are:

• Guild of Bookkeepers (Gambling guild. See Racetrack, Casino de Granmont)
• Guild of Farriers and Ostlers (Stable authority, able to take away hotels’ and private homes’ ability to board horses and controls Grandmont Coach Services which is vital for travel within city
• Guild of Lawyers and Advocates
• Guild of Machinists and Metalworkers (Controls manufacturing of gears, chains, rods, pipes and more. Granmont is a highly industrial city that relies on technology for sanitation, lighting, and quality-of-life)
• Guild of Speculators (Investors guilds; they have a lot of money)
• Guild of Couriers and Consigleirs (Run post-office and most intra-city messaging)

See also: Chamber of Guilds

City Watch

There are three branches that roughly form a pyramid;
At the top if the Suretry, or the detectives. They investigate crimes and refer them to the Office of the Inquisition for prosecution, even having the authority to arrest nobles. This is the main branch that hold real political power. They’re led by the tip of the pyramid, Chief-Procureur Renato Carbonneau. They are patroned by House Veilleux.
The middle is made up of the Gendarmerie or the militant branch of the watch. Typically well armed and armored they could be compared to SWAT and have a strike-first talk-never attitude. They senior most gendarme is the High Baliff. Their Office is responsible for serving warrents and summons issued by the Office of the Inquisition or Office of the Procureur. They receive an outpour of support from House Camus.
The base is the Marchausse or marshalls. The rank-and-file guards are the most numerous and mainly deal with petty theft, drunken brawls, and directing traffic. House Delvaux provides some funding.

Beaumonts

As the primary operators of the Milieu, Granmont’s organized criminal underworld, the Beaumonts have their hands in almost every aspect of city life.
They control most of Foundry, from the mines and mills to the houses their employees live in. They bribe the Security Commission to allow them to smuggle in Ulduzian Moonflower, a potent narcotic.
They put half of Guild of Lawyers and Advocates through school for when their operators are picked up by lawmen they don’t have on payroll. They provide industrial comforts for the wealthy of Granmont. Street lights, running water, elevators, and skyscrapers. Their are many who are willing to overlook quite a lot done by the Beaumonts to sustain these and other luxuries.
They have enough muscle to move this city. And when that’s not enough they have friends on the Watch, in the Church, in Great Houses, in Guilds.
Beaumonts are the famiy of Granmont.

Street Gangs

The alleys and roads and Granmont are a constently shifting kaleidoscope of street crews and turf disputes. Its impossible to capture anything more than a snapshot in time but there are gangs such as:

• Mad Dogs, consistently primarily of Gnolls and other retured soldiers. They control the neighborhoods surrounding Baudelaire Military Sepulcher.
• Skeletal Emperors, a band of punk bards that uses their music to recruit more enchanted youths. They squat in Smoke City East Building.