Foreign ports
Overview
Any fleet can, by default, engage in trade with a foreign port. The Empire must be at peace with the nation where the port lies, and that nation must have opened the port to Imperial merchants. Each foreign port provides different rewards to those who visit. These are all classified as trading actions. Each port also lists the rewards a standard fleet will receive, with an upgraded or enchanted fleet getting proportionately more. The production of each port is subject to the whims of diplomacy and commerce. For example, fleets trading with the port of Robec recently started gaining two vials of Kobol's Vigour in place of luxury goods worth 30 rings as a result of diplomatic actions.
Each event the winds of fortune page will have a Trade Summary section with details on specific bonuses or penalties when trading with a given port. These are often the result of player action and are either for a set amount of time or presented with information as to how they might be removed.
The Wider Campaign
By default, trading with a port has no impact on the wider, ongoing campaign unless it is explicitly called out as doing so. Trading with a foreign nation does not influence foreign nations or create opportunities by themselves. No matter how many players choose to trade with Betovering, it will not affect the attitude of the Sarcophan Delves to the Empire unless that has been specifically called out in a wind of fortune.
Axos
There is only one Axou port available to Imperial fleet captains, the Towers of Kantor.
Some Imperial captains prefer to avoid the coastal citadels and trade directly with some of the other citadels. This may involve a short overland trek - neither the Gates of Ipotavo nor the Halls of Maykop are easily accessible by sea. These citadels tend to be less prosperous on average than the coastal citadels themselves, but trade in roughly the same goods.
(OOC: It is fine to role-play trading with one of the other citadels, but your character will receive the same goods as the port they use regardless of where they go in Axos.)
Towers of Kantor
A citadel of Axos, a city of towers and mausoleums built in the foothills of the sky-scraping mountains southern Axos. Where other cities might spread in all directions, the architects of Kantor have chosen to build upwards instead. The towers are of fine white granite - Kantor controls some of the richest deposits of that strange material in the known world - and connected by thick arched bridges. It is said that a citizen of Kantor can live their entire life without once setting foot on the ground if they are wealthy enough. The hills above the city are pocked with entrances to maze-like tombs, guarded by living and dead alike, where lie the ancestors of Kantor - and where the ghosts of sorcerers and merchants alike can be found.
The Towers of Kantor were allegedly founded by the Sorcerer-King whose name they share. A busy metropolis that focuses on trade, the docks of Kantor dispatch black-sailed ships throughout the known world but they are also known as a centre of trade for the entire nation. Not only Axou merchants come to Kantor, but also Skouran traders from across the southern mountains, Sarcophan vessels from the south, and Jarmish vessels from the far east. There are even a few orc merchants in Kantor - the Grendel are as welcome as any others should they wish to risk the smoky, heavily scented bazaars of lower Kantor.
Like all Axou cities, a visitor is never far from a mausoleum, tomb, or memorial to the dead. Like the other Axou citadels, the revered dead of Kantor are interred in chambers beneath the city. Due to the vertiginous buildings that the citizens of Kantor favour, however, the arrangement of the catacombs is significantly less haphazard than in other citadels for fear of undermining the massive structures. Rather, there are said to be a second set of inverted towers built in the spaces between the main structures - sepulchre after sepulchre extending down, down into the dark stone beneath the city and linked by narrow galleries and passages.
In addition to beggar's lye gathered from extensive forest preserves at the foot of the plateau in central Axos, and between the cities, Kantor has extensive mineral wealth gathered both from deep mines in the mountains and trade with Skoura, leading to a bounty of tempest jade and orichalcum. Yet perhaps the most valuable trade good in Kantor is crystal mana - a material they have in such abundance that it has reportedly replaced money among some of the richest families of the citadel.
The Towers are also a source of luxuries unknown in the Empire - exotic foodstuffs, strange wines and spirits brewed with subtle spices, beautiful woollen garments, delicate but hard-wearing ceramics, and disturbing ceremonial articles associated with the practice of the necromantia, funerary urns, and narcotics. Also of interest to Imperial merchants are scrolls and books, which are easily available in Kantor and (unlike those acquired in more distant ports) written in the Imperial tongue. These texts are often quite disturbing, dealing as they commonly do with themes of death, ghosts, and the heretical notions of the strange Axou religion. All of these items fetch a fine price in the Imperial bazaars and among Imperial collectors.
