Trade and the Wealth of Nations

Summary:

A look at the flow of trade and the production of trade-goods on the world of MK. Who controls trade? Which goods are demanded and who supplies them?

Trade and the Wealth of Nations

Leo M Panther 14 May 2015 22:52

Greetings and welcome to this thread where we can wonder about the flow of trade. During a previous and lively discussion where I wondered about the political nature of modern empires after the fall of the old one (http://mkworld.wikidot.com/forum/t-1161810/pretenders-to-the-suielman-empire). This time I'm curious about present day MK world dealing. Specifically trade and goods that are being traded.

While in MK-verse Emperors, Kings, Dukes, Counts, Barons, Patriachs, Priests, Knights, Paladins, Mercenaries, Assassins, Mages, Wizards, Warlocks, Gods and Pretenders but most of all, Us the Writers have forged this world into the shape it is in. But whatever the political landscape, the pursuit of coin, regardless of its metal, will also have been present. Where are the merchants? What area of the world do they control? How does trade flow over land and how over the seas?

This fascination came to me after looking up some of the old nations on wikipedia and finding a wealth of possibly true information on the Merchant Republics. So I wondered if there are such Republics like: Venice, Amalfi, Ragusa, Genoa, Pisa or maybe something more modern like a coalition of Free Cities similar to The Hanseatic League exists in the MK-world. It is possible that I missed them while reading or looking through the list of places, or more likely I didn't recognize them as such.

Potentially I see Wales being a huge player in trade being an island nation. Arabarb being coastal and rivalled with Wales had a presence but at present probably less so. Any coastal city is likely to have a strong trader presence but since as far as I can see they belong to greater realms. Not likely to find independent republics there. Emperors see the value of trade though and might allow them to operate under them. Historically this has backfired for example when Venice broke away from the Byzantine empire(ERE).

Which brings up the next question. Since trade is only possible if there is something to trade. What goods are produced where and who wants/needs them? For simplicities sake it's best to be very general about the type of goods.
Basic goods: grain, salt, wood, stone, wool, fabric, leather, iron, fish, cattle etc are likely very commonplace and in relative low demand.
Luxury goods: wine, steel, silver, gold, raw gems, jewellery, fine clothes, glass, weapons, furniture etc require either machiney, skill or are rare to find/difficult to get to.
Exotic goods: silk, coffee, tropical wood, cut gems, tea, porcelain, sugar, spices etc these are produced far from familiar lands, its production methods are kept secret or require exceptional skill to produce with current technology.
(Feel free to expand on this list as I'm bound to have forgotten something)
I've mostly omitted goods from the new world (eg. cocoa, maize, potatoes etc). Since I'm unsure about if these are already present in MK-verse.
And of course there's magical and fantasy goods that have a place in this world. Mythril being an obvious example. Even though Metamor Keep has gained access to a vein I'm sure it is not the only one in world.
Other magical goods might include: -types of wood good for magic tools (wands, staves, contraptions)
-types of stone excellent for rune crafting
-types of metals that are natural magic conductors or good for making golems/automatons
-Magically infused fabric used to make magical clothes or fancy dress for rich people
-Rare herbs that grow only through magic or have properties because of magic needed for alchemical potions

And finally, I wonder who makes the best and lends their name to the product? Is the name Sathmore is synonymous with the best Wine in the world? For the best Steel, does one travel to Pyralis? Does Metamor make the best Meade?

Thank you reading. Penny for your thoughts?

"Nobles care about Prestige. Priests care about Piety. Everyone cares about gold" - Book title in the Walish Traders series. Currently on sale for 2 Crescents

Re: Trade and the Wealth of Nations

MatthiasRat 25 May 2015 21:08

I had in years past attempted to use some of my stories as vehicles to showcase the merchants of Metamor. I created a few merchant families in the process and spent a good bit of time highlighting the Urseil family (though the Pangolin character named Kendrick). They trade in high-quality fabrics and have holdings in both Metamor and Ellcaran. I also created the character of Linaman who is a financier with significant holdings and interests in multiple merchant families (he's a money lender). He lent money to the Hassan's after the Battle of Three Gates and helped get Metamor, financially, back on her feet. I wrote that he will become the Chief Exchequer (Finance Minister) for Metamor in future years.

