TEXT:  
   
  Board Enterprises proudly presents 
  Build Your Fantasy World in  
  Small Bites 
   
  THE MERCHANT WARS OF 
  FORSBURY 
   
  aka All About Caravans & Cartage 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
   
  2
   
  INTRODUCTION 
   
   
  If you’re new to Small Bites - Welcome!  We’re 
  glad you’re here! 
   
  This month’s edition really feels like it needs to be 
  two separate books, and maybe it should have been.  It is 
  all about the merchant cartels of Forsbury, some of the 
  most aggressive and ambitious traders and salesmen in 
  the world.  These folks have really changed the course of 
  commerce on the continent of Drentae.  Not only are 
  they moving goods efficiently, but they’ve begun to 
  threaten the economic power of the largest city in the 
  world, Brinston. 
   
  We’re going to get into what merchants do and how 
  they operate, but we’re also going to be giving you the 
  low down on what a Forsbury Merchant War is all about.  
  Yep, this is a real war where people fight and die, not 
  just trying to price each other out of competition.  There 
  is tons of work (“missions”) for those adventuring types! 
   
  But let’s get into it!  If you were expecting some 
  sort of dull economics lecture - you are in the wrong 
  place! 
   
   
   
   
   
  Table of Contents 
   
  Introduction ..................................................................... 2 
  Glossary ........................................................................... 2 
  Fletnern Wiki................................................................... 3 
  The Sounding Board ........................................................ 8 
  Lifestyles of the Magical and Mundane ........................ 13 
  News of Fletnern ........................................................... 14 
  The Good Life ............................................................... 16 
  What’s Missing ............................................................. 16 
  In Conclusion ................................................................ 17 
   
   
  GLOSSARY 
   
   
  Here at Board Enterprises, we like to put the 
  glossary out in the front.  Otherwise we figure that you 
  don’t really know what we’re talking about until we get 
  to the end, and that doesn’t work.  So since we’re using 
  words we’ve made up as well as using existing words in 
  what might be an unfamiliar manner, let’s level the 
  playing field: 
   
  Caravan:  A caravan is an organized, commercial venture 
  intending to bring goods to a different location 
  where they will be worth more money.  It could use 
  wagons, porters or pack animals, or a combination 
  of any of these.  The important distinction is that it 
  is intending to trade. 
   
  Caravaneer:  A caravaneer is any person who works for a 
  caravan by going along with the caravan.  These 
  people are distinctive in the amount of time they 
  spend on the road and away from their homes.  The 
  two most common caravaneers are caravan guards 
  and teamsters. 
   
  Caravan Guard:  A caravan guard is a person who’s main 
  responsibility is to protect a caravan from attack.  
  While they may fulfill other responsibilities, this is 
  their main job. 
   
  Teamster:  A teamster is a person who’s responsibility is 
  to move a wagon by driving animal(s).  The 
  teamster is responsible for both the wagon and the 
  team, including getting them fed and watered and 
  prevent any accidents on the road or while at rest.  
  While a teamster may also defend his own life or 
  his responsibilities during attack, this is not his 
  main role. 
   
  Wagon Train:  A wagon train is a long line of wagons 
  travelling together.  Typically five or more wagons 
  would be necessary for it to be called a train.  
  Wagon trains can be used to accomplish a number 
  of tasks, such as being part of a caravan, moving 
  colonists to a new home, or delivering goods. 
   
  Peddler:  A peddler is an individual or small group of 
  traders who travel from place to place selling their 
  wares.  Peddlers could be single product merchants 
  or traveling dry goods stores.  They are known for 
  being able to visit far smaller towns and villages 
  than any large operation could afford to do. 
   
  
   
  3
   
  FLETNERN WIKI 
   
   
  All of these posts are already out on the wiki and 
  you can refer to them there.  We have gathered them 
  here, because we think they are valuable in a group, and 
  they all pertain to our theme for the month.  All of them 
  are also tagged as being in the categories of “MW647” 
  and “Forsbury” in case you are more comfortable using 
  the wiki instead of this edition. 
   
  The timelines of Fletnern will be discussed later, 
  but it will be important to note that the wiki entries you 
  see here pertain to the people and organizations as they 
  exist in 647P.  Later editions of Small Bites may present 
  these same subjects in later years (most likely 655P) and 
  they will be different. 
   
  Cartels of Forsbury, The 
  Group 
      The Cartels of Forsbury are the various merchant 
  organizations holding the majority of the economic 
  power in the city and barony of Forsbury.  While which 
  cartels are at the top or even how the various cartels are 
  perceived to change with each generation, there is some 
  stability to the organizations and how big they can get. 
      In 647P, the cartels were generally classified as being 
  “the greater powers” or “the lesser powers”.  Anything 
  under a lesser power would most commonly be thought 
  of as a “peddler house”.  The threshold here seems to be 
  the number of caravans that a cartel runs, but unlike most 
  definitions of a caravan, in Forsbury, caravans are 
  assumed to be twenty wagons or more.  So a house 
  running a single ten wagon caravan would be considered 
  a “peddler” by the extreme measures of Forsbury. 
      Greater vs. lesser powers are more difficult to measure 
  and there is certainly some manner of subjective 
  judgement here.  Greater powers are expected to not only 
  run several (typically three or more) caravans, but also 
  have broad holdings within the city of Forsbury.  These 
  holdings would include warehouses, stores, inns, and of 
  course some manner of manor house.  In 647P, there 
  were seven cartels seen as “greater” and twenty seen as 
  “lesser”. 
      In Forsbury, any large commercial organization is 
  referred to as a cartel, because most of them are.  
  However, there are some merchant houses in the city, 
  cartels owned by a specific family, with different rules of 
  profit sharing.  This is a technical point and few people 
  in Forsbury care. 
   
  Cattle Barons 
  Group 
      The Cattle Barons are a group of barons within the 
  Council of Baronies who primarily make their living off 
  the huge herds of cattle they own.  They typically form a 
  voting block within the Council because they are 
  motivated by many of the same things. 
      The Cattle Barons are powerful nobles within a 
  relatively powerful Council.  Not only are they typically 
  wealthier than their peers, but they are typically able to 
  accomplish this while keeping their taxes lower, and thus 
  their populations higher.  Most are also members of the 
  Highell Family, though these ties may be weakening 
  over time.  Most Cattle Barons have actually worked as 
  cowboys or other ranching jobs (in their youths) and are 
  therefore far rougher and tougher than one would expect 
  of a group of noblemen. 
   
  Council of Baronies 
  Region 
      Centrally located on the continent of Drentae, twenty-
  eight baronies have joined together to form the Council 
  of Baronies.  Bordered by Parnania on the north, 
  Garnock on the south, and Nanerette on the west, the 
  Council is in many ways the hub of the continent’s 
  politics. 
      The Council is similar to a federation.  Each of the 
  barons is monarch of his own barony, but they decide 
  “foreign policy” issues together.  Also, while it is most 
  common for the eldest son to succeed his father, the 
  Council must ratify an heir, and in several situations has 
  taken baronies away from families they felt would be a 
  problem for the Council as a whole.  Certainly these 
  situations have sometimes been political power grabs 
  from other families, but they have more often been used 
  to remove barons who were not up to the task of ruling a 
  portion of the federation. 
      Much time has been spent debating this issue of heirs 
  and why the member baronies would allow it to occur.  
  In addition to weeding out bad barons (those who would 
  be too weak or perhaps too violent), it has also served to 
  prevent the type of rebellions that sometimes plague 
  monarchies.  The common occurrences of brothers 
  creating civil wars in order to take what they feel is 
  rightfully theirs either due to some obscure law or 
  perhaps due to the questionable fatherhood of the older 
  brother have been removed.  Similarly, if someone were 
  to find the long lost grandson of some long dead baron - 
  even if the long lost grandson turned out to in fact have 
  the strongest ancestral claim to the throne, it doesn’t 
  matter, because the Council specifically put the baron 
  
   
  4
  into his throne.  There is no hope of appealing the 
  decision. 
      As the center of the continent, the Council of Baronies 
  is an important trading partner for any who wish to take 
  advantage of land travel.  Forsbury is well known as the 
  trading hub of the continent, though it likely does not 
  move as much cargo as the shipping ports of Brinston, 
  Helatia or Scaret.  While each land is its own, the trade 
  agreements between them are so open that cargo can be 
  moved easily throughout the region, while tariffs are still 
  collected for goods coming in from the outside.  These 
  tariffs are usually low enough that smuggling is not a 
  major issue. 
      Individually, each barony posts a relatively minor 
  military force, but by banding together, they have been 
  able to field considerable armies.  Additionally, they are 
  still allied with Parnania to the north even though they 
  served as the major logistical support for the Latvich 
  army of Garnock when it moved through the baronies on 
  its way to attack Parnania and Nanerete.   
   
