The Mercantile Guild

[Helios.]

i know the slavery thrall thing is popular in the boards and stuff, but i dont think they would use slaves at all for two reasons: firstly they have crude laborers in the form of automatons which secondly, they dont have to feed, which is a huge asset in country perpetually on the edge of starvation
slaves bring nothing to the table, the angleans are already the most powerful technomancers in the world, they gain nothing from stealing smart people from other places.

the food situation via independent states is interesting, but the nations around which it is most likely geologically are the least likely ideologically to suffer having to buy food from the same states. the baronies are expanding out of necessity  because their population is expanding due to immigration and general prosperity, so their territory must therefore also expand. the yesha are more expressionistic than ANYONE, they expand as a matter of course.

the chaledonian island is hard to get to, like REALLY hard by water, so everything going in and out has to come by air. their ships are designed as interceptors working in squadrons likely, and they wouldn't allow anyone in who wasn't invited. the idea that they would allow anyone in is contingent on them wanting them in, which is like saying that they need someone else. they are really the ONLY faction that has their shit together, their philosophy doesn't encourage outsiders, and their resources mean they dont need outsiders. their science is advancing at a faster rate than anyone, so despite the fact that they started late, they are one of the few cultures that are building up their tech, rather than reverse engineering something they dont actually understand.

the mercantile guild comes into this as a kind of release valve, to ease hunger in places that have too little, and provide a market for surplus and raw goods. the Chaledonians need neither, and dont really like outsiders. why would they allow the MG to make a profit selling their goods, they have a perfectly good system where they create adn use their own materials to make ships and machines and the like. there is no reason they would allow mobulas to come prancing in

[Squidslinger Gilder]

No early info on Anglea said they'd kidnap people. Usually smart people or those useful to them because they lacked knowledge to work the machines they'd dig up. That Anglea wasn't all that smart. They needed people to do it for them. Food situation is irrelevant if they not only raid for it but also gain it from Yesha as there allegedly is some weapons for food deal going.

Baronies is struggling and in resource deficits. The Fjordlands may look rich but I tell ya again, in the lore that we've had for awhile now, it is not that rich. The feudal society they have, rich get richer, poor get poorer. Theres a lot of infighting between the Barons. The only real loyalty is to the king whom they are very diehard loyal to. There is also a historical reason for why things are messy but I don't think Muse has talked about it in any public info. Had some discussions with Eric involving the northern nations for the VN but I'm not sure what can and can't be said. Some of it they may be saving for Alliance. The rest of it, I dunno. It might change. I get the feeling the lore has changed at times. Likely because the original writer of the lore moved on.

Chaladon hard by water? Then why are there boats all through Water Hazard? Small boats actually, ones which shouldn't be in areas that are turbulent. Perhaps there is a monsoon season there but looking at the map it doesn't look hard to get to and we know there is travel by boats because there is boats in the game. I don't know where you are getting the idea that sea travel is difficult and air travel is the only way. If anything air travel is more optimal and quicker, thus it would be used more.

I don't think you are considering the bigger picture and the cause and effect for all the nations. If you consider how a nation behaves now, you gotta look at it's potential past. A past we know very little about. Behavior and rivalries that we have displayed suggest something had to have happened between the Guild and Chaladon at some point. Countries just don't go about hating other countries for no reason...well cept maybe North Korea . But Chaladon isn't a tyrannical regime and as far we know they have a government system that isn't all that different from others. Yesha and Anglea both use a Republic style system. There are variations but they do. We can infer that the Guild has an election system even if they have family control because it would be a smart move when it comes to oversight. Chaladon last I heard had similar.

The real problem here is I think Muse has a messy lore that doesn't completely sync up or make sense at times. That or they are botching their own lore. The only other factor is that this is the lore and they are just botching the time frame. That just takes them sitting down and making a time line of events. If future events don't sync up then they need to adjust the history. You can't have nation A hating nation B without a justified reason. Even if it is a tiny reason that was just blown up and became tradition over time, there still needs to be a sensible reason.

[Helios.]

in the order of chaledon faction feature it says this about the channel:

When they first encountered the more advanced technology of the ancient world, brought by airship over the treacherous, impassible Channel, Chaladonian scientists devoured it eagerly, dissecting and cataloging each new piece of tech they came across to learn what it was, how it was made, and how it might be improved upon. The celebrated shipwright Isaac Phillips was able to reverse-engineer and construct the very first Chaladonian-built airship based solely on his observations of a visiting Baronies corvette that made port in his hometown of Itonia overnight, a feat for which he was later knighted by the City of Averna

[Helios.]

The Merchantile guild problaby wouldn't have a problem with slavery ideaologically, but unless other nations were also involved with a slave trade, wich it doesnt look like they are, i cant imagine they would allow the MG to buy or sell slaves in their territory, much less TAKE slaves. its hard to know if the angleans woudl be willign to buy slaves from the MG, i wouldn't doubt if there were VERY valuable people. it woudl have to be someone worth feeding, because anyone not worth feeding gets to walk around outside, id bet.

[TimTim LaBaguette]

Guild fanaaaart

Escudete is not pleased