Profits: A standard fleet that engages in trade with the Towers of Kantor will produce 2 measures of beggar's lye, 2 ingots of orichalcum, 2 ingots of tempest jade, 2 mana crystals, and luxury goods worth 24 rings.
Commonwealth
There are two Commonwealth ports available to Imperial fleet captains: Leerdam in the east and Volkavaar in the west. In Leerdam, the Eastern Commonwealth finds its purest expression; traders from across the sprawling nation come to trade with foreign merchants, while mendicant preachers advocate their strange philosophy of "the greatest good" to visitors and residents alike. The mithril spires of Volkavaar are snow-bound all year round. Here, the Commonwealth operates its great university of magic and engineering, and the grand Temple of the Common Good serves as a point of pilgrimage for their strange faith.
Leerdam
Some of the oldest - and arguably richest - cities of the Commonwealth are found in the east. Leerdam serves as a provincial capital, a centre for trade with the rest of the world. Some of the wealthiest people in the Commonwealth are found here, maintaining elaborate townhouses and a lifestyle that might impress an Asavean noble. Following the completion of an embassy in Siroc, a spacious estate on the southern outskirts of the city has been made available to the Imperial civil service to function as an Imperial embassy to the Commonwealth.
Profits: A standard fleet that engages in trade with Leerdam will produce 3 doses of bladeroot, 3 ingots of tempest jade, 3 ingots of green iron and 2 measures of beggar's lye.
Volkavaar
Over the last century a program of public works has transformed the western provinces from isolated rural communities to integrated towns and cities with all the advantages that Commonwealth artisans can provide. Roads snake through dark pinewoods, sturdy stone bridges span previously unfordable rivers, and walls of white granite encircle most settlements. Flimsy wooden structures increasingly give way to granite and weirwood structures; entire new towns have been constructed to house labourers, carefully planned by the professors of the university of Volkavaar.
The progress of this urbanisation has led to a massive demand for building materials and labour. Quarries for white granite have unearthed rich veins of weltsilver in the hills, and the drive to harvest more and more lumber has opened up hitherto unexploited forests dripping with ambergelt. While many of these resources are turned to the great machine that is the Commonwealth's expansion, the surplus is traded across the world. Prior to Spring 380YE, the port of Volkavaar also sold surplus crystal mana produced in great abundance by the magicians of the western provinces. At that time, however, the emphasis in the port shifted away from mana crystals and toward Artisan's Oil.
Profits: A standard fleet that engages in trade with Volkavaar will produce 3 measures of ambergelt, 3 measures of weltsilver and 3 vials of Artisan's Oil.
Faraden
There is only one port in Faraden available to Imperial fleet captains, Caitun in the territory of Menendram. In theory, it might be possible for a ship to travel further south to trade in Jargalan, but the Faraden are clear that Imperial traders are not currently welcome there.
Caitun
Caitun can barely be called a port, at least compared to the great ports of the Empire. The sprawling docks look impressive at first sight, but there are only five berths broad and deep enough to house vessels the size of an Imperial ship. It is the economic heart of Menedram, and while it is no match for one of the great cities of the League, it is easily as big as Sarcombe or Cargo. It bustles with Jotun thralls bringing in overladen caravans weighed down with metals from the Jotun mines in the Red Horns almost every day.
Most of the imported metals are destined for the many forges dotted around the town that prides itself on its blacksmithing. There is a Faraden tradition of a Caitun sword being presented to those adopted into a warrior family, a reflection of the high regard in which Caitun's blacksmiths and artisans are held. Not just weapons are produced here, the forges also do a roaring trade in paraphernalia to provide the magician families of the territory with the accoutrements necessary for their ritual practices.
Profits: A standard fleet that engages in trade with Caitun will produce 1 giant blood whelk, 5 ingots of orichalcum, and 3 ingots of weltsilver.
Iron Confederacy
There is only one port in the Iron Confederacy available to Imperial fleet captains: Robec, in the territory of Veroigne. Robec is the site of the grand temple of Evra the Smith.
Robec
At the mouth of the river Isoiile, the port-town of Robec is one of the largest known settlements in the Iron Confederacy, rivalling Meade in size. It has extensive docks and a fortified keep and a line of sea-defences designed to protect the town from naval assault. After the fort and the port, the largest structure in town is a grand temple to the Suranni god of Smiths, recently expanded with Imperial white granite.
