Merchant Caste Guidelines 11/22/00
All registered merchants are expected to follow the Merchant laws as depicted in the
scrolls of John Norman. Any Merchant over the age of 17 is allowed to be a registered caste
member. A child born into the caste who wishes to register, may do so with nonparticipating status
until they reach the age of majority. Their reg number will carry a "C" at the end until they
reach 17, it may then be removed and full status is awarded. *Nomads mentions specifically
that they may not practice til majority age is reached. Raiders mentions majority age as 17*

Registration/Professional Courtesy
"The Merchant Caste does not allow dual registration, this includes subcastes of the Merchant Caste."
:All Merchants are encouraged to be registered within the Gor wide caste. Referrals by
registered merchants will be made only to other registered Merchants. A list of
Merchants, their wares and selling area will be published on the Merchant Caste Web Site.

 Base Prices:
Official base prices for all commodities represented would be set using the prices
paid in the books whenever possible. When that is not possible, the price will be
determined by comparison to known prices. Official base prices will be fixed, however,
widespread SL's (wars between cities) may affect the base price used in some areas.
These prices will be sent to all registered members as they are compiled.

Weights/Measures/Shaved Coins:
 Each city should have Merchant's Foot and Stone in the Chamber Council in the Central
Cylinder that is available for Merchants to verify their own personal measuring devices.
One may be found in the merchant tent at each of the Sardar faires. The use of shaved
or underweight coins is illegal throughout Gor. Anyone found guilty of such will be brought
before the chairs. Suspension of registration or loss of merchant license is possible.

Collarings:
FW who are collared (and in some cases men) lose all caste rights (slaves have no caste)
and their position within the caste is forfeited. Slaves who have been freed are welcome
to join so long as their papers of manumission are in order.
Election process:
election committee will be put into place 1 month before the elections are due to be held.

Reasons for committee:
1. For appearances*It keeps things neat and tidy especially if there is any unrest within the
Caste. (which has been seen in other castes not in this one) No question of Tampering favoritism
or anything of the like can be declared. * it encourages people to participate by actively seeking
candidates for the positions that need to be filled. * finally it takes the concerns of the upcoming
election off the shoulders of the present counsel.

2. general info about the committee:* There is normally three.* they are appointed by the
Chairs of the Caste.* They serve normally two terms.* They are normally Nonchair members.*
They actively seek out candidates, thru nominations within the caste.. also decreeing if a
candidate Qualifies to run for office (ie: registered merchant, not a restore/delete character,
for GHC reps, making sure the person plays by the GHC gaming format) * They set up and
run the election. Including collection of ballots and counting the ballots then sending the
results to the three chairs and caste scribe. The memberships hall be notified of election results
via scroll no later than 1 day after the elections have ended. They of course may be notified

sooner if results are in.
Elections:
Elections are held every Gorean year (3 earth months Sept, Dec, March, June then again in
Sept to complete the cycle) Nominations for the caste seats are asked for from the
membership of registered merchants.Those nominated are then asked if they are willing
to run for the seat. Ballots are printed and sent to the membership. They have 5 days to
respond with their votes. Once the voting has been terminated, the votes counted and
those elected notified ASAP but no later than 24 earth hours after the voting is closed.
In order to keep the caste running smoothly, the outgoing chairs will meet with the incoming
elected reps to let them know of anything pending. To keep the ideas fresh, no one person may
be elected more that 2 consecutive elections for the same seat. One may be nominated for
another position within the caste and run.
Seats of the caste:

 1st chair:
 responsible for the day to day running of the caste. keeping the caste informed of GHC
changes and with a bi-weekly newsletter with any info they need to be aware of.

2nd chair:
assists and covers the duties of the first chair when they are out of the realm or
should they need help.... complaints from the public about merchants come to this chair,
an investigation is held regarding the complaint and brought to the chairs for a hearing.
Any complaint not accompanied by a log will not be heard. Also, periodically looking at
the guidelines and recommending to the other chairs any changes necessary.
Oversee elections and voting within the caste.

3rd chair:
handles applications and registrations of potential merchants. Making sure the web
Mistress is kept informed of all new merchants.

2 GHC representatives and alternates
They represent the caste at the GHC meetings ( held every other Sun eve 10pm eastern)
Taking the caste vote back to the GHC meetings. The 1st rep is responsible to keep
the 1st chair of the caste informed of vote results at the GHC meeting.

Lower court Judge:
This is a GHC seat as well. This person represents the merchants caste in the GHC court.

 Restore/Delete characters:
The Merchants Caste does not encourage restore/delete characters, however,
due to mun circumstances, it is possible that any of us might, at some point, have
legitimate need to utilize this option. Restore/delete SN's may NOT hold elected office
within the caste. This is unfair if your char need be notified for any reason. If you
must use this option, please scroll the chairs to let them know you are a r/d char.
Conduct:
(1) No flaming of fellow merchants allowed. That is petty. Disputes
should be settled in an adult manner between the parties, not involving
the caste as a whole. Caste mail strings MAY NOT be used for such and anyone
doing so will be removed from the list of registered merchants

(2) We are trying to make sure that merchants are fairly represented in Gor.
Please respond to mailings and be active in the caste. An active caste is a strong caste!

(3) When mail is sent by a chair, it should be read and responded to if appropriate.
Deleting of caste mail is greatly frowned upon. It happens accidentally, but
repeated deletings will result in removal from the mail string.

(4) There is honor among merchants. We do try to make a coin and some price gauging
is expected, especially in times of war. The customer, to have some fun and to think
they got a 'bargain" may attempt to barter the price down. This is of course, up to the
individual merchant if he or she wishes to participate. Some basic guidelines to bartering:

The customer would roll 1d5:
1 = 10% below base
2 = 5% below base
3 = base
4 = 5% above base
5 = 10% above base

guidelines submitted to the caste for ratification on 11/18/00 and voted in on
11/22/00. They have been submitted to the GHC for ratification in respect for
the GHC gaming players. written by CasandraTuel and Sabina Mikorlis.
*******Elections are held every two Gorean years* (6 earth months September and
March, then again in Sept to complete the cycle) Nominations for the caste seats
are asked for from the membership of registered merchants.*******
********Ratified by the membership May, 2001.******