The Fizzlespark Consortium

Fizzlespark Consortium is the informal name of an aggregation of loosely affiliated branches of the gnomish mercantile house Fizzlespark.

The Fizzlespark Consortium doesn't have a formal structure or leadership, rather it's a collective name used when describing the various Fizzlespark branches as one. However, while the various families are not strictly part of one cohesive organisation, they do often collaborate and cooperate when advantageous. Internal rivalries flare up from time to time and not all branches work well with one another, but they generally present a common front when faced with external opposition, especially from the "tall folk". Such matters are often discussed in what is often know as the Council of Familiesl, another informal name for a meeting of the heads of several family branches.
The Fizzlespark families originated from the city of Hardbuckler, in the Trielta Hills, a place of little political or military interest for most of the powers of the Sword Coast. This fact allowed the mainly gnomish residents to carve a niche out of themselves, with the Fizzlespark families being a shining example of ingenuity and success. Their success and reach however isn't limited to these backwaters: the power of commerce and the united intent of the Consortium allowed for the reach to expand in the nearby ares, even reaching into Baldur's Gate and Elturgard, with caravans pushing even into the far reaches of the North, some of the bravest are known to even force their way to the city of Mirabar, where some far related gnomes live and toil alongside their fellow dwarves, whose craft and more reasonable heights the FIzzlespark certainly prefer over the tall folks that hold power in most of the world.

Structure

As an informal organisation, the Consortium doesn't have a rigid structure, nor do the single branches of the family have a unified approach in regards to hierarchy. However, history, tradition, and unity of intent have contributed to produce something similar.
From the original Fizzlespark family, the progressive specialisation of the various trades and the progressive branches that the family split itself into brought, through centuries, the current nature of the Consortium into life: each family branch occupies itself mostly with running a particular business, with the largest branches also having a number of cadet families and loosely related associations each carving out a niche in the general running of their trades. This fragmentation also produced two other aspects of the current structure of the Consortium: the Council of Families and the de-facto leadership of the Scornubel Fizzlesparks.
The Council of Families is what most people nowadays call what started as informal meeting of the heads of several branches of the Fizzlespark families. Its role is mainly that of promoting cooperation and sharing information and resources between the various branches, while also providing a forum to dicuss disputes, particularly of the commercial kind. The Scornubel Fizzlesparks, being the oldest branch to specialise solely in the transport and sale of goods, were thus not only perfectly positioned to provide the Council with the most recent informations from all over the cost, but also, given their contacts with all the fragmented branches, were often a reliable neutral party when mediation was required between families and their members. Over time, the heads of the Scornubel Fizzlesparks and their delegates came to be viewed if not with authority at least with a degree of earned deference, when matters of concern were brought forward to the Council.
However, when matters are the concern of only one branch, or one family, tradition and custom prevent the Council to intervene, as each branch family governs itself in its own way, guided by tradition and the needs of their respective trades.

Little steps for the long journey.

Notable branches:

• Scornubel FIzzlespark
• Fizzlesparks of Purplesmoke

Notable people:

• Archibald Wilfred Maximilian Fizzlespark, adventurer
• Glortho Fizzlespark, Head of the Scornubel Fizzlespark

Type

Consortium, Business

Notable Members

• Glortho Fizzlespark