  Davvissen, LadyCaitlin 
  Caitlin Davvissen 
  Individual 
      Caitlin Davvissen was born to a noble Tandish family 
  outside of Purity.  Very early in her life, her father, a 
  skilled translator, moved the family to Helatia, and later 
  to Forsbury.  Caitlin’s mother passed away when she was 
  10 years old, and her father was overcome with grief.  
  For her protection, he placed Caitlin in a boarding 
  school, prepaying the next five years.  Unfortunately, 
  when those five years were up, Caitlin found herself 
  alone in Forsbury.  Her father had become a drunk and 
  moved away. 
      Alone in a major city in her teens, Caitlin promptly 
  fell in with the wrong crowd.  She dated and associated 
  with various burglars and thieves, learning from them 
  when she could.  Not convinced that she would spend her 
  life as a common criminal, Caitlin fell in with a group of 
  bounty hunters and mercenaries who began doing odd 
  jobs for some of the merchant cartels in Forsbury. 
      Learning, earning and surviving, Caitlin and her 
  partner Almahihec (Al) eventually led a team of trouble 
  shooters that began to gain notoriety throughout 
  Forsbury and beyond.  While Caitlin had learned knife 
  fighting from her various beaus, she soon transitioned to 
  a much larger sword, eventually becoming known as the 
  deadliest swordswoman alive.  Al was a master spell 
  singer.  This time was extremely important to the woman 
  Caitlin would become, because as she travelled the world 
  she made many important friendships with military 
  leaders. 
      In 650P, the team discovered a way to hunt the woolly 
  elephants of the northern tundra, and the Davvissen 
  Cartel was founded on this ivory trade.  Al led the hunts, 
  while Caitlin handled the business end of the cartel.  
  Caitlin was underestimated frequently.  Her economic 
  rivals believed her to be some barbarian sell sword, and 
  not the daughter of a linguist trained at the best charm 
  school in Forsbury. 
      Around 651P, Caitlin caught the eye of Baron Edward 
  Forsbury.  The two were a good match.  She dragged him 
  out of his self-imposed seclusion within the castle, and 
  he opened new opportunities to her and her growing 
  business.  Edward and Caitlin were married in a massive 
  festival/celebration in the summer of 653P.  Leaders 
  from across the globe attended the wedding, many 
  coming to Forsbury for the first time.  In many ways, the 
  wedding of Caitlin and Edward put Forsbury on the map, 
  and likely in the crosshairs of some rivals. 
      After the wedding, Caitlin’s official name with title is 
  the Lady Caitlin Davvissen, Baroness of Forsbury.  
  Being of noble birth, she is not identified by her married 
  name of Highell. 
      A much longer description of Caitlin Davvissen can be 
  found in The Royalty. 
   
  Dawinstrovstat Merchant House 
  Group 
      Despite the name, the Dawinstrovstat Merchant House 
  is run as a cartel with specified shares of ownership. 
      What is known in 647 as the Dawinstrovstat Cartel is a 
  hybrid of two merchant families.  The namesake 
  Dawinstrovstat Family originated in the Central Plains 
  and has been running a cartel out of Forsbury for 
  generations.  They originated as a noble family within 
  the city-state of Parnania with lands and flocks of wool 
  bearing animals.  They were known for maintaining large 
  “sweat shops” filled with slaves who were spinning and 
  weaving the various fabrics.  With this less than stellar 
  reputation, they had decided to base themselves in 
  Forsbury where they were less known for their 
  manufacturing practices and where such practices were 
  not judged as harshly.  Their wool fabrics business still 
  resides in the eastern regions of the Parnanian city-state. 
      The current head of the cartel is descended from an 
  arranged marriage with the Troxiwha Family based in 
  Helatia.  The Troxiwhas had a shipping business with 
  three ships, but hard times forced them to go looking for 
  quick coins.  The joined family businesses were the 
  
   
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  result.  It took a generation, but the families began 
  intermingling and relations improved nicely. 
      Recently, the Helatia segment of the business began to 
  seem smaller and smaller.  Only one ship is currently 
  bringing silks and spices in from across the ocean.  
  Meanwhile the Forsbury branch of the business and 
  family continued to grow, though silk remains their most 
  profitable product. 
      Roginar Dawinstrovstat is the current head of the 
  family.  Unlike other cartels where shares are divided 
  according to the person’s value to the organization, 
  Dawinstrovstat shares can be inherited, and Roginar has 
  assembled nearly 47% of them within his immediate 
  family.  Roginar runs the business with his wife Hueluela 
  and his son Burndit.  The couple’s other two children are 
  currently in Brinston attending schools. 
   
  Forsbury (barony) 
  Region 
      Long ago seen as an inconsequential spot of pasture 
  land, the barony of Forsbury has been shaping life in the 
  Central Plains for the last two centuries. 
      Still a pasture land and the home to many herds of 
  beef cattle, Forsbury has also become the crossroads of 
  the land trade throughout the continent, as well as one of 
  the wealthiest lands anywhere (per capita).  Many claim 
  it was the cattle drives themselves that started the 
  Forsbury caravans.  Whatever the reason, it now seems 
  that a caravan isn’t of worth if it doesn’t pass through the 
  city of Forsbury. 
      Forsbury is the largest of the Council of Baronies by 
  acreage.  Most of that space is open prairie and 
  grasslands, though as is true everywhere, small towns 
  and villages do dot the land.  With its size and central 
  location, Forsbury has always held more than its fair 
  share of political clout on the Council. 
      The Highell Family currently controls Forsbury 
  through Baron Edward Highell-Forsbury.  He maintains 
  a large standing army, much larger than most of his 
  peers.  This is often considered necessary because of all 
  the caravans that pass through - the extra troops act as a 
  policing force to control the rowdy caravaneers.  
  Forsbury shares a northern border with Wyndaum, a 
  southern border with Droskavich, an eastern border with 
  Riverford and Glynnglen, and a western border with 
  Pimyson and Neyward.  At the barony’s southwestern 
  corner is Baron Edward’s uncle’s lands of Honsdeck, 
  another barony rich in beef cattle. 
   
  Forsbury (city) 
  City 
      Forsbury is the often overlooked depot city in the 
  center of the Central Plains.  Having diplomatically 
  negotiated its way through several issues (including the 
  Conquering War), Forsbury has simply grown while 
  many of its peers, even allies, floundered over the last 
  couple of generations.  Forsbury grows in population and 
  wealth as Parnania struggles and Nanerette seems to sink 
  into a stopover port instead of a destination. 
      Forsbury dominates land trade on the continent.  
  Friend to all, with low or non-existent tariffs, Forsbury 
  merchant cartels bring every imaginable good into the 
  city on their wagon trains.  Additionally, Forsbury is the 
  king of the “cattle baronies” with enormous herds 
  wandering the open plains.  No major droughts have 
  affected the barony in recent history, allowing for 
  fabulous profits for the Baron himself and his family 
  members. 
      Forsbury is the economic leader of the Council of 
  Baronies, an extended alliance of monarchies.  The 
  Baron is autocratic, but remains extremely business 
  friendly. 
      As with the other trade cities, Forsbury is extremely 
  cosmopolitan.  Humans of every ethnic diversity live and 
  work in the city, though the local Velesans dominate, 
  both in the city and especially in the rural areas.  Other 
  races are there, but typically not in large numbers.  
  Notably, orcs, centaurs and other races that may not be 
  welcome elsewhere are not only welcomed, but allowed 
  every freedom given others. 
      To hopefully reduce confusion:  Forsbury is a city 
  within the barony of Forsbury.  The Barony Forsbury is 
  within the Council of Barons.  The Baron of Forsbury is 
  Mikeahl Edward Highell-Forsbury, a member of the 
  Highell family. 
   
  
   
  6
  Guilderlae Trading Cartel 
  Group 
      The Guilderlae cartel began in Nanerette as a financial 
  services firm.  They had numerous bookkeepers and 
  hired out their services to the businesses of Nanerette.  
  As their business grew, they began lending money to 
  their clients.  Less a bank and more a loan sharking 
  business, they made big profits with relatively little risk. 
      Eventually the cartel shifted its attention and 
  headquarters to Forsbury.  With them came the 
  bookkeepers and the thugs they used to collect on bad 
  debts.  Though a major portion of their business was still 
  the lending of money, they also began to act as 
  merchants, typically trading things they had seized from 
  their customers for unpaid debts. 
      Since the death of his brother in 644P, Uri (Urihunnel) 
  Guilderlae has been the sole manager of the cartel, along 
  with his wife Pillene.  Uri is known to be a liar and a 
  cheat and few people want to do business with him, but 
  he is a skilled blackmailer and has managed to collect 
  dirt on most of the people in town.  If anything, Pillene is 
  more ruthless, though in less obvious ways.  She is a 
  master manipulator and has been able to deflect rivals 
  into fighting each other instead of her cartel. 
      The Guilderlaes will deal in any merchandise, but the 
  cartel owns several precious metal mines (mainly silver).  
  They collect and smelt the silver as the main product of 
  the house, but this lucrative business allows them to 
  engage in various other markets in order to continually 
  increase their wealth.  In 647P, Uri is a recluse and a 
  miser.  He is fully focused on maintaining what he has 
  and preventing anyone from gaining an advantage over 
  him. 
   
