Introduction
There are five distinct trading systems in Aestis, the biggest of which being the Levatium (the part of the continent dominated by the power of the Levat, Arc's principle currency and bill of exchange) which extends across the Greater Arc Sea and into much of the Arcish hinterlands and as far as the Mill Lands. The next significant trading system is that of the Del'Marahi's Caravan Imperium, the trade empire that emanates from the south, penetrates Del'Vettor and the Molvar, the Vire and even the southern reaches of the Haatchi Territory. The North Reach is a perilous sea lifeline that keeps Ghotharand connected to the rest of the north and even the ports of
Enarin in Mordikhaan (the Ghothars cannot be too discerning about who they trade with). The Olorian Chochomi path is a network of river trade that flows from the Olorian Delta to Trothkhanan,
The Vire and into
Veska and represents one of the largest networks of commerce anywhere in the world. The final trade route is that of the Lekhandi, a mixture of
The Haatchi Territory Swithick and southern Arclandish horse and textiles trade that stretches from
Wardenhal to Pelonastra to Tenguri and
Taeor ; hardened Arclanders and Swithicks that have earned the respect of the Haatchi and know horses as well as them drive herds of stallions and wagons of goods in a circular route around the southern roads of the Arclands. Each of these trading systems was identified in the Harenian precepts (a series of famous debates in the year -366 KB where the philospher Miklaus Coryn attempted to define the nature of human weakness, believing it to be avarice), and was called an 'imperium'. The power and the reach of the Levat is certainly consistent with the idea of an empire; Arc's protectors always intended for the city to function as the hub of an unofficial empire of debt and trade. The Caravan Imperium (a term considered a grave insult by many Del'Marahans) could likewise be seen as an empire of trade, though Del'Marahan philosophers from Phef wrote as early as -1380 KB that trade should not be seen as a means of the extension of power. Instead it was claimed by them (and hotly contested by Harenians ever since) that trade was the expression of some universal will, countless beings exchanging in the pursuit of their own wellbeing, something that trancended the machinations of any state. It was the scholastic cup bearer to Archimandrite Dephasus, Tayme Tarardin, who pointed out that if this were so, then how did the Pheffists explain the vast surpluses accumulated by Arc? This, Tarardin argued, was no happy accident, instead it was a caculated policy of domination via coin, not through sword. One of his chief critics (though they were also friends and corresponded throughout their lives) was Armast Moyle, the poet and duellist of Nathmay. Moyle, before he was killed in a tavern brawl in -804, argued that powerful states were indeed empires of coin, but they also required the sword in equal measure. He claimed that every war and conflict across the continent had 'reason of gold' behind it and that merchant caravans followed in the footsteps of armies. In this article, we'll explore the main empires of trade and their history, evolution and maintainance.
The Levatium
As previously discussed in the article
The Levat and Modern Arcish Currency, the paper promisory note that underpins the Arcish economy, the Levat, maintains its value from the nature of citizenship in Arc (see
Debt and Citizenship in Arc) and this means that beyond the city's walls the Levat has a revered status as an instrument of trade, it is believed widely that whilst the value of gold can be manipulated, the value of the Levat cannot (it is a currency that is propped up, quite literally, by the human soul and its longing for freedom). Few merchants are powerful and wealthy enough to trade exclusively in Levats, many keep a sheaf of them in reserve and almost all keep their existence a closely guarded secret, and and plethora of mercenaries and spies known as Promisories serve lords and bankers to keep their levats safe or return stolen notes. The Levatium is thought of as anywhere directly connected to Arc by a trade route where the Levat is a key instrument of trade. Arcish ships with the banner of the house of Torres, the first bank to issue the Levat (a fist holding lightning, an insignia to emphasise the power of wealth that can be contained within the hand), cross the seas with goods to trade and the insignia is flown to show that only Levats will be accepted for the cargo. Arcish banks are always keen to buy back as many Levats as possible, knowing the they have a financial value beyond simply being a robust currency for trading with. Cynics in ports and territories once controlled by the Arc Empire have long observed that there is precious little difference between the direct military control that Arc once exercised and the trade stranglehold that the Levat guarantees. The end result, in both instances, was the flow of gold into Arc at the expense of periphery states.
