The Fantasy Corporation: An Excellent Addition to the World

General stores appear in fantasy cities. This fantasy general store one has gray stone walls, a yellow trim, blue windows and a blue-red flag atop it. The brown sign over the brown door simply reads General Store. Behind the store are hills and a blue sky with white clouds The general store is an example of a a fantasy corporation.
Picture of Sunfire

Sunfire

CONTENTS

The Premise

There are many corridors of power in fantasy just like in the real world. One of them, the fantasy corporation, is an influential entity operating not just in one kingdom but across the world. It uses its seemingly limitless monetary reservoirs to influence many decision-makers in the political arena which can affect the lives of many people.

A corporation can control a resource or provide a valuable service like transporting goods across the ocean on its ships that generate enormous sums of money for the royal government. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people in multiple kingdoms can work for just one corporation.

A fantasy corporation is a legal entity authorized by the government to do business within the kingdom. Led by either a president or chief executive officer, it has a strict hierarchy and all major decisions its leaders make impact not just everyone who work for it but for the communities it does business in.

The corporation is always seeking to expand its operations and it does so in several ways. The most common way it grows is to acquire land and then it’ll fund the construction for an affiliated building. This leads to hiring people from local communities to staff the building that will implement the agenda the leaders of the corporation wants.

Over time, a fantasy corporation steadily amasses power and money. The ultimate goal of a major corporation is to be able to influence the kingdom’s policy in a way that favors it. It does so by making ‘generous contributions’ to politicians hoping to curry favor so that they can help them later on.

This is article number twenty-eight in the fantasy buildings series. Want to see what else we have? Go to our blog page where you can find more!

The Basics of the Fantasy Corporation

When bringing a corporation into a fantasy world, it’s essential to understand its ins-and-outs. Knowing how a corporation works is key to making one that feels real and fits right in the world, not merely one that feels shoehorned in. Your audience can tell the difference right away!

A corporation is split into several levels, each one playing a role. The lowest is the workers, those that do the everyday work for the company like baking or mining. Next up is the low-level management. This includes managers and supervisors tasked with ensuring that the workers do their jobs diligently. The third rung on the ladder is the mid-management level where regional managers oversee their sections. The highest level is the senior management which includes executives and the president/CEO who are charged with setting and guiding corporate policies.

This brown room is where a fantasy royal council meets. The wall is a light brown and the floor a darker brown. A large white table with gray striations is in the center, going all the way down to the bottom. On each side are gray chairs. Above the chair at the end is a blue window with light shining through. Gray columns support the ceiling.

In order to officially do business within a kingdom, a fantasy corporation must petition the royal government for a charter or give the appropriate authorities all the necessary paperwork. This ensures that they have a legal right to operate within the kingdom, giving it legitimacy in the eyes of the public.

One of the cornerstones of the corporation is the board of directors who meets periodically throughout the year to discuss official business. Though this is fantasy, the board of directors still makes important decisions that will shape the company such as voting whether to acquire a company or authorize the president/CEO to negotiate a deal with another kingdom. This brings a real-world touch to an imaginary world.

The corporation typically has its headquarters in the community it first started doing business in. The lifespan of such a company lasts decades and even centuries and having its headquarters in the place it all started ensures it maintains a relationship with the people who helped it get to where it is today.

How a Fantasy Corporation Expands

Many companies experience a period of growth in their lifetime. Some grow explosively whereas others adopt a slow, measured approach to expansion. A fantasy corporation can expand in several different ways, the way it grows is dictated by the market and the viewpoint its leaders pursue in regard to expansion.

The old-fashioned way is simply to buy up more land. Owning more land leads to the corporation hiring a construction company to build a new structure that will house whatever operations it has in mind. The business can send its employees to the new site or hire from the local community to staff the place.

Fantasy cities are important in the genre. This image depicts a city with a castle on a hilltop above it. The city has both rectangular- and square-shaped buildings with a wavy roof on each one. The buildings come in four colors: light yellow, brown, light blue, and white. The roofs come in the following colors: dark blue, red, light black, and dark brown. Many of these buildings have windows and some have a visible door. The road itself runs down the middle of the image, swaying to the right and then the left, ending at the doorstep of the castle. The road also meets two others, one that runs to the left, and the other to the right. Behind the city is a grassy field with blades of grass scattered throughout. A river cuts through the field, meandering from the left edge to the right edge of the image. The castle itself is white with gray shadows. It has four red turrets and diamond-shaped windows. The sky above is a bright blue with two white clouds. Some birds are flying on the left side, above the castle, and the right side. It also features a fantasy marketplace.

