Miners’ Guild
The miners’ guild is one of the wealthies and most
powerful in western Lythia. The guild itself owns
some mines, but many are owned by the state. In
most regions, mineral rights are held by the crown,
but in others (notably Shorkyne) they belong to
powerful regional lords. Most mining operations
are fairly small, but some have hundreds of
employees. The most important minerals are gold,
silver, iron, lead, tin, copper, and salt. Smelting is,
where possible, done on site to minimize transportation costs.
Freemaster miners have the right to prospect on any land except church lands,
orchards, meadows, and highways. They also have the right to cut timber without the
consent of the local landholder, hold their own courts of law, protect their employees
and, in many cases, they are exempt from taxation and military service. In most
regions, an unfree peasant who flees to a mine and is employed there for two years
becomes a freeman. Prospectors sometimes go missing, likely at the hands of
landowners who wish to avoid the opening of a mine on their properties.