The Caravan Imperium
Whilst it is often overlooked and ignored to the north, Del'Marahans are wealthier, citizen for citizen, than Arclanders and it is the caravan imperium that has facilitated such improved living standards. Del'Marahan merchants look in puzzlement at Arc's debt based economic system and view it with suspicion and no small amount of disgust.
Del'Marah's apportionment of value comes from the steps of the great temples of Phef, where the judges of the city (Del'Marah's religious hierarchs) long ago created a complex mechanism for value calculation around two measures of salt and oil. A khym (an amount of salt that can be heaped in the palm of an adult hand) and a khyr (an amount of oil that can be contained within a goblet) are the means by which everything from wine to silk to sandalwood to rice is valued at. Both khym and khyr can be translated into units of currency (the daesi, or beads of silver that Del'Marahan travelling merchants, the Oskri, use to store their earnings with). The Del'Marahans don't have a name for the system of trade that crosses the south, centred in Del'Marah itself; Pheffists look upon the act of classifying and commodifying things as unseemly and unnecessary. Long caravans of horse, camel and even elephant cross the plains, mountains and coasts of the south, and what is truly remarkable about the caravan imperium is the lack of any tradition of book keeping or accounting. Del'Marahan daesi work from the broadly held cultural assumption that to cheat them is foolish (a village where daesi men no longer wish to sell their wares looses access to salt, cardamoms, wine and linen), and that swindlers inevitably cheat themselves in the long run. It is assumed, of course, that in the life of a merchant he will be swindled many times, and that the merchant themselves may swindle, but that trade offers another purpose than simple enrichment, it is the means by which all things flow and the realm itself stays in harmony. For this readson the daesi merchants are held in high regard and are often blessed by the judges of Phef, being second only to them in spiritual renown.
The North Reach
It is customary, at the docks of Khozan in
Ghotharand , for mothers to wear mourning shrouds as their sons board the Lyvaarten ships for the first time. Roughly a third of them never see their homeland again. A combination of deadly storm tossed seas, brutal conditions onboard, violence at the Uthar ports (see more about these below) along the route and ever present diseases like the shaking sickness lead to a huge loss of life. Those that do return are reportedly never the same, scarred by their travels and hardened by the westerly wind. The North Reach is Ghotharand's lifeline, a country that slowly sinks into impoverishment desperately needs the gold that the North Reach trade run brings. Even when the Ghothar people are hungry, King Roharradh continues to export smoked fish and eel, grain, hides, the peat dug that makes such rich fuel for fires and timber. The many critics of the king point out that Ghotharand's impoverished status and its poor diplomatic hand have led to it engaging in ever weaker trade deals with the merchants along the North Reach (Arcites know that any debtor nation or outpost that genuinely refuses to pay can easily be battered into line by the city's forces and favourable terms are always available to them on this basis; King Roharradh has no such capacity). The Uthar Ports are a series of once Ghothar run outposts along the northern shores of Aestis between Ghotharand and Mordikhaan. Many of these small wooden forts, now half rotting, have become havens for small time would be warlords, thieves and pirates. Others have fallen to Mordikhaan's influence and are easy places for sailors to catch a blade in the ribs or vanish entirely.
The Chochomi Path
It's entirely possible that the entire Chochomi Path isn't known to any one person. Olorians think of it as akin to a great tree that grows from the Olorian Delta all the way to the great city of Kallah. The Chochomi is a vast interlinking network of trade routes that are mainly traversed by boat and canoe, sometimes crossing overland. Chochomi is the annual ritual of the rice harvest, where baskets of the grain are shared and distributed between tribes and the original Chochomi Path was a means of sailing rice to distant monasteries and holy places across
Oloris where monks prayed and tended shrines. As the monks were not farmers, they were dependent on Olorian villages feeding them and so rice circulated far beyond the paddies that it had been grown in. Those Olorian faithful who fed the monasteries, taking months of supplies sometimes were known as Khoida (blessed of the waters) and over time they bought and sold goods from the villages along the hundreds of different routes. This lengthened the Chochomi Path journey from one month to sometimes close to four. In the Olorian winter, a time of heavy rains and storm surges, just after the autumn rice harvest and through to the spring the rivers of the delta surge with boats of all descriptions, some taking rice to monasteries that Olorian families have been connected to for generations, where monks will give blessings on behailf of their guests to the spirits of the delta. Some Chochomi boats rarely visit a monastery and simply trade up and down the delta under the pretense of piety.
