Help:Trade
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Basics
The trade system rests on two pillars: Warehouses and Caravans. In its basics, it is incredibly simple: Warehouses store goods in a region, Caravans allow goods to be moved anywhere.
Caravans
Nobles can purchase caravans as paraphernalia, which don't require soldiers to operate (they bring their own men). As such, it is absolutely feasible to be a peaceful trader with no unit attached.
Owning at least one caravan will allow you to buy and sell goods through the Actions page. Trading itself is easy: Buy a few caravans, buy some goods somewhere, travel somewhere else, sell goods, repeat. Of course, profitable trading is much more difficult.
Region lords also have at their disposal some caravans, which they can send to buy or sell food in nearby regions. These caravans do not require a noble to lead: they arrive at their destination, check if there are any offers that suit their orders, perform the trade (if they can) and return.
Warehouses
The other part of the trading system are warehouses. Each region has a warehouse where the various goods are stored. Of course, in most regions this will not really be a single physical building, but a multitude of grain stores, warehouses, storages, etc.
This is where traders do business. They buy and sell at the local warehouses, which are controlled by the region lords and/or their appointed stewards. Lords will post trade offers and set the prices for automated purchase/sale, with which the trader can deal. Caravans sent by lords from neighbouring regions will check the same offers to complete their trade.
Each warehouse also has ox carts that it usually uses to move goods to and from the markets, or from the production places (mines, fields, etc.) into the warehouse proper. These ox carts can also be used to move goods to neighbouring regions (only if they belong to the same realm) if thus instructed by the region lord or his steward. However, this transport is slow, taking about twice as long as a trader with his caravans would.
Traders
Nobles with the trader subclass have many more options for trading. They can lead more caravans, visit the black market, exchange goods with other traders at marketplaces, find interesting deals through chats with local merchants, and so on.
