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, and 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, a peaceful trader can conduct trade with no personal 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 (beyond the neighboring ones). 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.
On non-testing islands, region lords still have access to the older ox-cart system. It is included here for completeness. The ox-cart system was not meant specifically for trade, but rather as a method to transfer food from from one region to a neighboring region. This costs no gold to send, the food sent nets no gold, and the process takes about 24 hours (two full turns). This does not mean that arrangements to pay for the food could not be made through the trading of bonds.
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 granaries, warehouses, depots, 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.
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.