The Lekhandi
There are no people in Aestis who understand horses like the Haatchi do. The rearing, breaking and selling of horses is deeply embedded in their culture and identity and their journey from foal to stallion or mare is a sacred part of Haatchi culture. The circular journey from the tribal lands of the south to the capital of Tenguri is part trade system (saddles, blankets, swords, food and jewellery are all bought and sold by the horse traders as they cross the Haatchi territory and beyond), but it is also part of the means by which the tribes of the Haatchi weave themselves together into a federation and a people unified against outsiders. Villages of each different Haatchi tribe principally encounter other tribes through the Lekhandi. It is almost unthinkable at this time of the year (early spring to summer, before the hot season makes most travel impossible), that travelling horse drovers (Nakuri) will face anything other than hospitality in villages on their path, or they will behave with anything other than honour, honesty and courtesy. This is because the Haatchi aren't welcoming one another into their villages in so much as they are welcoming in horses; to have fine stallions and mares drink from wells and graze on village lands is considered to be immense good fortune and villages often compete to see how many Nakura (herds of horses, led by the Nakuri) will visit their villages throughout the season. Many villagers are familiar with the visiting Nakuri and the Nakuri in turn have favoured villages they like to visit, owing to hospitality and old friends. Some Nakuri are lured away to settle in the villages where they visit, often starting families there and joining new tribes. The bonds of trade, thus, are not just about the exchange of goods but are an intricate dance of cultural respect, heritage, and mutual reliance. The horses carry not just the physical weight of textiles and trade goods but also the weight of tradition and the spirit of the Haatchi.
Conclusion
In the end, the arteries of trade that crisscross Aestis are more than mere channels for commerce; they are the lifeblood of civilizations and the tapestry of cultures interwoven across this vast continent. The Levatium, with its debt-bound currency, extends Arc’s influence, binding far-off lands to the city’s power through the power of the Levat. The Del’Marahan Caravan Imperium eschews formal systems for a deeply cultural and religious approach to trade, emphasizing harmony and fairness over profit, and thus spreading not just wealth but also a philosophy of interdependence. Ghotharand’s North Reach, perilous and unforgiving, exemplifies the raw determination to survive and the grave costs that often accompany the pursuit of economic stability. The Chochomi Path, flowing like the rivers it traverses, carries the essence of Olorian spirituality and communal support, knitting together a society through shared faith and sustenance. And the Lekhandi encapsulates a journey of unity, heritage, and identity, with the hoofbeat of every horse echoing the heartbeats of the Haatchi people.
These trading systems collectively underscore a profound truth within the Arclands – that trade is far more than the exchange of goods for currency. It is a confluence of belief systems, a negotiation of values, and a shared quest for well-being that transcends borders. Each transaction is a thread in the fabric of society, each route a story, and each exchange a verse in the grand narrative of Aestis. Through trade, empires rise and fall, cultures clash and coalesce, and communities find common ground in the universal language of commerce. The imperium of trade is thus a cultural phenomenon, shaping and reflecting the societies it touches.
Here, amidst the bustling markets and along the winding roads of Aestis, the true power of trade is revealed – not merely in the gold and Levats that change hands, but in the exchange of ideas, the spread of innovation, and the enduring connections formed between people of distant lands. Trade, in its purest form within these Arclands, is a testament to the indomitable spirit of its peoples – striving for prosperity, seeking understanding, and always, always, building towards a future where every hand, whether holding a Levat or a daesi, is extended in an offer of peace and partnership. As the goods flow and caravans march on, so too does the saga of Aestis, woven by the hands of traders and told in the language of the universal will to thrive.
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