Post by SouthWestern Traders on Sept 27, 2018 20:29:19 GMT
With free and fair-trade blooming in Robogdii, the markets and docks of the bountiful goblin province are quite prosperous. Everyone seems quite content with life, with most everyone pleased with how things are going. Some unfortunate merchants have had to settle for less, of course, but even they can find their niche in the open markets. They just can’t quite dominate the markets as forcefully as they are used to, to their greater consternation. The benefit to the locals and traveling merchants, however, is quite noticeable.
The docks are a bustling hive of activity. Despite having very clearly been friendly competitors mere months ago, it is easy to find captains and merchants discussing business across guild lines. It would appear that friendliness has a greater value than competitiveness among the wealthier circles of Robogdii. With cost and quantity being the primary concern, and quality being secondary, large orders are placed for foodstuffs to fill the holds of the Southwestern Trader merchant vessels. While quality is far from a concern, it is made clear that the food must remain edible. Spoiled food will be rejected, as will poisonous items that might be confused for food (such as horse chestnuts). But the food may be stale, or undesirable, or even plain.
A preference and emphasis is placed on food that stores well and can make the journey across the sea to Gododdin. It is not a distant journey, to be sure, but for the food to make it from the market, across the sea, and onto a peasant’s table could very well take at least two weeks, and the food would be worthless if it spoiled in the meantime. Furthermore, the numerous trips that have been planned and the desired expeditious nature of the venture also means that some of the food may very well stack in Robogdii while the ships are at sea, so that the ships might be loaded with great haste as soon as they land, only to depart within a day or less.
An interesting foodstuff that few would have considered, if not for the risk of famine in Gododdin, ended up being discarded leather. A wealthy guilder by the name of Elizabeth saw an opportunity to make use of large quantities of leather that couldn’t quite make the cut into armour and were insufficient for the purposes of clothing. The amount of work required to turn the scraps into something valuable far exceeded the potential value of anything that might be made. Therefore, she suggested, the leather could be boiled and eaten. It was, after all, simply hardened skin that just needed to be softened. Advantageously, the leather was both cheap and durable, while meeting the strict requirement of being edible.
Overall, however, the leather ended up being a minute portion of the large quantities of food that Sunspear, Halfmoon and Stargazer planned on shipping to Gododdin. For nearly as quickly as they docked in Gododdin, they unloaded their wares and were soon off again to Robogdii. While efforts were made to procure some valuable goods in Gododdin for sale in Robogdii, the focus was primarily on securing sufficient ballast rather than securing anything of particular value. It was far more important, it would seem, to make sure that as much food as possible made it from Hibernia to the shores of Gododdin, and onwards into the hands of peasants and nobles alike.
The docks are a bustling hive of activity. Despite having very clearly been friendly competitors mere months ago, it is easy to find captains and merchants discussing business across guild lines. It would appear that friendliness has a greater value than competitiveness among the wealthier circles of Robogdii. With cost and quantity being the primary concern, and quality being secondary, large orders are placed for foodstuffs to fill the holds of the Southwestern Trader merchant vessels. While quality is far from a concern, it is made clear that the food must remain edible. Spoiled food will be rejected, as will poisonous items that might be confused for food (such as horse chestnuts). But the food may be stale, or undesirable, or even plain.
A preference and emphasis is placed on food that stores well and can make the journey across the sea to Gododdin. It is not a distant journey, to be sure, but for the food to make it from the market, across the sea, and onto a peasant’s table could very well take at least two weeks, and the food would be worthless if it spoiled in the meantime. Furthermore, the numerous trips that have been planned and the desired expeditious nature of the venture also means that some of the food may very well stack in Robogdii while the ships are at sea, so that the ships might be loaded with great haste as soon as they land, only to depart within a day or less.
An interesting foodstuff that few would have considered, if not for the risk of famine in Gododdin, ended up being discarded leather. A wealthy guilder by the name of Elizabeth saw an opportunity to make use of large quantities of leather that couldn’t quite make the cut into armour and were insufficient for the purposes of clothing. The amount of work required to turn the scraps into something valuable far exceeded the potential value of anything that might be made. Therefore, she suggested, the leather could be boiled and eaten. It was, after all, simply hardened skin that just needed to be softened. Advantageously, the leather was both cheap and durable, while meeting the strict requirement of being edible.
Overall, however, the leather ended up being a minute portion of the large quantities of food that Sunspear, Halfmoon and Stargazer planned on shipping to Gododdin. For nearly as quickly as they docked in Gododdin, they unloaded their wares and were soon off again to Robogdii. While efforts were made to procure some valuable goods in Gododdin for sale in Robogdii, the focus was primarily on securing sufficient ballast rather than securing anything of particular value. It was far more important, it would seem, to make sure that as much food as possible made it from Hibernia to the shores of Gododdin, and onwards into the hands of peasants and nobles alike.