Another way a fantasy corporation can expand is to takeover existing buildings. These buildings could be old and vacant which means the corporation will expend money in renovations to breathe new life into it. If the building is occupied, the board of directors will empower the CEO to make a generous offer to buy it. If the company faces stiff opposition, it can  petition the royal government to issue a decree forcing the building’s owner to make a deal or face punitive fines.

During a period of rapid expansion, a corporation may invest more money into its operations. It can build more factories, warehouses, expand its supply channels, and so on. Focusing on increasing their capabilities helps it keep up with the new demand which in turn will increase the flow of money into its coffers.

The last way a fantasy corporation grows is to simply buy out another company outright. The company may have a product the corporation is interested in acquiring or its operations will increase its efficiency. The corporation can either integrate its new acquisition into its operations or make it a subsidiary company with the board of directors and the CEO now running the show.

The Bottom Line of the Fantasy Corporation

No matter where the corporation is in its life cycle, it has a goal it is constantly striving to reach so that it can pursue bolder and more ambitious goals. This is a great fact to keep in mind when working a fantasy corporation into your story, for where it is in its life cycle will dictate many of the actions it takes in the plot.

When a corporation is just starting out, it only has one goal: to survive. Many companies adopt a cost-cutting method, meaning they keep expenses low and maximize profit until they can amass a small fortune to be able to reinvest or plan for expansion. To accomplish this, they cut corners or make risky moves that could destroy them entirely.

This fantasy harbor has brown buildings with red roofs on each side of a body of water that goes out to the ocean. In the distance is a tall, light blue tower-like object. Above it is the orange sky with white clouds.

Once a fantasy corporation has survived the startup phase — which is the one where many companies don’t make it all the way through, by the way — it is primed for expansion. There are two approaches it can take in regard to expansion. Firstly, it takes a more conservative approach, meaning they’re less willing to make risky decisions which can result in a slower growth. Secondly, they can go full throttle and make even riskier decisions, hoping to strike gold. They can win big or lose it all.

Upon entering the mature phase, a corporation is already making tons of money so it doesn’t need to worry about going bankrupt anytime soon. This leads it to focus on cementing its position in the marketplace and economy. It assiduously works to muscle out its rivals or use its growing influence to sway people in important positions of power to help it become a significant player in the kingdom.

This is where a fantasy corporation is the most dangerous, for it can use its already considerable money to cajole politicians into supporting its agenda. Its goal here is to amass as much power as possible and it won’t spare any expenses in ensuring it accomplishes its goal. It can go even as far as to cavort with criminals if that’s what it needs to make it happen.

Tying it all Together

A fantasy corporation is a great way to make an imaginary world feel realistic. After all, many corporations in the real world make stellar products that bring a lot of happiness to people. On the other side of the coin, they can and will use unscrupulous measures to ensure they remain in the position they’re in which can bring riveting drama to fantasy worlds.

When introducing a corporation to the world (or story), it’s imperative to know the basics. Knowing how it operates goes a long way in making your audience feel as if it really belongs in the world you’ve created. Exploring both its internal and external relationships enables your readers to gain a great understanding of its dynamics.

Just like any business in the real world, a fantasy corporation can expand. How it expands depends on the vision its leaders envision it — and the lengths they’re willing to go to in order to make it happen. Rapid expansion is more risky than moving slower but it comes with more rewards.

Corporations in fictional worlds are at different stages in their life cycle. Be sure to match the right stage to the type of story you’re working on. Each stage has its own pros and cons so you want to do some homework so that you know you have the right one.

There are many fantastic ways to integrate a fantasy corporation into your world and the story so you can’t go wrong with featuring it in yours!

Let me know what you think in the comments below. (Note: this is an account-exclusive feature).

If you don’t have one, you can register here. It only takes a few moments of your time!

Liked this article and want to subscribe? All you have to do is fill out the form below and that’s it!

Thanks for reading this and until the next time,

Sunfire

DON'T MISS A POST!

Subscribing means you receive:

  • notifications when a new post’s up!
  • our monthly newsletter!

You can always unsubscribe anytime.

Share

Facebook
Twitter
Email
Print
Subscribe
Notify of

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

0 Comments
Most Voted
Newest Oldest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x
Scroll to Top

Join US

Do you want to build the fantasy world you’ve always dreamed of?

Subscribe to receive notifications when a new post is out and for our monthly newsletter! 

You can always unsubscribe anytime.