Guilds

Story

After the Replication, guilds rose as a new backbone of the local economies. With with government effectively disbanded amid the chaos, international trade suddenly nonexistent, and magic and monsters pouring in from all sides, modern business instantly collapsed. Collaboration between equals of local communities was the only method of getting anything done the days after the apocalypse, and this role was became filled by the guilds. But like all good things, time, power and greed gave birth to the worst of human instinct. The guilds that rebuild the cities, quickly started to fight for dominance over them. Not long after, the great war of the guilds broke out, starting a magical conflict in Greater Amsterdam's streets that would leave most of those who participated dead. Enraged by the blood and ruin, support for the guilds plummeted, forcing them out of the ruling positions.

Corporations quickly rose to fill the power vacuum, reclaiming their place at the top of the exploitation chain, and within another two dozen years, the power of the guilds had been reduced to a fraction of that at its peak. Nowadays, guilds concern themselves with dungeons, monsters and occasionally crime, serving a little niche not covered by corporate interest. They engage in regular fights for territory, called Guild Conflicts, to obtain more places to gather magic, much to the chagrin of the people living wherever the fighting is happening.