¶ Gildemere
¶ Government Structure
An oligarchic republic - specifically, a guild council republic with a ceremonial monarchy.
- Monarch The King and Queen holds symbolic power and is guardian of the city’s heritage and traditions.
- Parliament: Comprised of District Representatives (elected from the guilds that control them) and Noble Delegates (appointed by the royal court). The monarch presides over parliament but cannot vote except in rare deadlocks.
- Judiciary: Independent magistrates appointed by council vote, tasked with keeping law and tradition balanced.
¶ School & Learning
There are no universities or traditional schools. Learning is done through apprenticeships.
¶ Religion
There is no recognized religion in Gildemere. Citizens are free to believe what they will.
No pantheons from existing mythology (i.e. Norse, Greek, Christian, etc)
Only original made up religions
¶ Districts
Rough map drawn. Not completely accurate.
Map by Jamie
¶ Harbor District
Run by: Naval Guild
Representative: Captain Serayn Blackwave - a gruff ex-privateer who distrusts the nobles.
Notable Features:
- Docks: Packed with merchant and fishing vessels; rumors of smuggling abound.
- Storage Houses: Guarded by the Guild, but bribes can get you in.
- Lighthouse
Note: When the Golden Compact was signed, the Naval Guild was granted its official status, the first to be recognized by the council. Founded by Captain Edward Seymour.
¶ Military District
Run by: Guardsmen Guild
Representative: Commander Varro Luthien - a stoic veteran more loyal to his soldiers than to the council. Friends with the current King.
Notable Features:
- Barracks
- Fight Arena
Note: The King served alongside the commander when he was still just the Prince. He often visits in disguise for drinks and sparing with the troops.
¶ Military Ranks
The Guardsmen Guild was a blend military hierarchy with civic policing authority, much like medieval Venice.
Captain-General of the Guard (Guildmaster)
The supreme commander of the Guardsmen’s Guild. Responsible for the overall defense of the city, reports directly to and sits on the council, and oversees both military and civic enforcement.
Captains
Senior officers who command branches of service such as Captain of the Navy, Captain of the Guard, Captain of the Watch, Captain of the Army.
Lieutenants
Mid-level commanders in charge of garrisons, city gates, armories, and patrol rotations. They are often nobles or veterans granted authority.
Knights
Seasoned members of the Military district who have earned their Coat of Arms. A rite of passage to be recognized by their peers. Only Knights can take on apprentices (Squires) and train the next generation. They can come from any branch of service.
Sergeants
Professional soldiers who enforce discipline, drill the troops, and lead squads. They are the “backbone” of the guard, ensuring order among the ranks.
Guardsmen-at-Arms
The main body of trained soldiers. Equipped with spears, swords, and crossbows, they patrol, defend, and enforce the law.
Watchmen / Wardens
The more civic-facing guards—night patrols, dockside watch, and gatekeepers. Often locals, sometimes less prestigious than the full Guardsmen-at-Arms.
Pages and Squires
Young recruits in training. Pages might be young serving as messengers, learning discipline and the culture of the guard without any fighting. Squires are rookies in fighting and the lowest rung. They will eventually choose which branch of service they want to enlist to. Often apprenticed to a seasoned Knight.
Even though Gildemere's Military District maintains proud traditions, the city has never faced a domestic war.
Most warriors with combat experience earned it abroad serving as hired mercenaries for other nation's conflicts.
¶ Duties of Service
While their primary duty is defending Gildemere from threats (foreign and domestic), the Guardsmen guild also provided other services.
- Internal Security and Policing maintainig the peace at festivals, markets and council gatherings.
- Protection of Trade and Docks guarding warehouses and shipyards. A source of both comraderie and competition with the Harbor district
- Escort and Ceremonial Roles Providing honor guards for rich nobles, visiting dignitaries and the Royal Family
- Espionage and Intelligence
- Firefighting and Emergency Response
¶ Art & Science District
Run by: Artisan Guild
Representative: Mistress Veyra Goldmantle - famed goldsmith and master manipulator of parliamentary politics.
Notable Features:
- Goldsmith Hall: Where all the coin is minted.
- Mage Tower
- Gardens
- Great Library
Note: A group of disgruntled scientists felt they should have their own guild and representation. Their voices are squashed by the Artisan Guild, which cares more about creative expression than science. This conflict - exasperated Dr La Hale and his followers into action both political and ultimately violent.
¶ Union of the Black Well
Formed sometime between 225-227. It was faction from within the Art & Science District unhappy with the status quo. They formed their own union in hopes of becoming recognized and gaining representation in parliament apart from Mistress Veyra.
Proposed Representative: Dr. Luke la Hale — scientific engineer, founder of the Aberrants and the Union. Ends up in exile for his experimentations.
¶ Market District
Run by: Trade Guild
Representative: Lady Mariel Vance - has a reputation as both incorruptible and utterly unsentimental.
Notable Features:
- Auction House
- Bank
- Small Shops
Notes: The shopping district is known as The Guildemere Exchange.
