Travel in Starhelm is dangerous and arduous. Essillion and Avandar have been separated for centuries and have survived well over the last few centuries with their neighbours. Since the destruction of Starhelm City the road that connected those two cities has been mostly impassable, and extremely dangerous. It usually takes half a year to travel from one city to the other, and that assumes you make it there at all. Some can go north or south to reach the other end of the continent, but the distance and danger is great, with very few making the trek. While it does happen occasionally it is not often so any who have visited the other city become popular for a time as everyone tries to get news and information about the wide world.
In the past, discussion about opening up a defended and traversable road between the two cities has been met with resistance but the desire to make it happen has been increasing of late.
Water travel to and from Starhelm is limited, typically extending around the continent, with deep sea travel happening very rarely. Since the Fractioning the seas on the west coast have churned and swelled, causing many dangerous whirlpools, harsh weather, and the reawakening of dangerous sea monsters. Travel to the other continents is extremely hazardous and most can only make it one way. Avandar is currently at a crossroads as some are trying to open sea travel again and bring contact with the other continents, while others are looking to reclaim their lost land on the mainland. The sea travel on the east coast is rare due to the lack of safe harbours, the Crystal Cliffs, and the Spiked Shore. Denethen’s Mantle prevents most from docking or finding entrance into the mainland, so most do not bother to make the trip to Starhelm from the east.
Trade
Trade on Starhelm is vibrant and can be quite exciting, but the days of far-traveling merchants is in the past. In both Avandar and Essillion they mostly barter or trade with a set group of partners, with the occasional travel north or south to extend their profits. Friendly neighbours trade with each other most often. Near
Essillion and the
The Barrier Guard of Denethen,
Gnomes,
Halflings,
Elves, Dwarves, and
Humans have some new and long-standing trade agreements. The Gnomes of
Hollow's Point are very adept at trading and make great merchants. They extend the furthest, from the
Goliaths of the
Northguard Plains and the Elves of
Aspenshield Forest, all the way down to the Halflings near the
Lake of Battered Helms. Essillion does a lot of trade with their long-time allies the Dwarves and the Halflings, but of late they are doing good business with the Gnomes of Hollow’s Point, and through them the Elves of Aspenshield.
On the west side of the continent Humans,
Grippli, and Elves trade freely amongst each other, with the Elves and Grippli teaching the Humans the benefits of their nature lore. The northern Grippli do trade with the Halflings and Dwarves of
Denethen's Helm, while the barbarians of the
Steppes of Centos barter and trade for useful and practical items with each other or the Halflings of
Burrowfast.
The south and east part of the continent sees the Elves trading with the people of
Stonebridge, the barbarians and Goliaths of the
Southguard Plains and the Grippli of the
Marsh of Menlos .
The Witch Queen trades with the
Goblinkind or The
Fallen, but she typically looks for slaves, knowledge, weapons, armour, magic items, or body parts (or whole bodies) for her evil experiments. She has amassed a great deal of treasure from the ruins of Starhelm as well as the remains of those who oppose her. Most of it she does not need so she freely makes ‘better deals’ for that which others think are less precious.
Merchant Companies
The
Proud Purveyor of Parfin's Precious Prizes is the closest thing to a travelling merchant company. More a collection of
Parfin worshippers or believers than a true merchant company, this group has amassed a lot of treasure and knowledge that they offer to those willing to pay (with money, lodging, information, interesting tidbits). Their leader is Johnson Mulgrew, who has most recently been inducted into the upper echelons of the group. He is a later convert to Parfin, but he has a very keen mind for economics and logistics, making him a favourite of his peers. Their main base of operations is in Avandar, but they have traveled as far as Stonebridge in the south and the Northguard Plains in the north. They have yet to make it to Hollow’s Point or beyond, but Johnson’s goal is to circumnavigate the continent, touching on all points and trading with all civilized races.
Ballor's Supply and Merchant Goods operates in
Avandar and
Brightwave currently, but they are looking to expand to other towns or cities like Brightbough, Stonebridge, or even Burrowfast. They are very careful about their expansion plans, making sure not to grow too quickly and overextend themselves. Currently they are securing their place in Avandar and the west coast before venturing out to other cities.
The
Hollow's Point Art and Artifact Consortium is a specialized merchant company that operates out of Hollow’s Point. They work with rare and distinct items, either found or crafted. They are a favourite of adventurers who will often be hired by them to look for unique items, guard those items, or deliver them to their buyer. Unlike Five P (as they call Proud Purveyors of Parfin’s Precious Prizes), or Ballor’s, this Consortium has no interest in relocating, traveling, opening up other locations, or expanding. They like where they are and are happy to get workers or volunteers to do the traveling and hard work of delivering their merchandise for them.
Coinage & Currency
The most common form of trade comes in the form of bartering or trading for goods. However, there is coin associated with both Essillion and Avandar. While equally accepted in both locations the coins of the two cities rarely end up outside their originating locations. Hollow’s Point and Stonebridge both use Essillion coin when dealing with currency. The Dwarves of Shalehaven have specific coin that they use when dealing with surface folk to make them feel better, but Dwarves do not typically deal in coin amongst themselves.
The Elves and Halflings mostly trade, barter, or just gift each other with items as is appropriate. Goliaths do not have coinage or currency and do not see the value in it, outside of the use of them as raw materials to be melted down and fashioned into tools and weapons. Goblins do not use coin or currency, but they are happy to steal it or hoard it as a sign of their victories over lesser creatures. The Fallen use coin in the Underdark amongst their cities but it rarely makes its way up to the surface. Minotaurs deal in items, barter, trade, coin, gems, or anything that they can use to create things. Krysin haggle, barter, steal, or get others to secure things for them.
Common Coinage
The coins of Essillion are shaped like a triangle for all types except gold which is round. They also have a special coin called Kingscoin, made of electrum, worth five silver pieces. Though most other places don’t commonly use Kingscoin, they do usually accept it as legitimate form of currency. Avandar on the other hand, doesn’t use coin, they use what they call sheets. Sheets represent the same currency as coins, except they are made out of dyed Avandarian paper. They are denoted with different names; copper pieces are dyed brown and called Boots, in reference to Parfin; silver pieces are dyed grey and are called Scales in reference to Mirriam; gold pieces are dyed yellow and are called Gavels in reference to Vocerix and finally, platinum pieces are dyed blue and called Stars in reference to Alucar.
Trade Bars
Starhelm does not deal in trade bars, but IOUs are common, particularly between Essillion and the Dwarves or Halflings. Halflings like IOUs, but they rarely put them on paper when dealing with other Halflings; they just naturally keep track.
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