Knuth Family/Kent

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On Being a Trader

Kent is a trader in Ibladesh on the East Island, an island entirely at peace. No doubt wartime things would be slightly different.

I understand that in some places, markets are simply left open all the time. If there's spare food, you can buy it. On the East Continent, not so much. The banker contacts nearby (and sometimes not-so-nearby) realms to arrange deals and then tells Kent 'Go to (e.g.) Krimml'. Kent does. Once there, the markets are opened for him, he buys food (Click trade, select the amount [limited by his gold, his number of caravans, and how much is available for sale] and you're done; no haggling or anything.) and then heads back home to do the same thing there except with buy changed to sell. Almost all his time is spent travelling. He doesn't bother having a unit, he cannot participate in tournaments, can't train his unit (not that he has one any longer), can't command as many troops as a knight, and his scouts don't bother reporting on troops--only trading information and production/moral/control stuff.

Traders get three(?) things they can do:

  • Trading (Described above.)
  • Black market (Similar, except you'll get in trouble if caught.)
  • Chat with merchants (Learn buying/selling rates in various regions.)

They can also train the 'Trading' skill and can command more caravans than can other classes.

It's a very boring life. Still, there are some advantages: as a trader, he travels around visiting foreign lands. When he has time, he stops off for a drink and sends reports [Mix with locals or scouting] to the local lord, or anyone in the region. Often he's gone before they even get a chance to reply, but he could in theory get to know the foreigners quite well, whereas knights don't really have much excuse to spend most of their days outside their borders.

If--purely hypothetically--I wanted to leave my realm, but was in no hurry, I might try becoming a trader first to give myself a chance to visit other realms and speak personally to the foreign locals. Other than that, I don't see a great deal of excitement in that life. I'm told it can be profitable, but Kent has been taking a loss on his trades lately. The Ibladesh traders have now been promised the price they sell for will always be set to 5g/100 over their purchasing price, guaranteeing a profit. Combined with the fact that traders (at least in peaceful continents) don't really need units, this could be quite profitable in the end. Keep in mind, though, that you won't earn much honour/prestige as a trader.

As I said, though, Ibladesh/EC is perhaps more centralised in its trading elsewhere. If it were up to individual traders to find sellers and make deals, it would be quite another thing altogether. Very hard for new traders, I'm sure, but it would mean long-time traders would build up connections with foreign realms.