Flow of the Coins aka Merchant Guilds and Stores

What comes around

The trade and the shipping of goods in Koria is controlled by three big merchant guilds. All three of them are acknowledged by nearly every government and powerful organisation. There are some smaller nations (and the Northern Realms) which are not very fond of them, but none of them is making any trouble because every merchant guild is powerful enough to wipe out entire armies. Or has the gold to buy armies.

There are three main guilds on the continent of Koria:

• Divided Feast
• Desertwalker (sometimes called Friends of the Desert)
• Fallows & Sons

Lets take a look at them, shall we?

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Divided Feast

The first and oldest guild is the Divided Feast, a remnant of old, originated from different families in the north-east hemisphere. It was founded by six merchant families. They were trying to combine their wealth and their power and because of their past they decided to name the new formed guild Divided Feast, because originally they shared all of their assets and now the comitee is gathered from every family to ensure that the Divided Feast is growing and flourishing.

Warehouses & Stores

The warehouses of the Divided Feast are primarly build out of wood and stone and have no distinct architecture. They only have the crest on their frontdoor and sometimes not even that. Most of them are guarded by mercenaries or Divided Feast soldiers. Some of them are protected by bannisters or heavy Ritual of Lock spells and in rare cases there is also a magic-wielder involved.

The stores of the Divided Feast are also very simplistic: a counter in the back, a small treasure chamber behind it, wares in the middle of the store, guards at the - mostly only - entrance, cheap protection spells and sometimes small magical traps for thieves. Smaller mobile merchants with food and drinks settle around those stores because normally the Divided Feast doesn't provide refreshments. The stores look mostly the same, just plain wood and earth, sometimes stone.

The warehouses try to restock the stores at least once a week.

Crest

Crest of the Divided Feast Merchant Guild by CrazyEddie via Midjourney

Trading

The Divided Feast is mostly the layer between the nobility and the normal citizens of the nations in their trading area. Their influence and range of operation spanned over most of the east part of Koria, from the coast to the battlefields in the close proximity of the former kingdom of Ganguk, now home to the Spiral and the Black Fortress. They even supply a big part of the army, the village before the Fortress and the Fortress itself.

In their way of operating the Divided Feast tries to be the buffer for nobility so they don't have to attend the market if they didn't want to. So the merchants of the Divided Feast are sometimes the personal suppliers of entire nobel families.

"Wheat? White wheat?"
"No, you imbécil, I said gold wheat. My master wants gold wheat."
"My deepest apologies, Sir. Our supplier has to bring it in this week so your master has his gold wheat at the end of the week."
"I hope so, for you. He is not an ordinary man, my master. Do not disappoint, merchant."

— Impatient servant to the nobels private merchant

Assets

The Divided Feast merchant guild has its own merchants, suppliers, gold and a small, but strong military. They are trained well and for many years so they can fight like heroes.

Influence

Since the incident with the Spiral happened, the Divided Feast guild fostered their influence at large. They were small at the first time, a few years before the incident itself, but piece by piece they gathered forces, gold and influence in the kingdoms around Ganguk, spanning the entire way to Chanvilesia and the southern ocean.

Nowadays they are sometimes the only merchants in a city, not even private merchants are coming into those towns, cities or villages.

Cooperation

This guild is trying the be the best and only choice for the citizens and nobility (if they don't have private merchants) so every other merchant retires, moves away or even changes profession. The guild can dictate prices, can shorten supplies or disrupt the flow of coins and specific goods entirely. Which they had done in the past.

The guild has loose connections to the other two merchant guilds, but they are not happy about having competition.

The Divided Feast guild is trying to get a contract with the Golden Hoard Capital and Investment Management for doing commerce with them and in their halls, but the Golden Hoard - or more the Dragonborn - is not so fond of the doings and company practices of the Divided Feast.

Services

The Divided Feast merchant guild provides not many services. There are only two real services: contracted merchants for nobles and private contractors under their crest. The biggest problem here is that the merchant guild is offering a lousy contract with very little profit to the contractors and so most of them retire from their service and doing something else.

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Desertwalker

The Desertwalker, sometimes called "Friends of the Desert", are the second merchant guild in Koria and originates from the sunny state of Pisocenia. It was designed around the thought of supplying the smaller villages around the dry desert and in it with everything they need.

Warehouses & Stores

Normally they do not have any giant warehouses like the Divided Feast or the Fallows. They do have some, but most of the goods are on its way and are stored on carriers or the Sandwalker Sledges if they are large enough.

The stores are more of a large tent and can be set up rather quickly. If a storm approaches, most of the tents have large iron poles nailing the tent to the ground and you can close them with strong ropes. Everything and everyone inside is well protected, even when it is not looking that way.

Crest

Desertwalker Merchant Guild Crest by CrazyEddie via Midjourney

Trading

The Desertwalkers are covering Pisocenia, the east right up to Ganguk, the Emerald Planes and what is left of the kingdom of the Longardir. They cover everything around the Long Neck and are the one of a few trade options for the Caves of Joy, since the Desertwalkers are the only guild - and so the only merchants - that are allowed to trade with chocolate beans. And they defend it with fire, blood and steel.