  Highell Family 
  Group 
      In 460P, the Highell noble family met with their peers 
  and began working on the structure of what is today 
  known as the Council of Baronies.  Between their own 
  lands (what is now known as the baronies of Trompska, 
  Collater, Riverford, and Oosterbeak) and the barony of 
  Forsbury, which was controlled by their brother-in-law, 
  the Highells were able to exert the most political clout on 
  the process, and that initial set-up has served the family 
  well ever since. 
      The Highells are typically cattle barons, and they are 
  the best example of the stereo-type.  Though noble 
  through their family lines, they have a rougher style than 
  most nobles.  This comes from their occupation as 
  cowboys.  All Highell boys are expected to work for a 
  few summers on one of the active cattle ranches during 
  their teen-aged years.  While this serves to toughen them 
  up, it also serves to bond them with their cousins and 
  help hold the family together. 
      The Highell family crest shows a falcon crowned by 
  the sun.  Their motto is, “The hunters watch the world.”  
  Though both of these refer to the family’s history as 
  hunters and falconers, they have put the falconry aside to 
  a large degree.  Hunting remains a passion of most of the 
  family members, but they hunt from horseback with 
  crossbows today, and typically far bigger game than 
  possible with falcons. 
      In 655P, the Highell Family controls 7 of the 28 
  baronies within the council. 
   
  Highell, Mikeahl Edward 
  Baron Edward Forsbury 
  Individual 
      The Baron of Forsbury’s official name with titles is 
  Mikeahl Edward Highell, Baron of Forsbury, but he has 
  never liked the name Mikeahl and has never used it.  
  Edward was raised as a Cattle Baron, spending time both 
  in his father’s castle and on various family owned 
  ranches in the Central Plains region.  When he was 28, 
  his father began to weaken from disease and abdicated 
  his throne to Edward.  His father only held on for a scant 
  few months before dying.  To make matters worse, 
  Edward’s mother Ninaletta died less than three years 
  after his taking his throne. 
      Edward was bred and trained to take control of both 
  the Barony of Forsbury and the expansive cattle herds his 
  father had owned, and he has done a strong job in both 
  cases.  His massive wealth and position made him a 
  target of every gold digger and gold digging mother on 
  the continent, and this experience caused him to retreat 
  from formal society.  Though he was by no means a 
  recluse, he avoided all but the most important social 
  events, preferring to spend time with close friends and 
  cousins, either in the castle or on extended hunting trips. 
      His courtship of Caitlin Davvissen changed that in 
  651P, and he assumed his role as the head of Forsbury’s 
  society.  This is an indication of how successful he has 
  been, as he is able to function in his social roles, his role 
  as a monarch, and his role as a business man, though 
  admittedly, he is more of a jack-of-all-trades - master of 
  none. 
      Edward is a tall, dark and handsome man.  He stands 
  about six foot.  Though he has the Velesan height of the 
  Highell Family, he more resembles the darker hair and 
  features of his mother’s Marilick heritage. 
      A much longer description of the Baron of Forsbury 
  can be found in The Royalty. 
   
  Masterhill Merchant House 
  Group 
      Despite the name, the Masterhill Merchant House is 
  run as a cartel with specified “lots” of ownership. 
      The Masterhill cartel was begun by Dreggor 
  Masterhill, but is now run by his sons Yemour and 
  Herlol.  Dreggor literally worked himself to death and 
  his sons were only 22 and 19 when they inherited the 
  business their father had built.  Being the least of the 
  greater powers at that time, the other cartels in Forsbury 
  
   
  7
  immediately began plotting to take everything they 
  possibly could from the two “children”. 
      Things did not go that way.  The two brothers spread 
  the reach of the cartel to the seas and then beyond, 
  moving farther and broader than their father would have 
  ever dreamed.  Within fifteen years of their father’s 
  death, the two brothers were running the undisputed top 
  of the greater powers. 
      Yemour is the older of the brothers and is leader of the 
  cartel.  Serious and dour, he is a business man with a 
  brilliant mind and elephant’s will.  Herlol is the younger 
  and more social of the two.  Herlol has charisma and the 
  personality that allows him to befriend nearly anyone.  
  With the “genius” in the headquarters and the “face man” 
  moving throughout the city, these two are a powerhouse 
  pair. 
   
  Polnoska Merchant House 
  Group 
      The Polnoska Merchant House is in fact a merchant 
  house, but they are a merchant house that runs several 
  caravans, each of which is set up as a cartel. 
      The Polnoska house is the oldest merchant house in 
  Forsbury.  They were minor, landed nobles when the 
  Highell family took over the barony.  Instead of working 
  against the incoming ruler, they sat down and negotiated.  
  They were able to receive preferential treatment for their 
  honesty and willingness to come to the table.  It is 
  believed they are the only noble family from that time 
  (~125 years ago) that still holds political clout. 
      The Polnoska Merchant House is run by Leonard 
  (Lenny) Polnoska.  A bear of a man, Lenny appears to be 
  a teamster instead of a merchant.  The only son of an 
  only son, Lenny was the last hope for the continuing 
  family, but he has certainly made up for past problems.  
  Lenny’s first wife died 22 years ago.  During their 19 
  year marriage, they were blessed with 8 children, who 
  are now around 30 to 40 years old.  These children make 
  up the innermost core of Lenny’s advisors.  Lenny 
  remarried 16 years ago, and this marriage has produced 6 
  children, ages 15 to 4.  Lenny and his wife Maita are not 
  sure if they have stopped having children.  With Lenny at 
  57 years old and Maita at 35, more children are possible.  
  Surprisingly, this extended family is on very good terms 
  with one another.  Even though Lex, Lenny’s oldest, is a 
  few years older than his stepmother, no animosity exists. 
   
  The Polnoska House specializes in meats.  They 
  own several pig farms and slaughter houses.  Their most 
  enduring products are the sausages made at various 
  locations and smoked or cured for transport.  Polnoska 
  sausages are well known throughout the continent and 
  considered reliably good food in any region.  With 
  caravans going east to Scaret, north to Rhum and 
  Snobist, and travelling extensively throughout the 
  Council, the Polnoskas are catering to broad groups of 
  sausage lovers. 
   
  Sausages and slaughter houses are not the whole 
  story.  The Polnoskas also sell beer (both Bortish and 
  Rhoric), wines, pottery, and a truly vast assortment of 
  food stuffs.  They also deal in building materials 
  including lumber, stone and marble.  Though most 
  people think of Polnoska sausages, they do also sell 
  livestock, mainly swine, poultry and sheep.  The 
  caravans that transport these animals across the continent 
  are amongst the slowest and least desirable for obvious 
  reasons.  The Polnoska House also deals in animal goods 
  though to a smaller extent.  Wool and hides of various 
  grades can be found on their wagons as can the 
  medicinal parts. 
   
  Seridown Cartel 
  Group 
      The Seridown “cartel” is family merchant house 
  specializing in textiles and some building materials.  
  Originally founded in the hills north of Scaret, the family 
  sent their chief merchants to Forsbury to be able to trade 
  with far more people. 
      Currently, Arthur Seridown and his wife Bettessa 
  (Betty) are in charge of the merchant house.  During 
  Arthur’s grandfather’s time, the cotton growers within 
  the family seceded from the business and the house has 
  been purchasing their cotton goods from other growers 
  who were at one time rivals to the family.  The wool 
  producers have stayed more loyal. 
      The Seridown House is one of the weaker greater 
  powers, but they still control a huge share of the textile 
  trade in this part of the world.  Further, their caravans 
  running back and forth from Forsbury to Scaret will 
  carry whatever valuable goods they have room for.  The 
  organization has far more warehouses than they truly 
  need and thus are willing to store products that might be 
  more valuable to them later than they are now. 
  