I also built up the rats Julian, Elliot, and Goldmark as starting a shipping venture with a fleet of wagon/sleighs that can handle multiple terrains and tat could be to ship bulk goods. They financed this in part from legitimate income they made with scribing duties, as well as illegitimate income gained by thieving from foreign merchants (always merchants asking exorbitant fees, but still it was theft). I intended to write a story or three about how that situation is resolved but that has not happened. Ultimately, after they make good on what they had once done, their venture will blossom and they'll be the chief means by which goods are shipped in and out of Cursed lands, reducing the need for foreign merchants to risk entering the cursed valley.

I've also written that Ellcaran was always an important trading city. Also, that much of the trade through the Southern Midlands is carried by the Marchbourne river (and the Southborne too). This should be expected since trade usually followed the rivers.

I also made a note that the old Elvish roads in the easternmost reaches of the Outer Midlands are enchanted to repel snow and other inclement weather, allowing easy passage through those lands. This facilitates trade in an area without major rivers (such as Salinon).

Also, the Sathmoran city of Isenport is an important trade hub at the southern edge of Sathmore, while Sutthaivasse on the western Pyralian coast is their chief competitor (and now an 'ally' to Metamor as well; at least through Malger).

The power that Whales has comes from her naval superiority that no other kingdom has been able to match yet. They'll be in the process of rebuilding after a third of their fleet was lost due to Marzac in 707, so for the next decade they won't be quite undisputed but still very much a power in terms of Naval might and in trading.

Now as to what Metamor provides… they are a big exporter of Iron (Iron Mine being one of their most important holdings) as well as lumber and stone. Let us not forget that Michael the Beaver works for the timber crews. They are chopping down old trees all the time and shipping them to Metamor (and yes, they do use Metamor River and its tributaries for that when they can). I'm pretty sure that is mentioned in one of the stories I wrote back in 1999. I'm sure they are also conduits for certain rare items from the Giantdowns.

And of course, they also provide almost all of the world's writing at this time, so in that sense they have a monopoly; I'm sure their stories are of great interest to bards and minstrels and the like as well as the educated.

They do have coffee. It has been mentioned in some of my recent stories (Fr. Felsah specifically mentions this in "Felsah's Little School").

Dominus tecum

Re: Trade and the Wealth of Nations

MishaFox 16 May 2015 05:44

Wow - lots to think on with this.

A city that is run by and exists solely for trade is Marigund. They trade in almost anything and everything. the nearby country of Cuirlain (http://mkworld.wikidot.com/place:cuirlann ) is unique in that its biggest trade item is Salt. Several deep mines work a thick vein of salt (said to be over a mile thick in places). This salt is the remains of a long dead ocean that once covered the area over a million years ago (but no one knows that fact yet).

there is a lot of trade in lumber but Elderwood is a seriously dangerous place making timber cutting difficult. Also the forest of Elfwood is still held by elves who take a dim view on logging.

In the Northern Midlands 2 cities are heavily involved in Trade http://mkworld.wikidot.com/places:menth (Menth) and Sorin http://mkworld.wikidot.com/places:sorin. The Hansoran League and the Sorina Company of Merchants are both based on the real world Hanseatic league http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanseatic_League . Trading all over the Northern Midlands.

As for the products moved I'm not sure. Metamor is renowned for it's magic. It might export various magic. There is intensive farming, along with herding. So products going south would be grain. corn, sheep, some cattle, wool. Also the mountains do have loads of various minerals. The town of Iron Mine is due to the numerous iron mines there. Also there is other minerals like copper, tin, silver mined in locations.

