Best of Greyhawk VII - Le Monde de Greyhawk

Beggarmaster's chicanery.Unfortunately, Christa was hardly capable of assuming the position of Beggarmaster. The Thieves Guildwas none to happy with events and it looked like the beggars would fall upon themselves. Enter Blain Winterguard.The old gladiator, himself little more than a beggar, saw in Christa an opportunity and he took it. With his guidance,Christa consolidated her de facto position as Beggarmistress. Christa now runs the Beggars' Union with Blain'sassistance. They make a formidable team. Christa has a knowledge of the city second to none and a definitecharisma. Blain has organized and trained the beggars as a passable irregular fighting force, capable of at leastdefending themselves.The Beggars' Guild has succeeded in taking complete control over criminal activity in the Slum Quarter. Inconcert with city wide begging activities, the Guild is more prosperous than ever before and Christa ensures that theprosperity is shared among all the beggars. With the rise of darkness within the Thieves' Guild, the beggars haveeven gained a cadre of disaffected thieves.Tied down with the Rhennee, Org has been loathe to open a second front, at least until his otherworldlyallies can be brought to bear. To that end, he has confined his attempts to retake the Slum Quarter to occasionalincursions and otherwise agreed to a citywide truce with the beggars. How long the truce lasts remains to be seen.Except for the fact that the Rhennee leadership is generally as despicable as that of Thieves' Guild, Christamight forge an alliance. So far, she has refused Rhennee overtures.Bankers' HouseThe newest and most powerful entity in the City of Greyhawk is the Bankers' House, a guild of bankers.Banking is a relatively new concept.Moneylenders have traditionally offered credit for sale. They continue to do so and by agreement bankersdo not offer credit. Instead, bankers perform two other functions.Bankers' primary business in underwriting commercial ventures for a share of the profits. A merchant,unable to afford to ship his goods to Furondy where a good price might be had, can go to a banker, who will financethe venture in exchange for a share of the profits. While a moneylender might lend the merchant the money, mostmoneylenders do not have sufficient reserves to tie up in a few such ventures and moneylenders will demand thatinterest and principle be paid back, even if the venture fails. Bankers assume the risk and have the capital to financemany such ventures. While wealthy merchants have no need of bankers, small businesses, often in cooperation, do.Secondarily, bankers need extremely secure facilities to maintain their cash reserves and valuablemerchandise. Creating these storehouses of wealth is not easy. To defray part of the cost, bankers will rent securespace to others to store their valuables.The rise of banking is the direct result of the favorable trade environment, especially in Dyvers. Dyvers, notGreyhawk, is the birthplace of banking houses and that city has prospered because of them. Greyhawk amended thecity charter to allow banking houses out of fear that Dyvers bankers would soon monopolize large scale tradingventures.The Knights of the Holy ShieldingWhen Iuz overran the Shield Lands, the Knights of the Holy Shielding were put to flight along with anycivilians who could flee. Determined to fight Iuz and one day win back their homeland, the Knights relocated toGreyhawk, Dyvers, Hardby, Verbobonc and Leukish. A dedicated and well trained fighting force, the Knights werewelcomed - at first. As the years have dragged on and peace was made with Iuz, the Knights proved no longer sowelcome. In fact, they are seen as something of a threat.Each of the Knights' chapter houses is in communication with the others and all coordinate their activities.A single Grandmistress, Katrina the last heir to the crown of the Shield Lands, oversees the Order's operations alongwith the Masters of the Order. To survive, the Knights have sold their services as mercenaries, often to the cities inwhich their chapter houses are located. They have also invested in weapon smithies and armories to provide for theirneeds, while turning a profit selling to the public any surplus.The presence of such an armed, organized and seasoned fighting force with partial control of criticalindustries and a growing income is making the rules of the city states, and to a lesser degree Urnst, nervous. Theexpansion of the Knights' operations into the Wild Coast only makes matters worse. Conspiracy theorists postulatethat the Knights of the Holy Shielding are planning to seize all of the city states from the Nyr Dyv to the Pomarj andunit them into a new Shield Lands! They are RIGHT!There is a faction within the Order that plans to do exactly that. Already their agents are in place. They donot strike because they wish the Order to become stronger still and to that end actively recruit new members into theOrder. They know they will only get one chance and must make it count. Katrina also opposes such a move andmust be dealt with. Because of her hereditary claim to rulership, the conspirators are hesitant to merely arrange an