Trade in the Calinan Sea
"While force of arms is a universally recognised form of conquest, even that might is behelden to the supply of materials and goods."
Over the last 3500 years, the practice of trade in the Calinan Sea has exploded from exchanges of simple seeds and stone tools between neighbouring tribes to a complex network of sophisticated trade networks crossing both land and sea, trafficking goods from up to thousands of kilometres from their points of origin.
While exploration and military conquests have become other ways for a culture to spread across the continents and seas, trade has always been - and remains - the prime conveyor of new technologies, materials, knowledge and beliefs across the known world.
In the Calinan Sea and the surrounding lands, trade is subdivided into the interconnecting roads, routes and caravans of overland trade, and the great many-oared galleys, ports and outposts of maritime trade, with considerable intersection.
Markets, bartering, and the rise of coinage
Most of the states and lands around the Calinan Sea and beyond employ palace economies as their primary means of production and resource distribution; that is, production and state-scale trade is centrally planned by an administrative class, usually made up of nobles and priests, who direct production, collect resources and redistribute as required.
However in recent centuries it has become necessary to supplement this both by allowing citizens to engage in independent trade outside of the centrally planned system, and to use both local and foreign traders as intermediaries to procure and transport goods beyond a state's grasp. This balance varies depending on the state; for example, the Kalriv Empire's government apparatus heavily intervenes in all elements of trade, while the Avadian Sovereignty generally allow traders to do as they wish and serve as arbitrators and facilitators of independent trade.
The barter economy is still considered the primary standard by which most goods change hands; scaled depending on the volume, rarity, and demand of the goods in question. That having been said, the barter system is seeing a new alternative rise in the form of the standardised Avadian hex, a silver token which has become the first commonly accepted coinage. It is the primary method of trade in Avadian outposts and territories, and has become ubiquitous enough that it can be used in markets in most major cities in the known world.
Goods Traded
In major trade hubs such as the Xiran Markets in Port Avadia or the World's Bazaar in Kas, one can purchase amber from the Wessuth tribes of far north Arikanda alongside silk from the Sembarine unknown and ostrich eggs from the Galan Delta. While itinerant sole traders wandering from village to village are less likely to have such extravagant wares, even their inventories can see mysterious items well beyond the geographic reach of their buyers.
These goods include;
Metals: While copper is relatively abundant on the continent, tin, an essential component in bronze, is much rarer and is geographically concentrated in areas such as the hills of Vaienn and the highlands of the northern Sapphire Coast.
This makes tin a highly prized commodity, and trade in it is lucrative whether it be from the miners sourcing it or the merchants transporting it. Beyond copper and tin there are other metals that are sought, with gold and silver being two highly valued metals. Lead is also sought out, as is arsenic.
Produce: Villages and farms often export a good portion of their produce to traders as they visit, and these often find a market in other cities where such produce is not readily available. For example, fruits such as oranges, lemons and peaches, native to the Avadian Colonies and the regions near the Backlash often find buyers in the Beyan Archipelago, Tanoron, The Heartlands and the Sapphire Coast, where they do not grow naturally; and likewise agave, mesquite and similar foods found in the Kalriv Empire are exported. Pomegranates, figs and dates are also exported from the drier, warmer parts of southern Arikanda.
Finished Goods: In addition to raw materials, finished goods are often exported. Professionally made Helikan armour is often sought in other cities, and some of the best construction tools are traded out of Vessen in the Heartlands. The Kalriv export a surplus of the fired bricks that are not used in projects, and Mirrelum produces and exports clothing worn around Arikanda.
Helik produces and exports the finest chariots in the known world, while Port Avadia and other shipyards in the Beyan Archipelago have been known to export their vessels wholesale.
Luxury Items: A wide variety of items considered luxuries are transported over long distances; pigments, dyes, oils, perfumes, luxury textiles, faience and gemstones. The rarity and high quality of such goods often sees a very lucrative price paid by nobles and merchants - and attracts the attention of raiders.
Maritime Trade
"Let them squabble over roads and territories. We have the waves."
For thousands of years, sailing on the Calinan Sea has been a cornerstone of trade between societies. Over that time, the practice has gone from traders with sacks of goods in canoes and outriggers sailing short distances to other islands or cities to fast and imposing galleys traversing the entire Sea, holds packed to the brim with diverse cargo from all over the known world.
Most maritime transport of goods is dominated by the traders of the Avadian Sovereignty, who have the finest ships and best sailors and navigators known to man. While other smaller traders from cities like Barkos and Ormond take to the seas, the sight of a mighty penteconter of an Avadian wayfarer company, or the sight of a sea-trade outpost in Avadian hands have become ubiquitous with the idea of maritime trade.
