Mercantile Alliance

Post Date : 22/05/2023

Mercantile Alliance

The Mercantile Alliance: A powerful loosely aligned group of Cosmos-spanning corporations with operations throughout all of known space. Despite their influence, their power flows from the Centopoly and their operations rely on access to instantaneous travel via Bridge technology. In the  Mercantile Alliance, power is earned, but never granted. The Metric is a measure of potential and determines access to the Alliance's most precious technologies, worlds and machinations.

Key Lore

  • The Merchantile Alliance is the one of the newest of the Cosmos' major factions. The Alliance was founded during the 2nd Centopoly Conclave, which took place 100 years after the Centopoly's founding
  • The Alliance consists of a group of about 1,000 corporatations with operations across the Cosmos. Major Alliance decisions are made by a group of twenty Supremos, representing the most powerful and strategically important corporate leaders with very high individual and company Metric scores.
  • The Alliance is a very hierarchical organization, with status, position and earning potential all reliant on individual Metric scores. Corporate Metric Scores are also used to determine an organization's place on the Alliance Leaderboard.
  • While membership in the Supremos is coveted, it is only a stepping stone to greater power. At any time Alliance members make up 30 to 40% of the Centopoly's leadership body, the Senjukan Council. Many Alliance members have served as the Council's leader, the High Senjukan. 
  • The Merchantile Alliance provides many of the raw materials, technical expertise and economic engineering at the heart of Centopoly society.  Despite this, the Alliance is beholden to the Centopoly, as Alliance operations depend on the instantenous travel avilable via Bridge Tech. Also, key security, machine intelligences and other vital tools are only available to individuals with the highest Metric scores. 
  • The Alliance operates freely in Outback Space. Many Supremos are responsible for corporate operations across up to 50 Outback and Canidate Worlds. 

Cultural Notes

  • Corporations and individuals in the Alliance compete heavily with each other and cooperate based on circumstance or temporary needs alignment
  • Outside of core Centopoly security forces, the Mercantile Alliance has the most organized military. Alliance members are encouraged to have large families (by Cosmos standards) so that one or two siblings can enter into lifelong service of the Alliance. Alliance space naval and marines forces provide on- and off-planet security on Alliance worlds and sectors. Depending on their Metric scores Alliance miltary members are selected to serve in Centopoly security forces, and serve as Candidate World advisors.
  • Alliance members differ in how they view mega-capatalism. Some are focused primarily on acquring more resources. Others view profit-seeking, economic self-interest and specualation as forces for good. 
  • Unlike members of other factions, Alliance members tend to have the lowest levels of genetic, physicial or cybernetic modifications due to security concerns. 

Origin

  • The first corporations that ultimately contributed to the formation of the Alliance rose to power during the Great Sundering Era. However, the influence of these corporations was limited due to slow inter-planetary travel times and the lack of ansible faster than light communications technologies. 
  • A small group of these corporate leaders formed the Senjukan Working Group who embarked on a centuries-long journey to locate the 24 Executive Intelligences toward the end of the Great Sundering Era. 
  • After the 1st Great Conclave, and the introduction of Bridge Technology, some corporate leaders saw the potential for greater economic, security and operational collaboration between and began work on the organization that would become the Merchantile Alliance
  • The Metric is central to every aspect of life in the Alliance. Members are most likely to visit Metric Savants and follow the Three Mantras (Right Mind, Right Speech, Right Actions)