   
  8
  THE SOUNDING BOARD 
   
  Bulking up your History 
      So let me tell you how I’ve been wasting my spare 
  time.  I say wasting, because I don’t think it will ever 
  result in publishable material, however, I truly believe 
  that by knowing my world better, I will better be able to 
  develop plots and sub-plots that will factor into both my 
  active campaigns and could serve at least as background 
  for Fletnern and Fletnern based material. 
      Much of what I have worked on over the last twenty 
  years is centered around the Barony and City of 
  Forsbury.  The current list of merchant cartels in 
  Forsbury shows 25, though some of them might not truly 
  reach the definition of “cartel” as it is used in Forsbury.  
  In any case, this is a different list than the one I used 
  when we first started basing adventures and campaigns 
  out of Forsbury.  Why?  Because things change.  A 
  stagnant game world is, well, stagnant, dull, boring, keep 
  going with the negativity. 
      So the thought occurred to me - If things have change 
  in the last 7-10 years of game world time, how much 
  they have changed over the last 70-100 years of game 
  time?  In a lot of cases, I had a decent idea of how the 
  cartel started, but had never fleshed out the people and 
  events surrounding these data points.  So that’s what I’m 
  doing - I am bulking up the history of Forsbury in order 
  to better lay out how things were over the last 
  generations. 
      Why?  Is this as I just said - all about knowing my 
  world better?  Well yes and no.  What I am really 
  looking to do is to fill out my already excessive cast of 
  characters.  Phase one of you seeing this extensive list is 
  to check out Royalty which will give you a 10,000’ view 
  of the nobility.  What I am talking about now is basically 
  the same type of thing for the merchants.  Is that why?  
  Because I want to be able to publish 100 Merchants?  
  No.  Mainly the reason I want to do this is because I 
  want to figure out who the losers were.  I know which 
  cartels closed their doors over the last six years of game 
  time.  If I knew which cartels closed their doors over the 
  last 60 years of game time, I would have a fantastic list 
  of families that had been beaten or cheated out of their 
  fortunes.  I would have lists of disgruntled folks looking 
  at the cartels, caravans and warehouses of Forsbury and 
  burning with a desire for revenge.  And many of these 
  people would still have some things of value that just 
  might make it worth someone else’s time to carry out 
  their vindictive ideas.  That’s what I need - passionate 
  losers bent on revenge, or maybe just survival. 
      It’s not as tough to do as you think.  Step one:  flesh 
  out the cartels that are in existence:  when did they start, 
  how did they start, who started them.  Step two:  create 
  or flesh out the families that link the cartel founders to 
  the current cartel big wigs.  Step three:  Once I know 
  when cartels started, it should be obvious that they would 
  not have been able to start if they were not filling a hole 
  in the consumer demands, so figure out who did it before 
  them and why they aren’t doing it any more.  For 
  instance, Freddy Frumpt runs slaves in and out of 
  Forsbury, very profitably I might add.  But he’s a first 
  generation slaver.  Admittedly he is sort of a branch of 
  his father’s business in Garnock, but he has certainly 
  expanded his revenues in Forsbury.  Someone must have 
  been running slaves before he came to town.  Who, and 
  why aren’t they in business any more.  A big part of 
  Freddy’s rise was the hits the Dawinstrovstat cartel took 
  during and after the Merchant War of 647.  Now they 
  moved Dharvic slaves, while Freddy is moving slaves 
  out of Garnock.  So did the racial make-up of slaves in 
  Forsbury change over the last few years? 
      But I don’t want to forget the history of the world and 
  how it fits into this.  During periods of war, were the 
  weapons merchants scoring record profits?  Could they 
  maintain those once the wars ended?  If one city-state 
  took over another’s region, would that have caused a 
  collapse of the merchants who were dealing with the now 
  occupied region?  If there had been a drought in one part 
  of the world, could a merchant have risen to supply 
  them, and then what happened after their own crops 
  started coming back strongly? 
      I get it - I am probably the role-player most fascinated 
  by trade and economics in the world.  But knowing who 
  has the money and how they got it, knowing who is 
  angry, but probably has a sizeable piggy bank, and 
  knowing how fortunes have changed over the years tells 
  me where the money is.  Remember the famous saying, 
  “Follow the money”.  If you think mercenaries and 
  
   
  9
  adventurers don’t follow the money, then you’re not 
  paying attention to your player characters. 
   
  Risk Takers 
      I am not a risk taker.  It’s just part of my personality 
  make-up.  I don’t do anything without having a Plan B, 
  and I never risk more than I can afford to lose.  If you 
  study business, you will likely read in management 
  books various theories on whether or not risk is essential 
  or foolish.  Let me tell you my bias, and how I worked it 
  into my world. 
      The city of Forsbury is known for being a “depot 
  town”.  That means that it is at a crossroads and as 
  caravans come in, they drop off loads into the 
  warehouses, pick up other loads and head back out.  This 
  is not a manufacturing center; it is a trade center.  So it 
  makes sense that the town is primarily controlled by the 
  biggest merchants in the city.  (There is a Baron who 
  intentionally keeps his army strong and his taxes low in 
  order to keep these merchants here, but who exactly is 
  “in charge” is often questionable.) 
      Now, when I started the campaign in Forsbury, 
  figuring that being surrounded by money and trade but 
  not really manufacturing - this would be a great place for 
  mercenaries, I established the merchant houses.  There 
  are about 30, but only the top eight or so really mattered.  
  Some of them were long established, but most of the 
  time that I was writing up the history of the houses, 
  similar themes kept coming out.  Why?  Because I have 
  studied business.  The really successful folks are those 
  who take risks and work their tails off. 
      For example - The Masterhills.  The father of the 
  current brother team running the cartel was a teamster 
  who knew he could do it better.  He loaded up his 
  wagons and ran them at top speed from the river (where 
  fish were cheap) to Forsbury where they weren’t, and he 
  was able to do it fast enough to sell “fresh” fish.  Then he 
  loaded up his wagons with more rock than was safe for 
  them to carry and ran that faster than he should down 
  roads that weren’t good enough.  Guess what - he 
  undersold the competition.  By the time his wagons fell 
  apart from the stress and problems, he was rich enough 
  to start doing things right. 
      But his sons, they were raised rich.  They knew what 
  to do to maintain it, and admittedly, they had enough 
  initiative to go out and take more business from their 
  competition, but by and large, they were playing defense.  
  That was until Caitlin came along.  A professional 
  mercenary, sell sword, adventurer or assassin, depending 
  on who you asked, she had spent her life risking, well, 
  her life.  Risking money was no big thing to her.  She put 
  together several expeditions to the arctic to hunt the 
  mammoths (hey - it’s high fantasy) for their ivory.  She 
  brought back so much ivory that she altered the world 
  market on it, though not until she too had become rich. 
      How does this affect your game worlds?  Well, on 
  Fletnern, the old money tries to play it safe.  They bribe 
  and control the governments to make it more difficult for 
  other people to get into business.  If they hire 
  adventurers, it is more likely that they are doing it to 
  attack a rival or try to destroy something that someone 
  else has built.  The young money guys - They are out 
  there risking new ideas.  They are exploring new regions 
  looking for wealth they can take or trade for.  They are 
  running into lost cities and tribes that no one even knew 
  were out there.  Both of these can be employers for your 
  player characters, but the missions are going to be 
  completely different. 
   
  Grain Into Gold versus Coins of the Road (or why 
  fantasy trade goods are really tough to figure out) 
      I’ve touched on this before, but due to a recent review 
  of Grain Into Gold I thought I might address in more 
  detail why GIG doesn’t have a full blown trade goods 
  system:  Grain Into Gold was always intended to be the 
  “micro-economics” book.  Those of us who had to take 
  Econ in college probably took both micro- and macro-, 
  and each of the books was probably 200-300 pages.  I 
  still don’t believe in economics.  It’s like sociology to 
  me.  It’s not that it doesn’t exist, but it sure as hell isn’t a 
  science.  Two professions where you can be wrong all 
  the time and still keep your job:  weathermen and 
  economists.  Oh, and every government job, but that’s a 
  rant for another day. 
      So Grain Into Gold specifically and intentionally does 
  not discuss supply and demand.  OK, but why no macro-
  economics?  We’ve been working on Coins of the Road 
  off and on since finishing GIG back in 2006.  Coins of 
  the Road was always intended to be the companion piece 
  to GIG.  Coins of the Road would discuss barrels of 
  whale oil, instead of pints, and discuss getting it from 
  one place to another.  Sounds simple, huh?  Yeah, try 
  and do it. 
      First, you need to figure out what something costs at 
  its source.  Well, GIG did a lot of that, but there would 
  be more needed.  Ignoring that crucial and most 
  important part, let’s think about the rest of it.  A barrel of 
  whale oil isn’t just the oil, it’s the barrel.  You need to 
  figure the cost of that. And you need to figure out the 
  logistics of the barrel.  How wide is it, both at the rim 
  and in the middle?  How tall is it?  How much does it 
  weigh?  We said how much does it cost, right? 
      OK, so how many of those barrels can you fit on a 
  wagon?  Well that probably depends on the size of the 
  wagon.  And while you’re at it - are these 50gal barrels?  
  30 gallon?  25? 10?  What sizes are those?  What if you 
  use a crate instead of a barrel?  Don’t try to tell me that a 
  fantasy era economy has an established barrel size that is 
  consistent from culture to culture, because that would be 
  BS!  OK, so figure out all the barrels.  (I actually have 
  