Most sea trade routes hug the coastlines of either side of the Calinan Sea, usually stopping at cities and outposts along the way as required. With that said, it is not uncommon for penteconters to cross the Calinan Sea, usually using the islands of the Beyan Archipelago as stepping stones to cross to the southenrnmost shores. Particularly well equipped vessels and skilled crews can even cross the open sea from Arikanda to Calina or vice-versa.
Major Hazards
The largest threat to sea trade comes in the form of raider crews; ranging from common bandits at sea all the way to trained and experienced Wayfarers 'going bad'. Many of these raiders have formed organised groups that pose a much greater threat to shipping, with the largest being the Syndicate in the southwestern Calinan Sea. Attitudes of raiders run the gamut; anywhere from a simple boarding and seizure of cargo, to mass murder and enslavement of the entire crew.
Raiders are not all sea traders must fear, however. The Calinan must bow to the chaos of wind, thunder and rain like all others, and even the most skilled sailors can be brought down by a storm, never to be seen again.
Trade Powers
From time immemorial, trade across the Calinan has been dominated by the thalassocratic Avadian peoples. While most peoples in Arikanda were squabbling over terrestrial holdings and taming the wilderness, the Avadians were building fast vessels, charting sea routes, and establishing trade outposts and colonies across the Calinan.
Today Avadian power is expressed through two forms; the official state power of the Avadian Admiralty and its fleet, and the united naval and economic power of the Mariners' Guild. While theoretically each trader is an independent operator rather than a state power, with the Admiralry funding and guarding outposts and patrolling sealanes, and with the Guild directing and unifying trade operations throughout the Sea, this is a technicality. Culturally, the Avadian language is considered the trade language in most of the Calinan, and the Avadian alphabet is considered the standard for record-keeping and other trade documents.
Other major maritime powers with presence on the shipping lanes include the city-state of Barkos on the Sapphire Coast, the city-state of Ormond in western Tanoron, and the city-state of Kas on the intersection between the Calinan and Sapphire Seas. More recently, explorers, traders and warriors from the Kingdom of Kjoqvist have entered the Calinan Sea and have set up in the city-state of Solathi. This new power brings maritime technology and skill that rivals the Avadians, and stands poised to upend the ancient order in the Sea.
A typical Avadian wayfarer/maritime trader
Overland Trade
Goods are also carried overland between city-states and territories, using a network of interconnecting roads and trade routes. There is no single route or road, nor is the network monopolised by a single entity, instead connected by an unspoken co-operation.
Most merchants and caravans do not range over a few hundred kilometres of travel, and it is rare for a good to pass from one side of the continent to the other without changing hands several times. This is usually facilitated through trading at markets in a city or large town, along with the uses of caravanserais along most of the major trade routes.
Overland trade usually uses a combination of trails and paths along with a network of more typical roads maintained by the sovereign city-state or kingdom in the area. Most overland transportation of goods is carried out using wagons owned by or rented to merchants. Pack animals are also regularly used, while some individuals may even ride horses to carry a low number of smaller goods at a faster speed. Generally caravans often form between traders in transit so as to provide better mutual protection on the road.
A map of overland trade routes in Arikanda. Helikan Relay sections are shown in white, with independent trade roads/trails marked in yellow.
The Helikan Relay
Southern Arikanda is particularly well interconnected thanks to the development of the Helikan Relay, with its paths, waystations and patrols providing a safe, fast and convenient network for traders that is well worth the tolls going into Helikan coffers. The Relay interconnects many cities, allowing more than one route between towns. Legs of the relay all begin at Helik, and form three major sub-routes;
The Web is the oldest stretch of the relay, and rather than form a single route it instead connects all of the 'core' cities of the south-central Sapphire Coast, with Helik forming a hub. Roads connect out from Helik to Teldum, Ekos, Zanta, Velis, Anaksa and Dara; and many of the Relay's roads then connect many of these cities to each other, allowing for a prospective trader to modify their routes as required.
Ekos serves as a transfer point to the Cedar Highway, the longest stretch of the Helikan Relay, named for the route that it takes through the cedar forests of the southwest Sapphire Coast - and the same cedar being exported along that highway. The Cedar Highway hugs the Calinan coast, running through Teldum and Belena, before reaching Tesuda. From Tesuda, an offshoot of the relay travels north through the foothills of Arpium before reaching Karrana and the Attanine Mountains; and from there, the roads into Vessen and the Heartlands. To the west, the Cedar Highway continues, passing through Mayoka and Viso in southern Arpium, then curves through Tanoron proper, passing through Aureil, Mirrelum, Vercin and Sannae, before finally terminating in Ormond, where transit across the Marois River allows access into Avadian lands and goods.
