Like flies around fresh meat, pirates swarm the waters of Umera, hungry for wealth.
Asmodieu Lyon, Knight of Umera
Trade is bustling in Mellanvärlden, each kingdom and city state have their own trade specialty and main necessity. As ships loaded with glass traverse the ocean from Argontos, another dozen travel the way back, loaded with weapons, silver and spices, this, multiplied greatly, is how much trade that goes on in the Waters of Wintermar.
Given how it represents plain madness to sail in the Eastern Sea and how dangerous and generally, less convenient it is for caravans to go by land, the western waters of Mellanvärlden represent the grand stage where commerce flows, in which the more skilled and technologically develop get the profit more and monopolize trade routes. An example of this is Sarusa, which charges exorbitant fees to lend ships to other nations, whilst also charging for the payment of their own sailors, so that their secret routes, naval breakthroughs and technology doesn't reach other nations.
Moreover, given the amount of wealth that crosses every inch of water, taking such products by force is also a profitable trade, as piracy currently experiences a high never seen before, with pirate lords mustering whole armadas in order to take by force the most valuable of cargoes. And so, although most nations are used to the Trerian threat from the north, the most southern routes were long said to be safer and also faster, but given the increase in commerce in the latest century, more and more pirates have arisen.
They can turn even the smallest coves and bays around the ocean as their hideouts, waiting for the best opportunity to strike, while their contacts in the continent keep them informed of potential targets that might leave ports, calculating risks as merchants grow ever so wary of sailing without an escort. This, in turn, gives value to those whose trade
is escorting, another field
Sarusa has been monopolizing, as their recent invention, the cannon, is greatly feared by pirates and trerians alike.
Furthermore, as of 1021, word have been spreading about pirate settlements spread out in the Wintermar Ocean and how their strength grows not only in numbers, but also in gear and power.
