Upon the Sea of Julūn, a black hand sheathed in red flame marks the sails of the Burning Hand trading guild. Believed to be the largest trading guild in all of Teréth End, the Burning Hand has a reputation for ruthless enforcement of its trade contracts. This reputation is bolstered by stories that members are initiated through a painful ritual involving tar and flame.
The Burning Hand has made no secret of its desire to open ports throughout the Old Empire despite existing contracts with the Fivendam League that are centuries’ old. Contracts with the cities of Æzàlar and Savris are testimony to this strategy. The alliances and trade routes resulting from these deals have created an unprecedented cultural exchange between these civilizations. Unlike the League, the Burning Hand is also offering to manage trade assets.
The emissary entered, a fiery splash of color in an otherwise dim and dreary chamber. The High Lord sat above her, grim as the the ancient castle that sprawled around him. Kalàstra stepped forward, took a deep breath, and announced the visitor. The woman bowed respectfully, her arms spread wide to fully display the wonderful brocade of her shimmering raiment. The High Lord appeared unmoved. “Your Highness,” she began in technical but unpracticed Oðic. “I come to you as a representative of the Burning Hand Trading Guild. My superiors have sent me to this place in the hopes that we can come to a mutually beneficial agreement of business. I am prepared and empowered to discuss and bargain on their behalf regarding all matters of coin and contract. We see…” “Your guild is not unknown to me,” the High Lord interrupted. “As you know, we have contracts with the League. What could the Guild possibly offer us that we do not already have?” The woman smiled politely. “We are aware of your alliance with the Vulmùryr and dare not question the wisdom with which your predecessors entered into that contract. Each generation must choose what is in their best interests at the time. That being said, the League’s purpose and history are at odds with you and your land. They have never had your best interests at heart. It was the League that furnished hundreds of ships for the Acèntyri War; it was the League, assisted significantly by the pernicious Eylfāe, who brought the Great and Ancient Empire to its knees; and it was the League that afterward offered its hand to assist the crippled kingdoms which it had helped to ruin. Your Highness, I am not here to discuss history for which you are without doubt familiar, I am here to offer you the promise of advantageous trade with a thousand ports throughout the world. Oð’s mines are deep and abounding and its capacity for iron production are unparalleled in Yrūni lands, and yet its potential is squandered by mismanagement, both impotent and criminal. I stand before you great Lord, because we believe that that you have the vision necessary to breathe life into this industrial Bloodling.”
Members
- Guildmaster: Gorū Tangkarū
- Hand of the Desert Realms (e.g., Great Esh, Caphàri Coast): Jarad Dajaksū
- Hand of the Endless Isles (e.g., Yatàri Archipelago): Nuo Karádjū
- Hand of the Winter Holds (e.g., Ice Crown, Skarávir, Sōlòrnri Peninsula): Luum Mu
- Hand of the Ruins (e.g., Fertile Coast, North Coast): Pajàka Soor
- Hand of the Western Isles (e.g., ̄Ælyri Islands, Lanàdi Islands): Zanad Majuldū
Organization
The Burning Hand is a massive worldwide trade organization based in the City of Marádū. The guild is controlled from the heart of an immense fortress by the elder guildmaster Gorū Tangkàrū, who has steered the organization for over 50 years. Beneath Tangkàrū, serve a cohort of managers called the Circle of Hands. Each Hand is responsible for a different region, defined by the Guild. Regional definitions move and change depending on the influence and productivity of a given Hand. All Hands reside within Marádū and must always be available to the Guildmaster’s beckon. Each Hand is served by one of more delegates who administer day-to-day business in each of the Burning Hand ports.
Major Ports
Lyrast
- City of Marádū (Center of Lyrásti Trade) The origin of the Burning Hand is disputed, but its current headquarters is in the City of Marádū, the Æzàlar of the East.
- City of Sonhū
- City of Vaçon
Tassèrus
- City of Æzàlar (Center of Tassèrani Trade) Unlike every other charter signed with the Burning Hand, the City of Æzàlar remains open to all trading guilds. It is the only Western port where traders of rival trade alliances may pass along the same avenues without drawing swords. This is not to say that violence does not erupt between these groups, but that most unrest is quickly snuffed by the Zad’ir Guard. For obvious reasons the City of Æzàlar is an important port for the Burning Hand, not the least reason of which is the fact that it is the only Tassèrani port that is chartered.
Teréðor
Other
- City of Savris (Center of Ildûni Trade) The ‘Charter of Savris’ was signed by the Lord of Savàrið in 371 DR. The charter established the Ildûni port as an important waypoint between the exotic markets of the East and the struggling ports of the Old Empire. The ‘Charter of Savris’ secured a Burning Hand foothold in a region traditionally controlled by the Fivendam League. Over the intervening centuries, competition and conflict between the alliances has been fierce, often erupting into open warfare over control of important trade routes. The allegiance and reliance of ports to these contracts has twisted the political landscape of the post-Dekàli world.