Orethessis
Government
The politics of Orethessis are run by a series of large guilds representing each major trade industries, with their individual power and influence varying by the current economics of the city and the number of individuals within their ranks. The top five guilds are officially ranked in a large ceremony called The Ranking at the start of each year by an independent committee of elder kobolds and citizens from foreign-born races, basing their judgement on a variety of closely guarded criteria, which are rumored to include factors such as global influence, overall profits through the year, and importance to the economics of the city. Those top five guilds - collectively referred to simply as The Five - then control the day-to-day politics for the next year. As of 3e247 The Five has remained unchanged for the past several years, and include the guilds of General Goods, Textiles, Blacksmithing, Alchemy, and Mining, respectively.
Guilds and Factions
As mentioned, the government of Orethessis is run by guilds, in particular those currently considered to be The Five for that year. All the individual guilds are also commonly referred to by their rank for that year, such as Alchemy the Fourth, or simply The Fourth. The guilds also play an integral part of lamia society even outside of politics. In order to legally sell goods, every lamia must join the guild respective to their primary ware of choice, and joining their chosen guild is considered the start of their adulthood, While most lamia wait until their late teens to join a guild, there isn't any age requirement whatsoever. As part of their initiation ceremony into their guild, each lamia is given a small, receiving-only pearl of sending, which is not only used as a symbol of their membership in the guild, but it is also used to receive notices from their guilds if the lamia has left Orethessis, with the most notable example being the results of The Ranking at the start of each year.
In addition, by being in a guild each member is required to pay a membership fee (often in the form of a small percentage portion of their annual profits), but in return each member has access to the guild's resources, be it funding for an expedition (upon approval of an application), access to materials, a library, etc. As a result of these fees, the more members a guild has, the more well funded it becomes, which in turn increases its overall profits and ranking. The only exception to this fee is if a guild member becomes sponsored by a kingdom or another organization, in which case the sponsor pays the fee in the member's stead.
Type
Large city
Inhabitant Demonym
Orethessan
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