Secret Societies in Government

The full extent of a guild's activity is really only known to members. Since guilds exist in part to manage knowledge, this is inevitable, but also leads to allegations of conspiracies. You have paid little attention to these ideas, considering them paranoid delu-\n\n'our ruler, our republic is in danger! We cannot speak here.'\nA noble drags you to the side and talks in a whispered voice at length of who may or may not be part of secret guilds within the government of our nation. He names other nobles who are equally concerned... so many, in fact, that his own side seems more like a conspiracy than the ones he accuses. Even so, there is no doubt that the aristocrats of our nation feel threatened by these possible secret societies the guilds have brought into existence.