Kodiak Merchants Guild / KODIAK

Not all those who wander are lost

We protect everything that is Ours
We are not thieves, But we are Opportunists
We will sell and buy anything to anyone no questions asked
Our religion is enterprise, Our god is revenue
We take care of each other.
Guild members will show respect to each other, Superior or subordinate

Anyone can join the guild.

Our main goal is trade. Inspired by the ways of the Banu, we find, collect, and sell. Everything in the Kodiak Guild revolves around The Convoy.

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>The main action Kodiak members take part in is the trade convoy. We put together a convoy of a few dozen ships (Merchantmen, Freelancers, Starfarers, Caterpillars, Constellations) and journey to the farthest systems in search of value. We will pick up anything we think we can sell to make a profit.

>We also collect things of great rarity and bring them back to store them in The Museum (Our headquarters). Convoys roll through any location deemed profitable. A convoy can be as short as a few hours to days long depending on what the charter says. Convoys are charted by an Associate ranked member, and are given funding from the guild chest appropriate to the scale of the operation.

> During spaceflight, all members despite rank will fall under the command of Principal of ship and perform the job instructed by the Principal and their assigned adjutants

>On Convoys, Clerks will be the salesman. Their job is to direct adjutants with acquisition and broker deals with customers and organizations. They are given an operating budget every convoy distributed by the Associate in charge

>Adjutants will be in charge of acquisition and protection. Adjutants working under a clerk will find commodities for the clerk. Adjutants under a principal work to protect the convoy. The ratio of Acquisition to protection will vary depending on the danger of the journey. In a safer area it would probably 4 to 1, moderate would be 3 to 1 and 2 to 1, and a lawless system would be a 1 to 1 ratio.

>The Principals on the convoys are the ship captains, and are in charge of protection. They have authority over Clerks only in security matters during a convoy. They are given an operating budget for security supplies, medical supplies, food, and fuel for every convoy.

>Lascars are the newer members of Kodiak, so they aren’t given any participation in the trade deals. They can be assigned to protection or assigned to general labor. They are mostly there to learn how Kodiak Operates. They are not going to be extremely high in numbers, with only 1 or 2 for every ship in the convoy.

>Convoys are expected to return with at least 40 – 100 % profit. If convoys fail to do so, and return with under 20 % profit or possibly not broken even, the Associate in charge will have to come up with a report of what went wrong, and justify their rank and position still remaining to the council of associates. If the associate is found directly responsible, the Marshal will demote them to the position of clerk indefinitely.

Profits from the convoy are to be divided by the decision of the associate, but should only deviate from the suggested guidelines within reason
26% will go to the Guild Chest 4% will go to the Associate in charge of the convoy ( 7 % on wildly successful convoys)
12% will be split between Principals
13% will be split between Clerks
33% will be split between Adjutants
10% will be split between Lascars
0% will be split between Ensigns
Pay for an extremely exemplary action by individual will be 1-3% awarded from guild chest. Decided by associate

>Conflict is avoided as much as possible. We do not pirate, but we will scavenge. We will fiercely protect what is ours though.
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>The guild chest will be used to fund all guild costs. Ships/bases/supplies/convoys
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Positions in the guild

ENSIGN: This is the initial position when joining the guild. Ensigns are not pledged members, and therefore are not paid very much for participating in convoys. On convoys Ensigns are just shadows of an assigned Adjutant, and have little responsibility. This process is so the guild can feel out the possible member, and the possible member can feel out the guild.
An Ensign can be a full pledged member after a 5 hours of shadow time. A clerk must bid for an Ensigns entry into the guild. After receiving a bid, and Ensign is sworn in and becomes a Lascar

LASCAR: Lascars are mostly the crew members and general laborers of the guild. They are really just floaters until they learn the ropes. They do not participate in trade deals or acquisition. A Clerk or Principal must invite a Lascar to their team for promotion to Adjutant.

ADJUTANT: Adjutants make up the majority of the guild. They are either great Fighters/Flyers/Merchants. They are the ones doing most of the important things like finding things to buy/sell, important ship crew roles, etc.
Can become Clerk/Principal by Associate assignment for Convoy.

CLERK: Handles all high level trade negotiation and also handles distributing the operating sales budget to the adjutants. Also handles returning all sales income at the end of the convoy. They are tasked with keeping track of all inventory under their sales team. They report directly to the associate during the convoy. They are directly expected to return with 130-150% of the operating budget.
Clerks can be promoted by the entire council of associates ( every associate rank member) voted. The vote must be unanimous.

PRINCIPALS: They are in charge of the fleet basically. Principals are the ship captains (Not fighters, these are piloted by protection adjutants). They are given an operating budget for fuel, ammunition, and supplies in general. They are tasked with transporting and protecting the trade convoy. They have the final say when it comes to security matters, but are considered equals with the clerks otherwise.
Principals are generally not appointed to associate, as the role wouldn’t really fit the style. That being said they can be made an associate governorate by unanimous vote by the entire org

ASSOCIATE: They are the highest rank possible, think of them as the board of shareholders. Associates charter convoys, they plan routes, ask the council of associates for an operating budget, and recruit from the org. They also make up the council of associates, the governing board of the org. They control the guild chest, and look out for the guild as a whole. The associate governate is a rare position created specifically for dangerous voyages. The AG is a principal that has been promoted. The AGs will pair with an associate for very dangerous convoys where the ratio of sales to protection is 1 to 1. They are in charge of the principals while the associate controls the clerks, this is only for dangerous convoys though.
An associate can be demoted to clerk by the entire council of associates voting so.
Associates are superseded only by the Marshal, but this is only for emergency situations

THE MARSHAL: The marshal is just the creator and highest admin of the guild. I do not intend to be the absolute authority overall the guild in most circumstances. Think of me as someone to make sure everything goes smoothly and according to the charter, a peacekeeper. Most of the time I am just an associate like everyone else. I do not intend to give commands to any of the other associates, as I am their equal in my own opinion. I am also the treasurer, so I make sure none of the guild chest is being stolen or abused.
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THE MUSEUM: The HQ of the guild. This is the base, and where we store all of our valuables. Guild ships will be docked here, along with all other guild property. Guild members can also live here if they choose. We will have a massive collection of artifacts and such. The location of the museum is undetermined so far.