The Fortunes Favor Trading Company

The Fortunes Favor Trading Company is a trading organization based in the city of Castlemir. It usually does not ship outside the nation, but will occasionally sponsor a caravan when the profits are lucrative. Most of its trade is in storage and movement of local goods in and around the prefecture of Sophra.

Founding

The company is ran and hosted by Count Nicholas Viveron. Nicholas inherited his fathers holdings and land, which were meager compared to that of other nobles. Many in his situation would marry into power, but his love for an elf meant that he would not use marriage to elevate his station. Because of this, he had to find a new way to gain wealth and power and secure his families name for generations.
His acquaintance Duke Algrim Slate had acquired his position from his late father. While the dwarf did not fight in the wars, his people had a strong presence in Castlemir and supplied much of the ore and weaponry used to outfit the army. When Algrim Slate became duke, he was faced with a problem. His people had difficulty traversing the rocky terrain and getting their goods to the capital for smelting and forging.
Count Nicholas had fought in the Pelinevian Wars as a lieutenant horse commander, a series of rapid skirmishes fought on the border of Suilley against an upstart who fancied himself king. When Nicholas had returned, he had watched many of his fellow soldiers fall upon hard times, failing to find work, suffering from nightmares and often becoming homeless, resorting to banditry, or worse.
He saw an opportunity to solve two problems at once. He reached out to many of his former comrades, and formed the Fortunes Favor Trading Company. Being a Count, he had little issue getting a charter from the City, and set about becoming the middleman in moving goods from A-to-B. He first converted some of his property in the city, as well as out, to storage yards and warehouses. He bought carts, horses, mules, oxen, whatever four legged animal could pull a cart. This combined with his promise of a guarantied and timely deliveries, quickly garnered him contracts.
He also worked with the Rhaiin Temple to provide counseling and help to the former soldiers, and provided them with stable work. Some took to the moving of goods, some would guard the caravans, and a thriving enterprise took hold. Retired soldiers proved to be exceptional guards, and not a single caravan was lost in the first year of the company's expansion.

A New Enterprise

The company would likely have not been as much of a success it became if not for a new invention. Count Nicholas had been to Manas and saw a unique thing: a coiled spring. It was still a relatively new contraption, and few applications for the technology had thus been utilized. He noted that the coil seemingly regained its shape after being compressed, and the duke had an idea. After consulting with Master Inventor Glorif Stoneborn II of the Guild of Magical Machinations, and many weeks of tinkering, the count worked the coil into a new type of suspension. In combination with the existing leaf spring suspension commonly found on quality cards, the addition of springs made the rough terrain found in the Indepii Region much more manageable. He also worked with the inventor on reinforcing the wheels with metallic plating and small spikes to make the traversal even easier.
With a royalty from the invention idea, and a brand new type of cart, he became adept at moving goods through difficult terrain, an invaluable part of gaining contracts.

Expansion

Over time the count became the defacto mover for goods to and from the area around Castlemir. He developed numerous warehouses spread across the Sophra prefecture, and a system of trade that made it easy to move them within the region. He also began plans to spread his ingenuous system further throughout the country, before running into setbacks.

Present Times

Until recently few problems had been encountered by the organization, but with success comes pushback. Some council members saw the profits he made and wanted a slice for themselves, and pushed to increase the taxes on the company. While touted to help pay for public utilities, it seemed few had actually been constructed in that time, and many think it was just embezzlement. This would not have been a catastrophic financial burden if it were not combined with the attacks.
Numerous caravans have been hit by what looks like monster attacks, on what had previously been safe routes. This has occurred across all three of the prefecture of Sophras regions. On top of this, bandits have become seemingly more brazen, attacking even armed caravans. A third and final financial burden has fallen upon the organization as one of their warehouses had been hit, leading to an even greater financial loss.
With a significant investment into the Darius family coffers, Duke Nicholas has sought aid from the senate of Suilley themselves by having the family senator propose a bill to request aid. He wishes the crown spend money to secure the northern region, both to aid with trade, but also to bring safety to the crowns subjects.
He see's this as a last ditch effort, and has sent his son to Manas to meet with one of the Darius family to discuss the opportunity to gain access to the Senate building and have a chance to talk to others and convince them of the bills worthiness.
He now prays to many gods that this plan works and the proposal passes, but refuses to put all his eggs in one basket. Where there is a will, there is a way, and Count Nicholas continues to seek out other options for maintaining the profitability and safety of his mercantile company.

Portraits

Count Nicholas Viveron