Money is the glue that holds the world together, and the best way to get that is to make something no one has ever seen before.
The Merchants guild is the one that possesses the greatest amount of scientific research and development. Many inventions, such as the ever famous air-ships, were created in the guild hall. While many developers have explored the possibilities of steam based technology, scientific alchemy is also a popular thread.
Scientific alchemy is where the Merchant and Mage guilds work together in the exploration of how the world works. The only restrictions the guilds have found are that matter and energy cannot be created nor destroyed, and every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
As part of the Merchant guild, a person either created or help creates something new to be sold only to pay for something else to be made.