Merchant

In earlier times Merchants travelled the countryside not only trading goods and wares but also providing people with news from other villages or far away lands. Due to the nature of their business they had access to lands, settlements and tribes that others did not. Providing some communities with hard to find goods or warnings of war went a long way in gaining favor.

As the complexity of goods increased and settlement sizes climbed, so did the accumulation of wealth for these tradesmen and women. While some merchants still travelled from community to community, others established permanent shops while still others built collapsible stalls to profit from large gatherings of people. These early entrepreneurs carved out one of the most profitable and competitive trades in all of Aborlon.

Niches were created as the needs of communities evolved. Traveling merchants were replaced by trade caravans, large warehouses made it possible for merchants to hold auctions and the ability to start selling plots of land to commoners became lucrative as wealth began to distribute more evenly. As the approach to trade diversified, so to did the types of merchants.

In Aborlon there are three specialized forms of merchants. There are the common merchants selling their goods from a storefront, traveling wagon or market stall. They will usually specialize either in a specific type of good or focus on the needs of a certain industry. While general goods stores still exist, most merchants prefer to master a specific niche. These merchants are called Vendors.

As commoners began to earn more for their toil many sought to own their own houses, farms and businesses. This of course is made possible by the lords of the land allowing such ownership to exist among the commoners, but is facilitated by shrewd merchants known as Surveyors. They can recognize what a lot of land has to offer and market it accordingly. Some will hire Irrigation Specialists to make a plot more marketable to a specific type of customer.

Lastly, with the construction of secure warehouses many merchants have turned to the lucrative art of running auctions. These Auctioneers, stockpile large quantities of goods, buying them at lower cost due to the large quantity that they purchase and then break that stock into smaller portions and sell it for a profit. In addition, they can take high profile items and allow the customers to bid them, thereby allowing the desire for that item to drive the price, sometimes at remarkable levels of profit.