Skro

Skro (also spelled Scro, Skrå, or Skraa and known in Awenydd as Gildwr) is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. It is traditionally and historically linked to the Orkanan societal structure and was introduced through the Union of Skara. In Southern Stoldavia, this system is more commonly known as Zunft.

Skroes are organised in a manner somewhere between a trade union and a cartel, with the Orkanan stim (extended family) as a key structural element. They often depended on grants of letters patent by an authority to enforce the flow of trade to their self-employed members and to retain ownership of tools and the supply of materials. A lasting legacy of traditional skroes is the great halls (sala in Wortsproke), constructed and used as meeting places.

The skro is seen as the key success factor in the expansion of the economic alliance of trading cities called Union of Skara between the 65th and 70th century RH. Their merchant guilds dominated trade along the coast of Northern Stoldavia and thus controlled the crafts and manufacturing guilds in those cities. Skroes were made up of experienced and confirmed experts in their field of handicraft, known as master craftsmen (mästare). Before a new employee could rise to the level of mastery, they had to go through a schooling period during which they were first called an apprentice (lärling). After this period, they could rise to the level of journeyman (gesäll). Apprentices would typically not learn more than the most basic techniques until they were trusted by their peers to keep the guild's or company's secrets.

The most important skroes tend to be structured as large and extended families, with the trade being handed down from generation to generation. However, the skro system is an open system, just like the stim as an Orkanan basic building block, which is open to new members as well.

Skroes in Einhafan

In Einhafan, skroes or gildwr—along with Häverists and Orkanists. Groups of skroes elected to parliament formed a loose political party called the Guilders (Einhafan 7474-7549) from 7474, which existed until 7549 when it merged with the Häverist Party of Workers to form the United Häverist Party (UHP). The skro members of the UHP have been instrumental in preventing the party from having a truly Häverist agenda and are often accused of watering down the party's policies.