During the talks of the Golden Compact, it was proposed that a permanent body be established to regulate the exchange of goods and keep the city’s commerce fair. This led to the creation of the Auction House, the Bank, and the Market District proper.Rumor: There is a secret vault filled with the city's archived trading ledgers and accounting — including names and debts from the early days.
¶ Farm District
Run by: Farmer’s Guild
Representative: Master Arlo Fenwick - A mellow thistle enthusiast always wearing a smile.
Notable Features:
- Farmlands
- Farmer’s Market
- Animal Stalls
Note: Their duties extend beyond crops: they keep the city’s granaries, maintain livestock herds in the high meadows, and oversee the fishing rights along the island’s sheltered coves. They also maintain the city's public gardens and parks.
Rumor: The only time anyone has seen Arlo yell was during the trial of Dr La Hale. Who does that to a poor, innocent chicken?!
¶ Crafting & Smith District
Run by: Smithing Guild
Representative: Master Jane Ergo. Proud and capable. Rival of Mistress Veyra, believes that art that lacks functionality is a waste of time.
Notable Features:
- Smeltery
- Forgeworks
- Clothier’s Row
Notes:
“A city that cannot shape its own steel will have to buy it — and a city that must buy it will soon be sold.”
— Founder Garrick Mason, 12 GE
¶ Royal District
Run by: Royal Family (descendents of the Seymours)
Royal Family:
- King Seymour - Late 50s, Refuses to accept the limitations of aging and still drinks, fights and boats like a younger man.
- Queen Elayne Seymour - Mid-50s, sharp-witted and politically aware despite her limited authority. Has a reputation for "accidentally" steering conversations toward royal interests.
- Prince Edward the III - Mid-30s, charming and scandal-prone often seen at the various taverns. Rumors suggests he might be the information leak for the smugglers.
- Princess Thessa - Late 20s, bookworm and librarian who loves to learn and share knowledge. Rumors suggest she might actually be the notorious gossip columnist that spills the courtly tea.
Notable Features:
- Gilded Keep
- Noble Manor
Note: The royal family appoints their representative to serve on the council. To make courtly politicss interresting they change who it is every year.
Rumor: Princess Thessa wants to get married but her parents don't support her pick because he lives in the slums by choice.
¶ Other / Slums
Run by: "The Black Maw"
Representative: None
Notable Features:
- Prison
- Shit Shacks
Note: Not the good part of town. In the shadows of the prison the criminals run the slums.
They began during the Quiet Century when the city prospered, but poverty deepened in the Slum District. Smugglers, thieves, and debt collectors banded together under the guise of “protectors” of the poor, offering food and coin to families in exchange for loyalty. While never a recognized Guild, they operated in the Market District’s shadow, manipulating auctions and trade with counterfeit goods and bribes. When they secured enough influence to be indispensable—when Parliament needed calm in the Slums, it was their knives who enforced it. They run a black-market bazaar hidden in the Slums. Here, anything can be bought — stolen goods, forbidden texts, poison, even magic relics if you know where to look.
¶ The Black Maw
The colloquiel name for the organized crime family that operates like a shadow government in Gildemere. Split up by "Daggers" that report to the "Father". Runs the slums district but never sought official representation in parliment.
¶ The Nine Daggers (Capos)
Each Dagger governs one part of the Slums, mirroring the districts of Guildemere in miniature. Their loyalty is to the Father, but their rivalry is constant.
Things they do:
- Protection Rackets – “Collecting dues” to keep shops safe from fires, riots, or “unfortunate accidents.”
- Smuggling – Rare spices, contraband goods, and even forbidden arcane trinkets long after the Mage Guild’s exile.
- Debt & Gambling – They run underground dice halls and fighting pits, ensuring the poor remain bound to them by coin.
- Silent Hand in Politics – bribe low-level council aides and sometimes sway district representatives with veiled threats.
¶ The Black Ledger
A group of smugglers that provides the Black Market with foreign goods or seized merchandise the Council doesn’t want people to have. Was once the sworn enemies of the Black Maw until the legendary Swamp Rat, the Dagger who eventually became the current Father of the family, killed the Ledger’s entire leadership in the bloodiest coup the city state has ever known.
¶ History
¶ Founding
Long before its castles and council, the land that would become Gildemere was a wild island with giant cliffs jutting into the Golden Sea- its jagged cliffs and treacherous shoals forming a natural fortress.
It was here that Captain Edward Seymour and the crew of the Sea Wraith made landfall. These were not ordinary sailors but privateers turned outlaws, men and women who had defied crowns and merchants alike. Renowned as scourges of the corrupt, they plundered tyrants and slave ships, distributing spoils to the poor in the ports they visited.
They sought a place beyond the reach of politics and greed of foreign rulers. Gildemere was that place.
With the Seymour family at their head, the freebooters fortified the harbor, built stockades, and founded a settlement on their own terms. The natural cliffs, narrow causeways and reef-filled waters made invasion nearly impossible. One could only approach safely with a Gildemere at the helm.
