Whoops, missed Beren. Obviously, a brewer's guild, with its fingers in the bars and taverns of the area. A political tool, but one wielded by many hands- for every up-and-coming noble "found" drunk in an alley in a compromising position, a corrupt merchant sleeps through his ship's scheduled leaving date. Both friends and "friends" can be found wherever their influence reaches- indicated only by a holy symbol of Beren posted somewhere near the bar.