The Aurel Combine

Goal: corner the cindrel trade, and raise the Heartcoal for profit.

A merchant charter from 212 AF, granted when the islands needed someone to weigh, price and ship cindrels fairly. The Combine has been weighing them ever since, and fairness has become a matter of interpretation. Every cindrel sold in the isles passes across a scale in the Weighhouse, and a quiet share of them never comes back out.

The Combine funds the Ilvaric Vigil openly and the lighthouses reluctantly. Its newest venture is the boldest: a deep-diving expedition to the Heartcoal, the star's core, the one light that never dims.

• Leader: Magnate Corwin Vale.
• In the field: prospectors and claim-jumpers on the Vitrean Flats, among them Dessa Quill.
• Toward the players: polite rivals at first. An auditor will offer the new keepers "help" with their lighthouse, for a cut.