They operate in all of the layers of citizenship, that means that even a noble can be a merchant and so the Desertwalkers trade with everyone who has the coin to acquire their goods. There might be a few merchants to royality, nobility or just wealthy people who are doing trades just for and with them, but normally every merchant under the protection of the guild can do business with everyone and can turn down customers. At their own risk, of course.

Assets

The Desertwalkers doesn't have any assets besides gold and a few guild houses in smaller cities and Mearis. But they have coin and allegiances from other people, so they have an enormous pool of assets they can draw from, mostly without questions asked. Their contracts with the chocolate plantations allows them to gather coins and contract a lot of desert guards. Mostly archers and swordsmen, but there are also two regiments of mobile cavalry on standby.

At the guild houses they house a few Sandwalker Sledges, outfitted to travel fast or to travel with heavy payload. In the north, east and west parts of Pisocenia they built a few stash houses where the Sledges are emptied and the goods stashed and prepared for the transport per carriage.

Influence

Normally the Desertwalkers do not interfere in political arrangements and are most likely not involved into those shenanigans, but due to their loyal customers it could be that a whispered word is enough to tip the scales to one side or the other.

"Ah, you know... the sand is wandering slowly these days and since the days of the old man we can't reach most of our good old tradepartners in the port. It is a shame I can't even visit my family because of my lineage and so the trading routes are as dry as a river in the summer heat."
"A shame indeed. What are those circumstances that preventing a wise young man as you to not see his family? Let me check if we can do something about this."

— The Vacant with one of the higher-ups merchants

Cooperation

The Friends of the Desert are a human-exklusive trading company. They do not cooperate with the Divided Feast (they think they are rascals) and have a loose trading contract with Fallows & Sons, because they find them honourable to a degree.

"Human-exclusive" in this context means that there are only humans in the guild itself. They do trade with other species and offering them the same contracts, rates and fees as they are offering their human contractors & customers.

They do ship resources to the Black Fortress and can deliver goods faster than Fallows & Sons to the Fortress and the Mortal Gods because of their way to evade the Emerald Planes.

Services

The Desertwalkers provide all kinds of services when it includes shipping goods. That includes postal deliveries, armoured transports and even the shipping of living beings.

Show spoiler

The Desertwalkers are the only guild out of the three merchant guilds which provides a certain amount of slave-trading with their shipping services. They do not participate in the capturing or selling, just in the transport.

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Fallows & Sons

The guild of "Fallows & Sons", originated in Hulwar, is the only merchant guild run by an entire family and by one family alone. This means if you want to be part of the ruling family, you have to marry into the Fallow family. They are just known as "the Fallows" after their founding father Fallow and doesn't bother with a surname.

Organisation, sales and direction of the guild is managed by various members of the Fallows family. In the first three decades only the sons were allowed to take positions inside the guild, but after a huge argument - and the loss of sons during the Spiral incident - women were also allowed to take up positions inside the organisation structure, even in the leading roles. After proper training of course which the sons also had to attend before taking any position in the family business.

Warehouses & Stores

The general warehouses in smaller and larger cities are sturdy buildings, built with big block of rocks, reinforced with iron bands and iron poles. They have mostly two entrances, both reinforced with a medium Ritual of Lock and a good airflow system which means there isn't a bit of still standing air and it comes out from beneath the roof.

The stores are built in a similar way, two entrances, big open windows, a cashier at the sides and guards scattered throughout the store and outside of it. Some storefronts have space for horses, but that is the exception. Most of the normal stores are built besides normal living spaces and other stores, so they blend in except for the crest Fallows family.

Crest

Crest of the Fallows & Sons Merchant Guild by CrazyEddie via Midjourney

Trade

Fallows & Sons is doing trades and contracts with everyone they seem fit, even with the Garladan nation of Chanvilesia. They work with the Desertwalkers and in some occasions even with the Divided Feast. Fallows & Sons provide a huge amount of goods and transports for the protection of the citizenship of Koria regarding the Spiral. They get a fair share of gold for this service from Hulwar and other nations.

Being the largest merchant guild they also contract private merchants or let them alone, but can dictate prices and rates for services. Most merchants are better with the guild than without.

Assets

Fallows & Sons provides protection and military services and has a fair amount of private guardsman or mercenaries as well. Most of them are used for protecting their own merchants and stores, but some are up for rent. The family also trains their own guardsman, which is fairly a better deal than hiring trained warriors.

Besides those they have a huge amount of deposits in different Golden Hoard vaults and they provide a huge pile of coins and artefacts to different projects around the vaults.

Influence

Fallows & Sons are a family not to be trifled with. They have their fingers in private merchants, sometimes they own entire families because of debts and their higher-ups (speaking organisation and management) are eating with wealthy nobles and royality. And they do not speak of it, but they have or do not have an Inquisitor on their payroll. And some other, equally shady, elements.

Cooperation

Fallows & Sons is doing trades with nearly everyone, except for the Goblins. They cooperate with the Desertwalker and provide resources for the Black Fortress and the Mortal Gods. In exchange for coins of course. They do have ships on their own and sometimes even trade with the Northern Realm when the Golden Hoard is not doing trades with them.

Services

Fallows & Sons is providing every kind of service what has to do with trading. That includes shipping, handling, storing, acquiring and searching for the best routes. One can send letters, packages, even whole carriages with Fallows & Sons, even livestock and/or other living beings. They also provide a few interims sales manager one can hire to broker difficult or important - or both - bargains.