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The Wayferer's Union exists in a weird middle-ground between a federation of merchant, craftsmen, and artisan guilds that are lead by a representative council; and a business jointly owned by three powerful Marcandrian families.
+The Wayferer's Union exists in a weird middle-ground between a federation of merchant, craftsmen, and artisan guilds that are lead by a delegate assembly; and a business jointly owned by three powerful Marcandrian families.
The Wayfarer's Union traces its origin back to a large number of small local guilds scattered across Marcandrian settlements. These were formed by smaller merchants, craftsmen, and artisans of similar professions, typically all operating in the same settlement, in order to protect themselves and allow them to compete with larger companies and organizations — most notably against larger businesses that were part of the Fulcrum. These local guilds provided a level of organization and support that helped members set fair prices for their goods, better negotiate with suppliers and consumers, and establish standards for quality and craftmanship. Through the guild's shared resources, guild members could pool their resources to invest in new projects and ventures, and could provide mutual support in times of need. This helped the smaller businesses of its member create a more level playing field, and helped prevent its members from being pushed out of the market by larger competitors.
As time went on, these guilds would start cooperating with one another — first with other local guilds from the same settlement; then with guilds local to neighboring settlements. This caused a large number of growing confederations of guilds to emerge in Marcandria. These gradually evolved into federations — forming a larger centralized organization, where individual guilds would retain some level of authority, but all agreed to work together and be governed by a central authority. As time went on, these federations of guilds continued to grow and merge together until they eventually formed a nation-spanning federation called the Wayfarer's Union.
+These federation — and later the Wayfarer's Union itself — was originally governed by a delegate assembly. Each guild would elect one delegate, who'd both act as the guild's leader and as their representative at the assembly. They would bring matters to the assembly on behalf of the guild, where they'd discuss and vote on solutions.