   
  10
  that done)  Figure out all the wagons (I have a really 
  good start on this).  Now you’re ready to travel. 
      But how do you travel?  A reviewer pointed out years 
  ago that I neglected to discuss river transport and how 
  river transport was vitally important throughout 
  European and American history.  He was right!  But I 
  originally built the economy for Fletnern, which only has 
  a few trade rivers, since it never had an Ice Age.  (Don’t 
  argue with me on that right now, I’m too exhausted to 
  start another fight.)  But Coins of the Road would need 
  river travel, land travel and sea travel.  OK, land and sea 
  - now you have to figure out the ships instead of the 
  wagons. 
      But land travel is easy, right?  Not so fast my young 
  friend.  There are wagons, there are pack animals, and 
  there are porters.  There are also push carts.  Is the 
  wagon pulled by an ox?  a mule?  a team of horses?  
  How many horses?  and what does that do to the speed of 
  said wagon?  And how do you write this so that it’s still 
  generic even though a lot of games have established 
  speeds of travel?  Let’s assume that you figure out how 
  much a wagon can hold, how many animals it will take 
  to pull that weight, and how fast it will go.  Done?  
  Nope!  How much does it cost to feed those animals?  
  How fast can they really go if you expect them to pasture 
  at the end of the day vs being fed feed? 
      That’s just the logistics of engines and containers.  We 
  haven’t even started on the political impacts of trade.  
  Taxes and tolls?  Bandits and how does the risk of 
  bandits affect what the merchant wants as a profit (risk 
  management)?  How good are the roads?  Should you 
  consider camels going across the desert? 
      But I haven’t even touched on the real issue when 
  trying to determine trade in a FRPG:  It’s fantasy!!  At 
  what point does a golem horse make sense?  What about 
  pegasi pulled wagons, or maybe blimps?  Does every 
  merchant ship have a wizard who can summon up the 
  winds to fill the sails or is it that just some of them?  Do 
  dragons act like bandits or like warlords? 
      But wait!  There’s more!  Everything from can you 
  legally fly over a city’s walls to can you teleport into 
  their cities should be considered.  Is teleporting a 
  legitimate form of transport?  Can you use carnivorous 
  beasts of burden?  What is illegal and what is 
  smuggling?  and if you think that’s easy, we still have to 
  discuss the additional trade goods that would come from 
  a fantasy environment.  Is the selling of dragons slavery?  
  Are there races who trade in human flesh as they would 
  beef jerky?  Is it illegal to be undead?  Slavery in 
  general?  What about zombie slaves?  and to top it all off 
  - What about brand names?  Do you just talk about 
  “wine” or do you start thinking through which wineries 
  have the best wines?  Is beer worth carting around the 
  continent?  What about the best beers? 
      OK - so this is huge!  Hopefully you can see why 
  Coins of the Road is only partially completed.  It’s not 
  dead!  but we don’t have an expected release date either. 
   
  Urban Adventures 
      If you have not game mastered urban adventures 
  before, they tend to be far different than running a 
  dungeon crawl.  For one thing, it is a lot harder to keep 
  the party of characters together.  Quite often, they all 
  have different priorities and tend to wander off to pursue 
  them.  This is most likely because they feel safe; they 
  feel they can wander off without fear of being killed 
  within the city limits. 
      Especially in a campaign where battle can occur in the 
  streets and alleys, having members of the party in 
  different parts of the city can not only be confusing and 
  difficult to administer, it can be downright dangerous.  
  But these choices need to be those of the players and the 
  player characters.  If they insist on living dangerously, it 
  is your job as the GM to punish them for it, possibly 
  even killing them because of it. 
      One of the main benefits of a dungeon style adventure 
  is that the GM can determine many of the parameters 
  surrounding a fight.  The dungeon is mapped; the 
  ceilings can be pre-determined; line of sight angles can 
  only come in so many variations.  This is not true of an 
  urban adventure.  Fights can break out in intersections or 
  parks, and line of sight can be affected by everything 
  from buildings to trees to moving horse drawn coaches.  
  This adds to the complexity for the game master.  You 
  and the players have to have a prearranged agreement 
  that you know more about the staging than you can 
  describe and they simply have to go with it.  Any player 
  who argues about there not being a clearly defined map 
  that he can place his figure on needs to be counseled 
  after the game session that he’s being a jerk and needs to 
  knock it off. 
      One of the best things that urban adventures can bring 
  is the concept of overlapping time lines.  It is likely that 
  several different things are all going on at the same time 
  in the same town.  The main “mission” could be rivalries 
  between merchant houses, while at the same time some 
  thieves are feuding over a magical weapon they have 
  stolen from its rightful owner.  The point is that even 
  substantial clues and activities might not belong to your 
  mission, but instead to someone else’s. 
  
   
  11
      Urban missions are great for not having that “end 
  boss” (aka the big, nasty, evil guy at the end).  There are 
  multiple factions in a city.  Some will oppose the party, 
  while others may be possible allies.  With so many 
  moving parts, the adventurers should be a little confused.  
  They should never be 100% certain of whom they can 
  trust, and that will keep the suspense high. 
      Further, not everything should be spelled out for them 
  up front.  They will need to find clues, talk to people and 
  learn as they go.  Obviously not everything they learn 
  will be accurate, but again, more suspense and more fun.  
  This need for investigation may be new to some of your 
  players who have never been challenged like this in a 
  role-playing game.  Hopefully they will find it more 
  exciting due to the newness and challenge.  As GM, you 
  should also expect that characters who had pre-defined 
  roles in more combat intensive missions may find 
  themselves in completely different roles here.  Warning - 
  A big, dumb fighter is not all that useful, until combat 
  breaks out, if it does at all. 
      This is just a warning; we do not want to discourage 
  you from running urban adventures.  As you and your 
  players mature, the idea of hundreds of underground 
  complexes filled with monsters becomes too much for 
  the willful suspension of disbelief.  When that happens, 
  you will find yourself working on the urban missions and 
  avoiding the crawls. 
   
  What’s Money? 
      This is a nearly painful post for me to write.  Why?  
  Because I know what money is.  It is those small pieces 
  of paper with dead presidents on it.  It is gold, silver and 
  sometimes copper (though I refer to pennies as litter).  It 
  is jewels, jewelry and sometimes watches (if they aren’t 
  plastic or rubber).  So what’s the point?  Well, I think I 
  already hit it. 
      Who are you asking the question?  To modern folks, 
  money is paper currency and electronic signals.  To 
  fantasy folks, it is precious metals and jewels.  While we 
  will recognize and appreciate their money, they would 
  think us complete morons for chasing our money.  There 
  is no possible way a fantasy person could see the value in 
  paper currency. 
      But it doesn’t stop there.  I was reminded of a rather 
  interesting point recently.  The Zulus saw cattle as 
  wealth.  Imagine the culture shock of a Zulu trying to 
  talk to a British soldier or diplomat:  How many cattle do 
  you have?  None.  Oh, so you’re poor.  No, I have a very 
  nice home in London.  But no cattle. No, no cows.  Are 
  you married?  Yes, and I have two sons.  How will you 
  marry off your sons when you have no cattle with which 
  to pay the brides’ fathers?  I don’t need any.  So you’re 
  broke, a bum, a guy who will marry off his sons to the 
  ugliest, most barren women in the city of London 
  because you have no cattle with which to buy wives for 
  them. 
      OK, I’ll stop that, but this seriously had to be culture 
  shock, and it’s just one example.  There is an action 
  movie I really enjoy due to its campiness where the hero 
  says, “These are desert people.  They value water, not 
  gold.”  OK, they probably valued both, but there is a 
  point in there.  If water and food are really rare, you’ll 
  pay anything for them.   
      This is the point of trade!  If I have food and you have 
  silver, let’s trade.  If I have silk and you have emeralds, 
  let’s trade.  The point is to move goods from where they 
  are cheap to where they are valuable. 
      To make this worthwhile for the gold farmers - here’s 
  an unexpected consequence to this cultural / role-playing 
  concept:  A lot of games allow holy spell casters to cast 
  summon water spells (or whatever you call it).  Imagine 
  this:  You show up in a desert.  The desert raiders are 
  willing to barter with you, and you set up your tents at 
  one of their oases.  Then they see your cleric cast a bring 
  water spell and you all drink it.  The desert raiders will 
  now do whatever is necessary to buy or steal that cleric 
  from you.  They will kill the entire rest of the party in 
  order to get that cleric.  You have to see it from their 
  perspective:  What would your characters do if they 
  found an elf who actually pooped out diamonds?  Would 
  they not kill everyone else allied with that elf and take 
  him/her hostage?  From their perspective, it is basically 
  the same thing (but without the pooping). 
      Let’s reverse this:  The party is trading with folks they 
  know to be less than legit, and find they have a “slave” 
  kept alone in a cave.  These guys have lots of slaves for 
  sale, but this one is obviously different, and she’s not for 
  sale.  Maybe they figure out that she is a cleric with 
  summon water.  It usually doesn’t take much for a party 
  of adventurers (aka murder hobos), to kill a band of 
  desert raiders, especially if they can explain it away by 
  saying they were bandits and therefore deserved to die. 
  
   
  12
      Want to make it more than a simple combat?  How 
  about this:  They are crossing a desert, and the only way 
  across is to be led from oasis to oasis by someone who 
  knows exactly where he’s going.  Along the way your 
  guide leads you to one of his family’s main bases, where 
  you find the slave cleric girl.  Now what?  If you fight 
  the raiders, even if you win, you lose your guide and may 
  not survive the desert (even with a girl who can summon 
  water).  If you leave her in the hands of these “savages”, 
  you are condemning her to a horrible fate (at least you 
  imagine it as such).  Especially if you’re playing a game 
  with alignments, you are in a bad spot! 
      It’s fun to mess with the players’ minds, and even 
  more fun if you can mess with the characters’ minds at 
  the same time! 
  An afterword:  What if the slave cleric girl is treated like 
  a goddess?  She’s still a slave, when she is treated better 
  than any “free” woman in the camp.  Does it change 
  things? 
   
