The High Guild was the second convention spawned by the Order's founders, the Craftmasons, and as such it has been traditionally on the side of the Artificers when it came to matters of policy within the Order. Further, the merchant-princes and bankers who composed the convention have always been the patrons of the Artisans, a relationship which stretches back to the Renaissance. Of late, however, the composition of the convention has changed. Rather than merchants and bankers, the new High Guild is now composed of industrialists and economists, and their sympathies have thus begun to shift towards the Royal Society. As their funding and support have been a cornerstone of the Masons, this has led to a marked weakening of their position.
Like many of the other conventions, the High Guild is finding itself less concerned with the direct application of its principles as Sleepers begin to fill the roles they did previously and more concerned with theory and general application. This has led to a decrease in the number of members of the Guild who actually deal in money. More and more, its members are concerned with monetary and economic theory. Rather than shaping the world's economy through the transfer of capital, they have taken to doing so by the changing of rules and the introduction of theories.
Despite this change, there is still a powerful interest in money itself within the Guild and it retains a large number of bankers, businessmen, and industrialists within its ranks. As the British Empire has spread, so has its economic interests, and London is now a forum for influencing the economy of the entire world and the Financiers intend to take full advantage of this for as long as they can. Members of the Guild generally meet at the Bank of London or, if members of the Masonic covenant, at the Artificer meetings at the Temple.