A trading Partnership setup between the various Rafter merchants who reside in and trade within Old Tampa Bay. The Tampa Bay Merchants Association acts as much as a traders partnership, as it does a group of regulators, seeking to keep the Old Tampa Bay area clear of pirates, bandits, charlatans and other malcontents, hiring bands of mercenaries to patrol the waters of Old Tampa Bay and keep the various boaters and traders safe as they traverse the bay's waters.