  Importance of Calendar 
      How’s the calendar work for your game world?  Do 
  you keep it pretty accurately?  No?  Is that because you 
  just can’t be bothered?  Yeah, that’s going to bite you in 
  the ass. 
      There are a bunch of reasons for keeping a calendar, 
  and I might be too harsh about keeping it accurately.  But 
  what’s the point?  If you don’t keep a calendar, then you 
  cannot say when things are or will be happening.  Let’s 
  start with the easy and move to the important. 
      Keeping a calendar, you as the GM can keep track of 
  how long it takes to get from place to place and back 
  again.  This matters for a bunch of reasons.  The player 
  characters should probably have some manner of 
  responsibilities in their home town.  Maybe they aren’t 
  paying rent, but they will need to pay for storage, or 
  stable fees, or something to maintain their lives back 
  home.  A calendar helps you keep the records fairly. 
      Most of my PCs at some point start to breed their own 
  horses (or dogs, or dragon steeds, or pegasi, etc.).  The 
  calendar helps determine how long the animal will be 
  pregnant and how long it will take for it to grow up.  If 
  the mare is the PC’s main steed, then while she’s getting 
  ready to give birth or nursing, she’s out of the action.  
  But this isn’t the only “training” you need a calendar for.  
  If you are following your rules, you likely have to track 
  the number of days your PCs are training in order to use 
  their experience. 
      My world of Fletnern frequently has things going on 
  that the players / player characters are not involved in.  
  There could be a war going on somewhere else or 
  perhaps there is an upcoming wedding.  Knowing how 
  long the party has been traveling or just out adventuring 
  is needed in order to keep the two story lines in sync. 
      Do you know what happens when you don’t do this?  
  An army can cross a continent and back in the same 
  amount of time it takes a raven to fly from one major 
  fortress to the capital city, and that’s absurd.  How 
  absurd?  Well, even casual watchers of that huge sword 
  and sorcery show have noticed how stupid it is that 
  armies are moving faster than ships are moving faster 
  than ravens.  No, I actually started writing this blog post 
  long before this season of the show started, but pointing 
  out obvious plot holes is not something you want 
  happening in your own game. 
      But in Fletnern it’s not just those really important 
  things.  There are harvest festivals in fall, the Feast of 
  Brakin in winter, rainy seasons in spring, and rodeos in 
  summer.  So you need to know what season it is at least.  
  One role-playing tip:  I remember Thieves World (before 
  it got out of control).  There was a big thing when the 
  ships carrying the blood oranges came to town and the 
  blood orange season only lasted a couple of weeks.  It 
  was a really cool touch that I am remembering here 
  nearly 40 years later. 
      One more gold farming reason - If it is late summer or 
  early fall, then the wheat, corn or hay is going to be high 
  - high enough to hide in.  If it is spring, then the fields 
  are recently plowed and will show footprints very easily 
  and there will be no cover.  Winter - Is it snowing?  
  Same tracking issues.  Winter also means needed to 
  bundle up.  If a prisoner escapes in winter, his first 
  requirement is going to be shelter and heat.  In summer, 
  he might be more interested in escaping the area and then 
  worrying about food and water. 
      One other side to calendars is that they can be the 
  motive of the mission.  There are those places where you 
  need to be in a certain spot at a certain time in order to 
  see something important - maybe a keyhole or simply 
  lining up the sun at a temple for the summer or winter 
  solstice.  Or (and these are my favorites) you need to go 
  and get something and return with it before something 
  happens.  I do believe that when the party knows there is 
  a time limit on what they’re doing, it changes the way 
  they play.  A party that stops frequently and let’s their 
  spell casters rest is going to be far more aggressive if 
  they know that spending an extra five hours resting could 
  mean that they arrive too late to save the princess. 
      The last but really not least point is this:  Because I 
  have been using my world of Fletnern for decades now, I 
  often want to (sometimes need to) go back and try to 
  figure out what I set up the last time.  OK, maybe I don’t 
  have to, but I can use what I already created without 
  reinventing the wheel.  Trying to keep track of how 
  things are going or went or even figure out how long this 
  party has been adventuring together - this stuff matters! 
      Calendars are easier when you’re just starting off!  It 
  isn’t until you’re running multiple campaigns in the same 
  world at the same time that things start to get tricky.  So 
  while it is easy - keep the calendar.  You’ll be glad you 
  did. 
   
   
  
   
  13
   
  LIFESTYLES OF THE MAGICAL 
  AND MUNDANE 
  The Caravaneer 
   
   
  A caravaneer lives an odd life that few others can 
  fully understand.  While his nomadic ways seem to 
  match what many other people might be doing, these 
  nomads travel while their wives and families stay home.  
  That makes the caravaneer a stranger in his own home. 
   
  A caravaneer’s wife is referred to as a caravan 
  widow.  The short (often only three days) time that the 
  caravaneer has at home is most commonly referred to as 
  the “honeymoon”.  An enormous number of jokes are 
  made about how these work, because while she may love 
  him, “he doesn’t even know where the soup ladle is”.  
  These jokes too often assume that the caravan widows 
  are horrible tyrants who hate their men, even when this 
  isn’t true.  It is simply a matter of having too many cooks 
  in the kitchen.  The wife has a way of doing things, as 
  does the husband.  The two just naturally clash with each 
  other when he is home. 
   
  When a caravaneer rolls back into Forsbury with 
  his caravan, the entire crew is expected to unload the 
  caravan into various warehouses.  Since most caravans 
  continually go back and forth along the same route(s), 
  they are not taking product to its final destination, but 
  simply storing it in Forsbury until the other caravan 
  comes into town to pick it up.  So the arrival day is filled 
  with work.  The day after is “family day”.  This is the 
  day the caravaneers are paid their wages.  Pay day is 
  family day because the caravan widows don’t trust their 
  husbands.  There are far too many stories of the husband 
  getting drunk and losing his money to pick pockets or 
  gambling, so the women march their husbands down to 
  the caravan’s pay master and collect his pay themselves. 
   
  The caravan widow is going to need to make this 
  money last for a month, without opening herself up to 
  robbery, especially once her husband leaves town.  
  Because of this, the residential areas of Forsbury have 
  shops that cater to this irregular style of pay.  Most of the 
  grocery stores will hold money on account for their 
  regular customers.  In many cases, the grocers will allow 
  the mothers to run over a bit when they know the 
  husband is on his way home, putting the family into debt 
  to the grocer.  This typically works out, because the 
  grocer gets his debt paid back on family day as well as 
  taking some extra money “on account”. 
   
  One of the saddest sides to this is that caravaneers 
  don’t always come home.  They might have gotten sick 
  in some foreign place, or been robbed/killed, or simply 
  choose not to return to their families.  This causes these 
  caravan widows to become actual widows.  There are no 
  life insurance policies nor union benefits either.  These 
  women typically need to find a new man to marry in 
  hopes of supporting themselves and their children.  The 
  churches will help for a bit, but it is extremely difficult to 
  live off the charity of churches for any length of time. 
   
  The caravan widows have all sorts of ways to make 
  extra money while their men are away.  Some will open 
  their homes to borders, because few caravaneers want to 
  sleep under a wagon when they can instead have a real 
  bed.  The common practice here is to have her eldest son 
  run back to the caravan master and tell him that this 
  worker of his is staying at her house for the night.  This 
  allows the caravan masters to find their men should they 
  oversleep or something, but more importantly, it allows 
  the caravan master to warn the woman should he believe 
  that this particular caravaneer shouldn’t be alone with 
  her in her home.  This typically works as the boarder 
  knows that his boss knows where he is.  If he causes 
  trouble for her, he’s going to hear it from his boss, which 
  might scare him more than the local constables. 
   
  Another way to stretch the budget and get a good 
  meal is to be a dinner companion.  This is most common 
  with the younger women - those who might not yet have 
  young children who need to be watched.  Obviously, it 
  also works well for the more attractive ones.  The offer 
  here is only for companionship for the length of the 
  meal.  A traveler will pick a companion from the women 
  at the restaurant that night, and then he will pay for her 
  meal and typically tip her.  This is not prostitution, 
  though there are a small number of establishments and 
  women who will allow that to happen.  The dinner 
  companion gets a free meal, and often takes home some 
  leftovers.  Those women not chosen will often be fed 
  something from the kitchen, though not a full meal.  For 
  the travelling gentleman, he is able to have a polite 
  conversation with a reasonably attractive woman and it 
  only costs him the price of her meal.  Eating alone is no 
  fun, and this system seems to work. 
   
  Back to the caravaneer himself.  The day before the 
  caravan rolls out, he shows up for work and loads the 
  wagon(s).  This is typically in a different warehouse than 
  where he unloaded the wagon.  Once loaded and ready, 
  he’s free to return to his family.  Then he’s expected to 
  be at the wagon at dawn and getting his team and rig into 
  line.  Most caravans are efficient enough to be pulling 
  out of town within 40-45 minutes of dawn rising. 
   