¶ The Golden Compact - Year 12 GE
As the settlement grew, disputes between ships and settlers threatened the fragile peace. To preserve unity, the Golden Compact was signed. A charter naming the Seymour family as the Guardians of the City, with limited authority balanced by representatives of each guild.
The Compact enshrined the values of the founders:
- No one voice is more important than the rest.
- A republic-style council shall govern the city
- The Seymour family are guardians of tradition and protectors of peace not rulers by decree
- Conflicts shall be resolved with words, not blades.
This agreement created the foundation for Gildemere’s unique balance of power and prosperity bloomed from cooperation rather than dominance.
In the shadow of the Golden Compact a second and secret compact was formed. The origins of the organized crime was founded in the shadows of the growing city by the privateers unable to really change their ways. This group would later split into the Black Maw and the Black Ledger.
¶ Age of Stone and Timber Year 13-70 GE
Early Growth. Piers and shipyards turn Gildemere into a secure trade harbor.
Heights District (est. Year 34 GE): Families of wealthier merchants and captains build homes atop the cliffs overlooking Harbor. Soon, the Seymour guardians settle here as well, in a fortified manor. Heights becomes a place of status and security.
Lowmarket District (est. Year 52 GE): As Harbor fills with ships and Old Town with guildhalls, poorer laborers and craftsmen spill outward onto the flatter lands. This bustling quarter gains its name from cheap stalls, crowded tenements, and the city’s first organized markets.
Gildemere Prison is established in Year 42 after a failed coup by a former pirate and his crew. Built in the lowmarket district.
¶ The Era of Guilds – Years 71–129 GE
Farm District (est. Year 87 GE): Farming terraces and pasturelands beyond the walls are claimed. Simple homesteads grow into a district of their own, represented in council by agrarian guilds.
As the population grows the existing districts split and realign.
Heights district splits to become Royal District where the nobles and royal descendants reside and the Smiths District later renamed to the Crafting & Smith district after complaint from the craftsmen who don't work with metals.
In the year 63 GE the Harbor district split to form the Harbor and Military districts.
Merchants in the lowmarket district sue for independent recognition away from the ruffians across the canal near the prison. Market District becomes official (est. Year 101 GE).
The Art District (est. Year 129GE) during a peaceful era of growth and enlightenment. Later renamed the Art & Science district in an attempt to appease the growing science enthusiasts.
With the split of the city into districts the underbelly also split. The Black Ledger controlled smuggling, the harbors. The Black Maw controlled most of the city itself with spies among the Military ranks. For a long time a peace of mutual respect was maintained.
¶ The Quiet Centuries – Years 130–230 GE
With no foreign wars and a self-sufficient economy, Gildemere turned inward. Farming terraces, fisheries, and mines in the nearby highlands provided everything the city needed.
The council became a stable, if occasionally contentious, body. Debates could last for days, but the Compact’s law against violence in governance kept political disputes from turning bloody.
The council establishes a way for new groups to gain representation.
A Guild may be formed with 5 or more individuals supporting a unified voice. A guild must answer to a District while they are so small. Once a guild is at least 10% of a district’s population they can request to be ratified by Parliament. The council then votes to recognize the guild. All guilds get a representative to sit on the council, chosen by its members once every year.
¶ The Underbelly of Crime - Year 217-220 GE
While the majority of the city was at peace, there was always an element of crime. The Black Maw grew in strength and split their control between several leaders called Daggers that answered to the 'Father'. The family was made up not by those who had shared parentage but by those who had been bled in and proven themselves.
In the year 217 GE the Dagger of the Market, the Swamp Rat, district proved himself above all others by having his men infiltrate and destroy the leadership of the Black Ledger and taking over the smuggling business himself. When the Father later grew too old and sick for the job they named the Swamp Rat as the new Father of the Black Maw.
¶ The Exile of the Mage Guild - Year 230 GE
Dr Luke la Hale and several other scientists had formed the Union of the Black Well as the city’s first Mage guild. The small guild wanted to be recognized by Parliament but Mistress Veyra spoke out against them. Hale was a terrible politician and didn’t have a lot of political friends.
Dr Hale and his followers formed the Aberrants guild in secret as he continued his experiments for the sake of science and productivity. It was rumored that this guild was responsible for a rash of disappearances in the city.
A trial was conducted before parliament and the vote was secured. Dr Luke la Hale and the rest of the abharrents would be exiled to the untamed wilds that lay beyond the sea. The Union of the Black Well was disbanded and the pursuit of magic and science was outlawed. Very few people were privileged enough to witness the damning evidence presented before the council but the few aids that caught glimpses said it was horrific and the things of nightmares.
¶ Present Day - Year 235
Exiled, stripped of resources but not ambition, Dr Luke la Hale rebuilt from nothing. In secret, he perfected his Transgenic Reclamation- the merging of human, animal and magical traits into new “superior” beings. His Aberrants are his children, and he will unleash them upon Gildemere not just for revenge, but as a grand “corrective” to the natural order.