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The Ventuki Conglomerate
Vree have an Oligarchy based government, organized into guilds. The most powerful guilds of the Vree are the Merchants/Adventurers; their close allies the Scientists, the Smiths and the Entertainers. The Grandmasters of those guilds sit on the High Council. Entry on the High Council is by financial worth only. Once a guild reaches a specific net worth, its Grandmaster is admitted to the High Council. The Grandmasters of all the other guilds compose the lower Council. On the whole, the guilds do what they want. Major projects, those costing more than 30 percent of a guild's annual budget, are put before a council vote but a two-thirds vote is required for a guild to be overridden. The Low Council can overturn the High Council decision only when the aggregate worth of the Low Council members in favor of overturning the decision is greater than the total worth of the sponsor in the high council. Some of the guilds, most notably the Merchant/Adventurers and Mercenaries, have their own space and armed forces. The Guilds have never made war on each other as culturally war is perceive as a sign of inferior craft and marketing techniques. The Guild of Merchants/Adventurers is the one which has a treaty and trade agreement with the Interstellar Alliance and is the one whose military forces participated in the Shadow War. The Guilds are the over-arching societal structure on Ventuki, Alzeral, Photikar and Deruzala. Below them are different societal groupings: religious, racial, and familial. Each of these has its members enter the gilds differently. Some Vree enter the same guild as their brook creche, others choose for themselves and some chose randomly. Some even decide to form their own Guild. Vree society is very competitive and capitalistic. Advancing through the ranks of a guild is done by making a greater profit in the current cycle than the previous and there are no rules about how guild members can acquire that profit. Vree may only marry members of their own guild. A closely allied guild or a guild that their own guild is in the process of forming closer relations. The Great Trade War occurred because the artists Guild forced one of its members to divorce her husband after negotiations with the Tacticians Guild broke down; the Humans call it the "Romeo and Juliet War" and is one of the few military conflicts recording in Vree history. Vree are small but tough; all cartilage and muscle. Their nature is competitive, fierce, and wild. They take great pleasure in playing practical jokes are hugely amused by their iconic nature among humans. To think that a routine survey of a planet could so affect a society is something the Vree find wildly funny and is the subject of many jokes. The Vree have had space flight for several hundred years and their competitive nature has aided their progress in most areas. It is interesting to note however that the Vree have only had jump capability for a few centuries and avoided all open contact with other races until roughly 150 years ago when several lower Guilds began trading with alien powers in order go gain influence back home. Vree technological level falls within the mid-range of Alliance governments and is classified as Galactic - which places them on par with the Centauri. |
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