  Life on the road is monotonous.  The miles drag on.  
  The oxen and the wagon wheels kick up dust off the 
  roads.  And the view never changes - it’s just the back of 
  the wagon in front of you.  For some this would be 
  torture, but for most caravaneers, this is perfect.  It’s 
  almost as though they were sleeping away their days and 
  getting paid for it. 
   
  Most caravans employ outriders.  These guards 
  travel much faster than the slow moving wagons and are 
  able to scout out any issues ahead of the caravan.  Even 
  just stopping a caravan can be difficult, as each teamster 
  
   
  14
  needs to get the signal and then control his team, so 
  anything that gives them fair warning of what’s ahead is 
  valuable.  Outriders are just scouts.  They will bring 
  information back to the caravan master who will make 
  decisions like whether or not to stop or change roads. 
   
  Most caravans will travel with a chuck wagon as 
  well.  This allows the caravan master to purchase fresh 
  foods, or at least “standard” food ingredients instead of 
  stocking up on preserved foods that typically cost far 
  more.  Every master will run his schedules differently, 
  but for a caravan travelling the standard three legs, meals 
  are typically at dawn, after the second leg and after the 
  caravan has finished its third leg and set up their camp 
  for the night.  While every caravaneer will insist that the 
  chuck wagon food is awful, it is typically at least as good 
  as what can be found in the roadside taverns.  One 
  important difference is that chuck wagon food is going to 
  be a lot of the same thing day after day.  The food will be 
  the cheapest, filling food the master can get, so variety is 
  rare. 
   
  Caravaneers seldom bring any sort of tent with 
  them - there typically isn’t enough room on the wagons 
  for it.  So if the ground is dry, they will commonly sleep 
  under the wagons to keep the rain or dew off of them.  If 
  the wagon is covered, they will try to sleep on top of the 
  cargo but beneath the cover, but every caravaneer knows 
  that the cargo is more important to the bosses than he is.  
  They can almost always sleep on their driving benches, 
  but this is considered the worst choice, mainly because 
  they have already spent the entire day on the bench, and 
  a change of pace is seen as a requirement. 
   
  Camp life when the caravan stops continues the 
  “same old same old”.  Most places the caravan will stop 
  will have a “green”.  Most commonly the green is across 
  the road from the actual village in order to keep the 
  caravaneers separated, but close enough to shop.  The 
  greens will have a well or some manner of running 
  water, as well as troughs for the draft animals.  As the 
  caravan pulls into town, they are commonly greeted by 
  every peddler and farm wife in the village, all looking to 
  sell them something to make their road life a bit better.  
  Think of a modern truck stop, and you’ll have an idea of 
  what these villagers are selling. 
   
  Sounds boring, and it is.  But, that’s why they get 
  paid to do it.  Most caravaneers are not members of the 
  cartel, but are instead simply employees.  In the larger 
  caravans, there will be supervisor teamsters who are 
  expected to keep their section of the wagon train in line 
  and moving.  They are the go-to guys should something 
  abnormal happen.  These are usually assigned when the 
  caravan master could never be expected to handle the 
  volume of issues that might arise.  Supervisor teamsters 
  are often minimally members of the cartel, having only a 
  single unit, but still participating in the profits. 
  NEWS OF FLETNERN 
   
   
  If you are using Fletnern as a game world, the time 
  has come to decide what year it is!  The current 
  campaigns we know of that are running in Fletnern are 
  primarily concerned with 650-655P (the 650th year of the 
  Age of Peace).  However, this merchant war happens in 
  the year 647P.  Further, there is a bigger merchant war in 
  655P (which we will cover in a later edition).  So what 
  year do you want it to be? 
   
  Does it matter?  Of course it does!  But in order to 
  show you both why it matters and how we got here, we 
  need to go back in time - to the Conquering War.  We 
  talked a lot about the Conquering War in our edition on 
  Organized Crime because it took place in Garnock, and 
  Garnock instigated and lost the Conquering War.  But 
  Forsbury wasn’t in the Conquering War.  Yes, it still 
  matters. 
   
  Technically the Conquering War started in 616P 
  with the Sacking of Villai, but most assume it started in 
  626P with the siege of Parnania.  Wait - Let’s go back a 
  little farther than 626P: 
   
  In the late summer of 625P, Garnock sent 
  emissaries to the baronies of Droskavich, Forsbury and 
  Wyndaum.  Garnock was planning to attack Parnania the 
  following spring and needed to negotiate safe passage for 
  their troops.  Garnock did not fear the Council of 
  Baronies, but felt that trying to conquer a decentralized 
  region like the Council would involve far too many small 
  battles and take far too much time.  Coupled with the 
  anticipated partisans who would spring up, it just wasn’t 
  worth doing.  So they secured both their travel and a 
  good portion of their supplies by signing alliances with 
  these three baronies guaranteeing safe passage and 
  numerous food supplies.  By buying off the three 
  baronies that were “in the way” on their way to Parnania, 
  they averted several serious issues in their arrival at their 
  target. 
   
  But the rest of the Council was upset with these 
  three baronies effectively making an alliance with 
  Garnock.  Alone, they did not have the authority (votes) 
  to do this, though the typical sour grapes were more due 
  
   
  15
  to the fact that these three would “get rich” off the sales 
  to Garnock, while the other baronies would suffer.  The 
  three promised to share the wealth by buying goods from 
  them and selling them to Garnock.  This calmed many of 
  the loudest complainers.  Most people of the region were 
  surprised that the Velesan barons were siding with the 
  Latvich military against the Velesans in Parnania, but 
  when faced with “get rich or die”, they quickly chose 
  “get rich”. 
   
  So why was this important?  Well, the Council is 
  Velesan (primarily) and Parnania is Velesan (primarily).  
  So when Garnock knocked down the gates of Parnania 
  and started to sack the city, the refugees had to run 
  someplace.  At first, they fled to the west, many going as 
  far as the Headwater Hills.  During the occupation of 
  Parnania by Latvich and orcish troops, even more 
  refugees fled the city-state, now feeling a bit safer in 
  fleeing south to the Council and especially to Forsbury. 
   
  Why Forsbury?  Well, Forsbury had always been a 
  trade hub.  Riverford was also a trade hub, but Riverford 
  had a fair number of Lats living in its larger towns.  This 
  encouraged the refugees to keep going until they were in 
  Forsbury where they could find work in the newly 
  opened shops or on the various caravans crisscrossing 
  the continent. 
   
  So in 625P when the negotiations with Garnock 
  began, the city of Forsbury had a population of 17,000 
  while Parnania had a population closer to 80,000.  Since 
  then, Forsbury has nearly doubled in size, with an 
  estimated population in 652P of 32,000.  The Forsbury 
  population is always difficult to estimate because so 
  many of the adult males work on the caravans.  With 
  these men “missing” from their homes, only estimates 
  can be made of the populations.  Part of the reason is that 
  if asked, their wives may lie about who lives there.  So 
  many of the people in Forsbury are recently arrived that 
  they rarely trust the government.  Whether they are 
  refugees from Parnania, dwarves from the Rocchairian 
  Nation who distrust any monarch, or simply foreigners 
  who came to Forsbury for work, but don’t speak Velesan 
  well, they are hesitant to admit that the man of the house 
  lives there, in case he does something wrong or hesitant 
  to admit that the man of the house isn’t home for fear 
  that someone might attempt to rob them thinking them an 
  easy target.  Perhaps in years to come if the population 
  calms a bit, they might be more willing to share the truth. 
  Populations:  (just for the city) 
  625P 
  17,000 
  647P 
  27,000 
  652P 
  32,000 
   
  So that is why we had to get into the whole issue of 
  the Conquering War.  Despite Forsbury not being in it, 
  the war changed the course of Forsbury.  An even further 
  consequence was that the merchants who were active in 
  625P-626P were getting rich moving cargos from 
  throughout the Council into Forsbury to be sold to the 
  Latvich supply officers.  There had always been a large 
  number of merchants in the city, but this easy war 
  profiteering allowed them even bigger profits. 
   
  616P 
  Garnock and allies sack Villai  
  626P 
  Garnock takes Parnania 
  626P 
  Garnock accepts the surrender of Nanerette 
  626P 
  Garnock fails to take Rhum 
  629P 
  Garnock abandons Nanerette  
  638P 
  Steel Plume takes control of the Generals’ 
  Conclave in a bloodless, political “battle”  
  640P 
  The gates of Garnock are closed and locked 
  preventing any unauthorized trade  
  653P 
  Garnock’s orcish allies begin to abandon 
  Parnania and return to the Wembic Empire 
   
   
  The conflict described in the CSK is known as the 
  Merchant War of 647, because it began in 647P.  The 
  Forsbury merchant wars need to be designated in this 
  fashion because they come every 8 to 10 years.  If they 
  were not designated by the year, it would be too difficult 
  to keep track of which one(s) were being discussed. 
   
