Union of Trade Houses

Headquartered in the city of Darkshale, The Union of Tradehouses serves both as the governing body of Darkshale, but also an umbrella administrative organization that sets guidelines and policies that trade houses operating out of Darkshale must agree to honor. The Union is considered by most outsiders as a sort of quasi-governmental body as any sort of political overtures offered towards Darkshale are directed to the governing council of the Union itself.

Structure

The Union of Trade Houses operates on both a local, and a geopolitical level. To an outsider, the Union may appear to be one massive, bureaucratic monster that oversees the city itself, the trade houses that operate under its charter, and acts as a political focus point for Darkshale, and Goliaths in general. In some ways, this is true as all of these technically fall under the umbrella of the Union. But in practice, the three primary administrative tasks are purposely kept separate and distinct, both in terms of jurisdictional authority and leadership.
The Union can be broken down into three distinct and nominally independent organizations, known as Kelts. No one of these bodies is considered to be the senior service and those who work for one of the groups, in any capacity, is forbidden by law, from working within another. Should two of these groups come into conflict, the third becomes the arbiter of that conflict, with final say in the outcome. If all three come into conflict...well things can get interesting.

• Darkshale Governing Kelt: Responsible for overseeing and administering the city itself, the Darkshale Governing Kelt is perhaps the most visible of the three groups. It is responsible for the day-to-day management of the city and has broad authority in this regard. It handles tasks as mundane as tax collection and infrastructure maintenance, to tasks that include law enforcement and security.
• Union of Houses Kelt: As the title infers, the Union's focus lies with the actual trade houses that operate within the city. It manages the charter that these houses must operate under, and acts as an arbiter when houses come into conflict either cannot be resolved internally or spill over into public view. The Union also maintains a network of representatives in most other cities to act as a liaison between the city's government, and the various trade houses. These liaisons can point potential clients to those houses that make the best fit, intervene when a house comes into conflict with local interests and a myriad of other duties.
• Kelt of Pillars: Within traditional Goliath society, the wisest and most experienced are often referred to as Pillars. It is an admission by others that those individuals, their experiences and expertise, help to hold up the community as a whole. In much the same was, the Kelt of Pillars is seen as what can help secure the city's position within the greater world. This Kelt is responsible for interfacing with the world outside of Darkshale itself. It handles treaty negotiations and sends ambassadors to other cities and nations, to act as Darkshale's direct representatives to those foreign states.

Membership within one of these Kelts is, unsurprisingly, dominated by Goliaths, though this is not required. With the exception of the Kelt of Pillars, any person whom is a permanent Darkshale resident in good standing (that is to say, paid up on taxes and not convicted of a major crime) can find employment in one.
The Kelt of Pillars is unique in that membership within it is limited to Goliaths. Most believe that the Kelt of Pillars is most directly responsible for further Goliath, rather than Darkshale, interests at the world at large so there should be nothing internally that may compromise that responsibility.

Type

Geopolitical, City-state

Controlled Territories

• Darkshale