I can see in the warmer climes of the Southern areas some areas being well known for wine growing. Perhaps the southern part of the Sathmore Empire. On the small border of the Southern Midlands and Sathmore the area there is partly controlled by the Order of Protectors ( http://mkworld.wikidot.com/org:protectors ) who grow Mustard in large quantities.

Hope this helps. Comments?

Re: Trade and the Wealth of Nations

MishaFox 16 May 2015 05:51

Also the northern part of Metamor valley is heavily forested. I can lots of timber being cut and moving south by wagons. Another method would be to move the cut trees down the river in large rafts. I know on the Delaware they used to move timber like that into the 19th century when railroads and canals took the business.

Re: Trade and the Wealth of Nations

Leo M Panther 16 May 2015 11:27

Wouldn't that make the river difficult to traverse for regular shipping? Though that does make for a good: You know you're from Metamor if…

… you ride down a river on a log raft made of trees you cut down with your own teeth.

Re: Trade and the Wealth of Nations

MishaFox 19 May 2015 17:23

Well I don't think the rafts would happen very often and the river is kind of narrow.

Re: Trade and the Wealth of Nations

MatthiasRat 25 May 2015 21:09

The Timber Crews already do this. I wrote about it back in 1999. i did not specifically show it, but I did mention it.

Dominus tecum

Re: Trade and the Wealth of Nations

MishaFox 26 May 2015 17:16

AH! I thought I'd heard it before! Cool. I need to add this to the wiki somewhere!

Re: Trade and the Wealth of Nations

Leo M Panther 16 May 2015 11:23

Very interesting. I was right when I hadn't recognized the trading nations. Then again the Hansoran League and Sorina Company of Merchants aren't listed in the organizations section of the wiki. Something we can work on here, maybe.
Starting with which towns are part of the Hansoran League beyond Menth and Sorin and where they've established a presence. Seeing as the information that is in the wiki states that they trade all the way down to Whales.

Sounds like Metamor has a lot of basic goods it is exporting. No mention of manufactured goods though. Again I'm more or less assuming I just overlooked them but are there any guilds in the Midlands that handle the manufacturing of more luxurious goods? Can Metamor handle the fuel cost of smelting iron ore from Iron mine? Or does it ship our raw ore rather than ingots minus of course what they need themselves and anything they can process into steel?

Curiosity about this does stimulate the creativity in me. For instance I briefly toyed with a story idea where Silk-masters, roughly located,in the Oriental Coastlands learned that foreigners had gotten there own means of making silk. They would then dispatch a guild team (read: Special Forces/Repo-men) down the trade road to find this other source, recapture the silkworms and with extreme prejudice punish those that dared steal from them. However the source turns out to be a silkworm-morph in Metamor. The guild team would then try to convince the silkworm-morph to come with them or if that failed to kidnap or kill the morph so as to maintain their monopoly.
That's as far it got though.

Re: Trade and the Wealth of Nations

MishaFox 19 May 2015 17:26

I'll add those 2 to the Organization list.

And a cool idea for the silk worm morph! I know for centuries the Chinese keep the secret of silk in spite of a lot of efforts to steal it!

Re: Trade and the Wealth of Nations

MishaFox 21 May 2015 17:22

I added them to the list of Organizations and added details.

Re: Trade and the Wealth of Nations

Leo M Panther 21 May 2015 20:39

Thank you. I don't think I've ever properly expressed my appreciation for all you do for this site and this community and your capacity to deal so well with the demands of its members.

Re: Trade and the Wealth of Nations

MishaFox 22 May 2015 06:23

*Blushes

It is always fun in MK. even if dealing with its members is sometimes like trying to herd cats! ;)

Re: Trade and the Wealth of Nations

MishaFox 23 May 2015 04:03

For more information on the MK Economy try the link here - it gives a lot of basic prices. http://mkworld.wikidot.com/metamor-economy