  Are these merchant wars dangerous?  Absolutely!  
  If no one is killed in battle, then it is not considered a 
  merchant war, but only a disagreement.  But does this 
  make Forsbury a dangerous place to live?  Not really.  
  The object of these wars is typically to weaken an 
  opponent in order to steal his suppliers and/or customers.  
  Killing civilians is never the object.  Though some non-
  combatants may wind up dead, they are most commonly 
  killed because they were with a reasonable target when 
  he was assassinated. 
   
  One of the reasons that the people of Forsbury were 
  so quick to believe that the garuh had kidnapped Kerissa 
  Seridown was this general taboo against attacking non-
  combatants.  Had the entire Seridown family been 
  slaughtered and Kerissa with them, then it would have 
  made sense to the people of Forsbury - the entire family 
  being wiped out is the type of thing that merchants did to 
  each other.  But singling out a young girl?  That isn’t 
  done.  Further, with no ransom, it did not seem to have 
  any trade motive. 
  
   
  16
  THE GOOD LIFE 
  Slang & Superstition 
   
   
  We covered the actual glossary of terms up front, 
  but here are some not so “official” terms that are often 
  used in Forsbury.  Some of them have been used and 
  described elsewhere, so we’ll mention them here but 
  gloss over them. 
   
  A “caravan widow” is the wife of a caravan worker.  
  Since about 60% of the workers in Forsbury leave town 
  on caravans, they leave a large number of wives behind.  
  Seeing as it is not uncommon for these workers to spend 
  more than 90% of their time out of town, these women 
  spend a lot of time alone.  They have to learn to cope 
  without their husbands, even if they have children.  They 
  also have a tendency to band together and help each 
  other, whether it is through the various cartels or with the 
  Temple of Laenta.  Caravan widows are the largest group 
  of people that will be in the city of Forsbury at any time.  
  This can cause some odd cultural dynamics. 
   
  A “dinner companion” is simply a woman who eats 
  dinner with man at a restaurant.  Due to the large number 
  of visitors to Forsbury, several restaurants have followed 
  Traders’ Destination restaurant in having dinner 
  companions on hand to keep these men company.  For 
  the most part these women are platonic companions who 
  keep a gentleman company for a dinner in exchange for 
  his paying for her meal.  Rarely, prostitutes will use this 
  as a method of acquiring clients, giving the system an 
  undeserved bad reputation. 
   
  “Family day” is the Forsbury term for a 
  caravaneer’s pay day, typically the day after the caravan 
  rolled into town.  It comes from the caravaneer’s wife 
  showing up to “help” him collect his pay, often with all 
  of the children in tow.  While this is often used as a 
  negative term suggesting that caravaneers cannot be 
  trusted, many of the wives / mothers see this as teaching 
  their children that the money the family lives on comes 
  from their fathers being away and working hard. 
   
  A “wagon bar” is a tavern located very close to one 
  of the greens and is intended to serve the caravaneers.  
  Wagon bars were originally wagons with several barrels 
  of beer served off the back/side.  This style of serving 
  drinks has faded over the years.  Too often, the patrons 
  would get rowdy and overturn the wagons in their rush to 
  get more beer.  When the wagons stopped visiting the 
  greens and the caravaneers had to go across the street to 
  the tavern, they continued to refer to them as wagon bars.  
  Most residents of Forsbury avoid wagon bars.  Foreign 
  caravaneers typically want to have a lot of fun without 
  any regard for the damage they cause.  This makes these 
  bars more rowdy than fun. 
  WHAT’S MISSING 
   
   
  This is the “World Walker” version of this edition.  
  Therefore it is not the complete version, but more of the 
  slimmed down version.  So the question could be - 
  What’s missing?  Here is a summary of what you’d see if 
  you got the Game Masters’ version of the book: 
   
  Wet Behind the Ears:  A solid caravaneer player 
  character to begin your next campaign with. 
  How to Play a - Caravaneer:  It’s not just the character 
  stats you need but the role-playing aspects as well.  This 
  will give you ideas and strategies about how to best use 
  the caravaneer. 
  How to GM a ... Urban Campaign:  Urban missions 
  are not the norm for some GMs, so here are some more 
  tips on how to run the missions.  They can’t just slash 
  your way through the civilians or the police, but here’s 
  what you can do. 
  The Enlistment Report:  Forsbury is a “super-power” 
  in the region.  Why? 
  News of Fletnern:  You see some of the News here, but 
  the GM version has a full discussion of “the speed of 
  news”.  If news is important, exactly how fast does it 
  spread? 
  Gold, Silver and WHAT!?!:  Whether it is barrels or 
  draft animals, we’ve got the price list for you here. 
  $ilver Sense:  This is about merchants, so it seems like 
  we need to walk through Mark Up & Risk. 
  Campaign Starter Kit:  Well, we may have buried this 
  article, but we did call it The Merchant Wars of 
  Forsbury.  We owe it to you to describe one of those 
  wars, including getting the PCs caught up in the 
  beginning of it. 
  Monsters & Other Menaces:  This CSK opens with 
  encounters with the garuh, a race of dog men.  Here are 
  the details. 
  Small Towns and City Neighborhoods:  We changed 
  directions with this one.  This month, we show you a 
  strip map of Forsbury, actually, we show you two. 
  Tavern Talk:  A discussion of the Forsbury greens and 
  the wagon bars near them. 
  Optional Rules:  A huge part of this edition is setting up 
  the rules on how fast caravans and other travelers can 
  move across the continent.  Here is everything you need.  
  Not only do we explain the whole thing, but we put in 
  two pages of charts. 
  A Funny Thing Happened ... Four mini-adventures or 
  encounters that can be used with the CSK or on their 
  own. 
  Pull Back the Curtain:  Why do things cost what they 
  do?  We give you some of the formulas that were used to 
  establish the prices in Grain Into Gold and everything 
  since. 
  
   
  17
  Y? Y? Y!:  The city of Forsbury isn’t really mapped out.  
  But why?  Well, not only do we explain why, but we 
  show you how we short-cut the whole mapping of the 
  city. 
   
  The full Game Master version of this edition is 51 
  pages of content.  That is considerably more than what 
  you’re seeing here. 
   
   
  Do you know how to get the Game Masters’ 
  version instead of this World Walker edition?  Well, use 
  the links below to head out to our Patreon site and 
  become a patron.  Check it out because there’s a ton of 
  stuff that we’re doing, and we want you to be involved. 
   
  IN CONCLUSION 
   
   
  We don’t want our In Conclusion section to 
  become our excuse spot, but here we go anyway.  Once 
  again, this subject was way too big for one edition.  
  Forsbury is one of our most developed cities, so more 
  about Forsbury will be showing up in later editions.  This 
  will help flesh out the city / setting.  Trade at this level is 
  huge and nuanced.  Pretending we could legitimately 
  cover world trade in a fantasy environment in less than 
  300 pages would simply be a lie.  Know how we know 
  that?  Because one of our historic “text books” on 
  medieval trade is about 320, and they don’t have 
  dragons, pegasi or teleportation. 
   
  So clearly, more to come on all of this.  We haven’t 
  started to discuss how magic impacts any of this, not 
  magical transports, nor magical products.  We will get 
  there.  We never thought that 40 pages a month would be 
  limiting. 
   
  But there is more here already!  Please check out 
  the “choose your own adventure” we’ve started on the 
  Fletnern wiki:  click here to go to the first page.  Now 
  you have to be patient and understanding on this!  Not 
  only is this our first crack at a choose your own 
  adventure, but we’re trying to do it alongside the Small 
  Bites editions.  Right now you can play through as Pyotr 
  from Wet Behind the Ears.  The adventure is based on 
  the CSK - Merchant War 647 presented here, but 
  shouldn’t give away too much of the plot that your 
  players couldn’t “play” online and then still actually play 
  the CSK.  Please check it out, but more importantly, 
  please give us some constructive feedback! 
   
  As always, if you like what you see, we want to 
  know.  If you don’t like what you see, we want to know 
  that too.  If you don’t see what you like - tell us that too!  
  Really!  we listen, we pay attention, we want to give you 
  what you want and need, but we can only do that if you 
  keep communicating with us!! 
   
  And something specific:  We’ve been looking at 
  writing up both the 647 merchant war and the 655 
  merchant war - which is actually Brinston merchants 
  against Forsbury merchants.  Would this be something 
  you would be interested in?  It would be an expansive 
  campaign, including notes on Forsbury, Brinston, the 
  areas between them, mercenary bands, a calendar of 
  activities (because there will be way too much stuff 
  going on), plus more.  Let us know at contact info here. 
   
  Patreon Project Site 
  https://www.patreon.com/user?u=4503957 
   
  Board Enterprises Website 
  http://www.boardenterprises.com/ 
   
  The Sounding Board Blog 
  http://boardent.blogspot.com/ 
   
  World of Fletnern wiki 
  http://fletnern.wikia.com/wiki/ 
   
  © 2017 John G. Josten 
   
  
  Do you want to continue to get this type of content for FREE? 
   
   
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SOURCE: textdata/thevault/_GM Books/World Building & Game Design/Board Enterprises/Board  Enterprises - Build Your Fantasy World - The Merchant Wars of Forsbury aka All About Caravans & Cartage.pdf