Dynastic Merchant Houses

Merchants are the masters of commerce. In one way or another, everything that a city-state needs and cannot produce itself must pass through their hands. For Tyr to trade its precious iron for ceramic pots from Balic, a merchant must purchase the iron in Tyr, carry it to Balic, arrange an exchange, carry the pots back to Tyr, and sell them. The merchant makes a tidy profit at both ends of his journey - which is only fair, when you consider the risks involved in transporting such commodities. Merchants are indispensable to every city, but that does not make them popular. Successful merchants become incredibly wealthy, a fact that templars and nobles alike envy. A merchant's business dictates that he ignore governmental boundaries and avoid political allegiances, which makes him suspect in the eyes of the sorcerer-kings. Merchants are jealously tolerated, but never truly welcomed by the upper classes. The templars grant them long-term licenses to reside and do business within the city walls, but merchants are never considered citizens and are not granted the protection of the city's laws. As a consequence of their non-citizen status and the requirements of their profession, merchants have developed a specialized sub-society of their own. They organize themselves into companies called merchant houses. These houses consist of several different branches, each designed to fulfill one aspect of the company's needs. Most merchants see no commercial value in keeping the basic structure of their organizations secret, so it is possible to provide a sketch of the way most houses operate.

Caravans

Every merchant house relies upon its caravans to move goods from one city to another and to supply its trading posts. Every house has its own theory on the best caravan configurations, but they all want to accomplish the same thing: moving cargo from one location to another as quickly as possible with the least chance of it being stolen. Some caravans are small and swift, relying upon speedy kanks to carry them and their cargo out of harm's way. If you ever have a chance to ride with such a caravan, do so. At first, you may be hesitant to mount a four-hundred pound, six-legged insect with pincers the size of your legs, but you will quickly discover that these gentle beasts are excellent mounts. Even at their slowest pace, they move like the wind. When they run, it seems you're flying. Other caravans consist of a single, huge, slowmoving wagon with armored flanks, depending on nearly impregnable defenses to discourage attacks. Such wagons are usually drawn by a pair of mekillots, cantankerous six-ton lizards with a fondness for eating their handlers. Aside from a force of mercenary outriders, the entire caravan is carried inside the wagon: drivers, guards, supplies, and cargo. At first, this might seem like an easy way to travel, since all a passenger need do is lounge about - but I I rather walk from Balic to Urik in my bare feet. The quarters are cramped and hot, the entire wagon smells of unwashed humans and demihumans and the journey lasts forever. Most caravans take passengers, but the only cargo they will carry is that of their own merchant house. The houses are much too competitive to carry cargo for each other, or to trust their cargo to another house's safekeeping. The caravans are led by a shrewd captain, often a former mercenary or soldier hired by the house for his military skills. To defend the caravan, the leader either hires individual mercenaries or subcontracts with a mercenary band. From the time the caravan leaves one city's gate until it enters another’s, the captain's word is law, and to disobey his command is to risk banishment or death. No matter what a captain does on the trail, only one thing will cause his employers to dismiss him: abandoning the cargo. As long as he delivers the goods to their destination, the house assumes that he is doing his job well.