Imperial captains are (somewhat grudgingly) welcomed to this prosperous trading port. Most trade comes from the other Suranni towns along the coast of the Bay of Catazar, and the Sea of Sighs. Imperial visitors often feel as if they are being watched - and most likely they are. The priests of Kavol are particularly alert to ensure that merchants from the Empire do not engage in espionage while on Suranni soil.
Profits: A standard fleet that engages in trade with Robec will produce 4 ingots of green iron, 3 measures of ambergelt, 2 doses of cerulean mazzarine, and 2 doses of Kobol's Vigour.
Sarcophan Delves
There are two ports available to Imperial fleet captains: Betovering and Sarcophan itself. In theory, it would be possible for a ship to travel further up the Umshallah River, but the Sarcophan have intentionally made the river un-navigable beyond the great sweeping bay their city occupies. Anyone wishing to trade with the nations of the interior must do so through Sarcophan.
Built among the tombs of a dead civilisation, on the edge of a fetid herb-rich swamp, the Sarcophan Delves serve as the gateway to an unknown southern continent. The great palace of beggars looms over docks teeming with merchants from all over the known world. Black monoliths stare down with unseeing eyes on the descendants of tomb-robbers and thieves who stole their wealth from the crypts of their predecessors; the wide plazas are flooded with sea water or the fetid mud of the swamps; insects hungry for blood swarm in great black clouds kept at bay by pungent censers and fly whisks. This is Sarcophan, home to some of the richest - and the poorest - people in the world.
Betovering
Access to this luxurious port was secured by the Empire following the Winter Solstice 384YE. The Imperial Senate modified trade agreements with merchants from the Delves to give them free trade at Imperial ports. The delves had offered access to one of three different ports to the Empire, and the Ambassador to the Sarcophan Delves selected Betovering.
Profits: A standard fleet that engages in trade with Betovering will produce 1 mana crystal, 5 ingots of weltsilver, and luxury goods worth 80 rings.
Sarcophan
This great city is half again the size of Sarvos or Temeschwar and has perhaps twice the population of both cities combined. Many more citizens have draughir or briar lineage than is common in the Empire, and here and there among the crowds go the shrouded and masked Bloedzuiger priests.
Sarcophan is the site of one of the wonders of the world, the palace of beggars. Visible to mariners approaching the tomb-city from many miles out to sea, this black stone tower soars nearly four hundred feet into the sky, and is said to extend great flooded galleries down into the ground beneath the city. The Sarcophan people did not build the palace, they merely occupied it when they claimed the city; at night a great beacon shines from the highest level, except on those nights when the Bedelaars meet in their great feast of politics.
Much of the wealth of Sarcophan came originally from the relics and goods they claim from the tombs and mausoleums of the fallen predecessor civilisation, and when a new crypt is uncovered the market is flooded with grave-goods and curios. Today the city thrives on the wealth of the marsh, and on trade with both foreign merchants and traders from the interior. The swamps around the city teem with life, and both Marrowort and Imperial Roseweald are harvested in great abundance. Sarcophan prides itself on being home to some of the most talented apothecaries in the world. A prolific cousin of the beggarwood tree thrives in the stinking water and mud of the marshes, and columns of black smoke rise high into the air throughout the day as the scarred labourers harvest beggar's lye, often using the same furnaces to purify the weltsilver they pull from the tombs, ruins and flooded mines.
Profits: A standard fleet that engages in trade with Sarcophan will produce 3 doses of marrowort and imperial roseweald, 3 measures of beggar's lye and 3 ingots of weltsilver.
Sumaah Republic
There is only one port available to Imperial characters with the fleet resource, Zemeh, where the Sumaah Republic tolerates the presence of foreigners. Since the Winter Solstice 382YE, a white granite highway connects the port of Zemeh with the Sumaah capital city of Timoj. A steady stream of pilgrims from across the known world heads south into the heart of the Republic.
A few Imperial fleets avoid Zemeh and trade with a few of the scattered states to the south of the Republic - adding several weeks to their journey. These smaller states tend to either look to Sumaah for protection, or else are hostile to foreigners of every stripe - in either case they trade in roughly the same goods.
(OOC: It is fine to role-play trading with one of the subject nations, but your character will receive the same goods regardless of whether they go to Zemeh proper or not.)