The Sapphire Road stems from Zanta in the southeast Sapphire Coast, then curves along the eastern edge of the Arikandan continent, passing through the major cities of Velis, Dela, Katel and Barkos; major maritime city-states now major members of the Helikan League. These roads connect Helik, and by extension the rest of the League and southern Arikanda, with the goods available along the Sapphire Sea. A major extension has recently been completed to the city of Vardin; the newest member of the League, deep in the Sapphran Borderlands, and perilously close to Kalriv territory.
Major Hazards
The most obvious threat on overland routes comes from bandits. While the roads of the Helikan Relay are patrolled and protected, smaller trade roads and trails can be isolated, with no people or guards around for many kilometres. This makes lone, ill-defended traders easy prey for the opportunistic, the cruel, and the plain desperate. Other dangers include the risk of damage to wagons and other vehicles, wild animal attacks, extreme weather such as heatwaves, floods and blizzards, and the risk of disease.
Trade Powers
Unlike maritime trade, overland trade sees a much more even distribution of control over the market. Avadians are still a considerable presence on trade routes on land, and the hex is still used in many land markets, however they do not have the stranglehold they do over the seas.
Trade power is generally shared between the state-operated trades of most major city-states and kingdoms, and independent traders operating for themselves.
Helik has become a large trade power in part due to the size of the Helikan League, and also in part due to controlling the fastest and most well-protected highways in the form of the Helikan League, but other major city-states such as Vessen, Mirrelum and Ormond all have major presences in the Arikandan trade routes.
A typical Helikan merchant
Trade Hubs
While all settlements embrace trade in some way shape or form, there are a small number who have become hubs of trade, major parts of the trade network where a large quantity of goods can be traded or transitioned into other routes. These hubs tend to be major seaports and large cities/metropolises, however in recent decades, Avadian traders have begun building large outposts dedicated primarily to serving as hubs.
In the Calinan Sea/Beyan Archipelago
Port Avadia: Arguably the largest market and port in the world with the possible exception of Kas, the Avadian capital sees just about every kind of trade good in the known world flow through its harbours; either to be transferred between locations or to be on-sold in the massive Xiran Markets.
In southwestern Arikanda
Denato: Directly across the sea from Port Avadia, Denato is the most important sea and land interchange in mainland Arikanda, and a critical supply route for the continental Avadian Colonies. It sees a great deal of finished goods from the Archipelago arrive, bound for the colonies, and in turn transfers large quantities of sugar, rum, citrus, cypress, tin and copper from both the colonies and further inland.
In the southeast Sapphire Coast
Helik: Helik's sheer size and importance in the Helikan League - along with its status as the origin point for all roads on the Helikan relay - make it one of the largest trade hubs on Arikanda. The Lake City imports and transfers most grains and metals available in the known world, along with textiles from Avadian lands, Heartlander cities and even Sembarine lands by way of Kas.
In Tanoron and the Heartlands
Karrana/Vessen: Karrana enjoys an enviable position at a pass between the Attanine Mountains sealing the Heartlands from the south of Arikanda, making it a vital transit point for goods flowing into and out of those regions. Tin is a very popular transferred good, passing through from the Heartlands down to the large Southern kingdoms and empires, along with oak, lumber, beer and other Heartlander exports. All trade passing through the Attanines generally also passes through the Heartlander city-state of Vessen, due to its proximity to the pass.
Ormond: Ormond serves as a transitory point between the Tanorite lands in south-central Arikanda and the Avadian Colonies, with its position on the Marois River making it an ideal point to ferry goods to and from the mainland Avadian holdings. This makes it a cornerstone of the only terrestial alternative to transporting goods out of Calina and the Beyan Archipelago to the main continental cities by sea.
In western Arikanda
Freemarket: The town of Freemarket was built by Avadian explorers to provide a central, purpose-built market complex connecting their various colonies in southwestern Arikanda. Originally forming as a simple Colonial Guard compound and a few warehouses and storefronts, it has now become a central hub with a bustling town to support its commerce, connecting the northern colonies of Talrid and Barcelles to the southern reaches of Kayor and Denato. It also connects a number of villages belonging to Wessuth tribes, and other Arikandran peoples of the Unknown.
Solathi: As one of the two 'Arikandan' cities in Calina, and as the largest city in the northeast of the continent, Solathi is vital for both importing goods from Arikandan markets and transferring goods from Calina. It exports papyrus, wheat, ostrich eggs, peacock feathers and other goods found in the surrounding Galan Delta, while also transferring gemstones, sandstone, hybas and Essenite from further up the Galan, in Lygon. It even trades in goods from mysterious lands from beyond the Marai Desert; spices, incense, silks and more.
Maganti: While Maganti is no longer an Avadian colony, it retains its important place in the mercantile network from those days. Its proximity to the Arzai Jungle sees it export jungle fruits and rare animals, along with splinterback shells and curios from the Calinani tribes, while it imports weapons, tools and clothing from the Beyan Archipelago and Calina proper.
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