One of the more famous businesses of Amaranthum, the Adventurers' Guild is a mercenary guild providing problem-solving services around the world. The Adventurers' Guild was created as a means of not only providing adventuring services, but also serving as a centralized organization providing supplies and resources to adventurers, as well as governmental oversight. Anyone wishing to engage in adventuring in Amaranthum or its allied countries must register with the Adventurers' Guild.
The Adventurer's Guild was founded during the Silver Age of Amaranthum as an arm of the Amaranthine Navy. It soon became an semi-independent organization, still answerable to the Amaranthine Government, but allowed to keep profits for its own use - usually distributed to Adventurers in the form of food, housing, training, and equipment.
The grand opera house of Amaranthum, the Imperial Opera, is the premier venue for arts and culture in Amaranthum. The renowned maestro Professor Alphonse conducts weekly music concerts for Amaranthum's High Society. The high-arched roof made from glass and wrought brass are not only exceptionally beautiful, but provide a unique acoustic experience.
The most popular brothel in Amaranthum is the Mercenaries' Guild. This is in contrast to its original purpose, which was, during the Imperial Age of Amaranthum, a privatized military, offering military services to the Amaranthine Navy. During the time wen it provided military services, it competed with the Navy for recruits. As an incentive over the Navy, it offered in-house prostitution services. Eventually, the prostitutes of this guild bargained for greater and greater rights - better pay, better healthcare, better legal protection, that they took over the guild, shifting the guild's mission. In Amaranthum today, prostitutes, even those not affiliated with the Mercenaries' Guild, are known as 'Mercs' - a humorous double-entendre referring to the nickname for mercenaries, as well as the name of a pubic wig, a 'merkin'.
The shipping guild serves as the primary delivery and logistics company for the city and country of Amaranthum. Due to this broad purpose, they also provide banking and lending services. While public mail is often finally delivered by unaffiliated individuals (often members of the Adventurers' Guild), most mail does pass through a Shipping Guild office.
There are three major Noble Houses in Amaranthum: Tetrus, Dauphin, and Marrowless. These three houses constitute the major powers in Amaranthine politics. Each house is formed around a noble family, from which it gets its name, but can consist of many families of noble (and royal) lineages. As a rule of thumb, an Emperor is elected from one of the Major Noble houses.
There are dozens of minor Noble Houses in Amaranthum. Below is a brief overview of the most notable: