Trade
From Eressea
Establishing trade relations
In every region, the peasantry produce one special luxury item. Your units may purchase this product. In all regions that do not produce this special luxury product, there is a continuously rising demand. If you are not afraid of the risks involved in long distance travelling, trading is a very lucrative method of earning silver.
In order to trade, a unit needs the trade skill. For every level of trade skill, a unit can buy up to 10 luxury items or sell 10 luxury items. The better the trader is and the more traders are present, the more items can be bought and sold each turn.
Furthermore, some form of castle is needed for the trade to take place. At least a tradepost size castle is required. It does not matter who controls the castle, the owner cannot directly prevent the trading from taking place. However, he can indirectly prevent trading from going on by simply attacking the trading units with his own armed units.
Units can only trade from a ship if the region is not being guarded or if all of the guarding factions have set HELP GUARD to the unit's faction.
The owner of the biggest castle within a region receives part of the trade profits of the region, much like customs. This silver is deducted from the earnings of every trader. If there are two castles of the same size in a region, no one will receive the customs money. The amount deducted for customs can be found in this table.
This table shows the basic prices of luxury goods. The number of units of luxury goods that can be bought without raising the price is 1% of the number of peasants in the region. Every time this amount is bought (the total bought by all factions), the price rises by the basic price. A region with 2,000 peasants means 20 luxury items can be bought without raising the price. The price drops to normal the next turn because more luxury goods are produced.
| Luxury good | Basic price |
|---|---|
| Oil | 3 |
| Spices | 5 |
| Silk | 6 |
| Gems | 7 |
| Incense | 4 |
| Myrrh | 5 |
| Balm | 4 |
The sale price of a luxury item in a region is a multiple of the basic price, and is declared in the report of the region. As soon as 1% of the peasants has bought a certain good, the sale price drops by the basic price and rises again slowly in the following turns. Each turn, there is a 10% chance for each luxury good for its sale price to increase by its basic price. In regions with a harbour, this chance is 20%. For example, in a region with 1,000 peasants, as soon as 10 oil is sold there, the sale price of oil will drop by 3 silver (one basic price). Next turn, there is a 10% chance this sale price will rise again by 3 silver (one basic price).
The sale prices of luxury items are independent of faction. Without trade agreements between players, the selling prices of luxury goods can easily be ruined.
All purchases and sales of luxury goods are divided evenly amongst players. The dropping or raising of prices will affect all players who buy or sell that turn.
In a region with 8,000 peasants, the sale price of incense is 4 silver, and the sale price of spices if 15 silver. 1% of the peasants in this region is 80. If all the traders in the region sell 200 spices, the first 80 units are sold for 15 silver a piece, the next 80 units are sold for 10 silver a piece (down one basic price for spices), and the last 40 spices are sold for only 5 silver a piece.
If 100 incense is bought in the same region, the first 80 are bought at 4 silver a piece, and the next 20 are bought at 8 silver a piece (an increase of one basic price).
The region does not lose any money when luxury items are sold to the local peasantry. The peasants create luxury goods to be sold elsewhere, replacing the silver taken out of the region. The silver does not appear of thin air, rather it is abstracted away under the guise of peasant productivity.