Zemeh
Ruthlessly egalitarian, the citizens of the Sumaah Republic embrace the Way but disagree with their Imperial cousins on matters of doctrine. Only in Zemeh are traders from the Empire welcome. It is a sprawling jungle-city of secrets, soaring stone pyramids, brooding priests and grim-faced censors who have no patience for those who challenge either their religion or their carefully guarded Prosperity.
Imperial traders visiting Zemeh were often drawn by the opportunity to purchase liao - one of very few places outside the Empire that creates this rare visionary narcotic. Sumaah law has always carefully regulated the sale of liao to non-Imperial traders, considering it a crime verging on blasphemy to sell the substance to those who might use it for irreligious purposes. In 386YE, partly in response to a growing rivalry between Imperial and Sumaah priests in the Sarcophan Delves, the trade of liao to Imperial captains was significantly curtailed. The Sumaah Synod also passed a mandate discouraging the sale of liao to any outsiders. They did not go so far as to make it a crime to sell to Imperial captains; not yet at any rate. But a "discouragement" from the House of Vigilance, and with only token opposition from the House of Prosperity, has almost as much sway in Sumaah as a change in the law from the House of the People. The move was not made out of "fear" of selling liao to the Empire, or spiteful selfishness. Rather, the House recognised that it would need its liao both to for the fight over hearts and minds, and their ongoing battles with the Asavean Archipelago.
In general foreign visitors are made welcome at Zemeh, but they often report a feeling of being watched and their behaviour judged. It is possible that the hot, humid climate is at least partially responsible for the discomfort felt by visitors - Zemeh is on the coast, but the jungles press close to the walls and merchants used to more temperate climes often find it oppressive. Foreigners are not welcome outside the walls of Zemeh - those discovered in the jungle are usually ejected and asked not to return but more serious trespass may result in much more draconian punishment.
It should be noted that the Sumaah Republic is not a police-state, however. The people are often genuinely hospitable and reasonably tolerant of the idiosyncrasies of outsiders - with the exception of Asaveans, who are not welcome here.
The Sumaah are particularly rich in dragonbone which is particularly abundant in the jungles of the interior; their mines provide them with a surplus of orichalcum; and the herb that Imperials know as Imperial roseweald grows especially abundantly in this warm country.
Profits: A standard fleet that engages in trade with Zemeh during downtime will produce 4 ingots of orichalcum, 4 measures of dragonbone and 3 doses of Imperial roseweald.
A new level 1 fleet owned by a starting character is considered to be rank 5. Lower returns are shown for when penalties are applied that reduce the effective rank of a fleet below 5.
Production Table
| Port | Material | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Betovering (The Sarcophan Delves) | Mana Crystal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Money (rings) | 20 | 38 | 56 | 62 | 80 | 98 | 132 | 166 | 184 | 218 | 236 | 258 | 292 | 310 | 344 | |
| Weltsilver | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | |
| Caitun (Faraden) | Giant blood whelk | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Green Iron | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 9 | |
| Orichalcum | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | |
| Weltsilver | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 9 | |
| Kantor (Axos) | Beggar's Lye | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| Mana Crystal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | |
| Money (rings) | 12 | 12 | 12 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 36 | 36 | 48 | 48 | 60 | 60 | 72 | 72 | 84 | |
| Orichalcum | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | |
| Tempest Jade | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |
| Leerdam (Commonwealth) | Beggar's Lye | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 |
| Bladeroot | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
| Green Iron | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | |
| Tempest Jade | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | |
| Robec (Iron Confederacy) | Ambergelt | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 |
| Cerulean Mazzarine | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | |
| Green Iron | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | |
| Money (rings) | 0 | 6 | 12 | 24 | 30 | 48 | 54 | 72 | 78 | 96 | 102 | 120 | 126 | 144 | 150 | |
| Sarcophan Delves (The Sarcophan Delves) | Beggar's Lye | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| Imperial Roseweald | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 10 | |
| Marrowort | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 11 | |
| Weltsilver | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | |
| Volkavaar (Commonwealth) | Ambergelt | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| Artisan's Oil | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | |
| Bladeroot | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | |
| Weltsilver | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | |
| Zemeh (The Sumaah Republic) | Dragonbone | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 |
| Imperial Roseweald | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 10 | |
| Liao | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | |
| Orichalcum | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 |