At the bottom, simple peddlers wander the roads, shouldering their goods from village to village. Lacking much in the way of funds, peddlers sell what they can find or trade for, and so they often carry as much junk as they do quality goods. Most of these low-tier merchants deal in merchandise and not in foodstuffs, as they lack the means to transport such items before they spoil. A single peddler usually moves between 6 and 12 villages, moving from one location to the next in rotation. The wealthier peddlers can afford a guard or two, but these are rare, for if they can afford guards, they can probably afford better modes of transportation than their feet.[1a]
Next come the merchants proper. This broad group includes minor dealers who travel to a handful of cities, up to the powerful lords who can move goods all across the continent. In towns and cities of any size, they organize themselves into guilds to look out for their common interests. While powerful locally, most guilds can’t compare to the merchant princes and the Great Merchant Houses. Most merchants operate out of a single city, moving goods in bulk into and out of their base of operations, acquiring goods from other cities and bringing them back for sale. A few have ships or barges that allow them to move more merchandise to other coastal cities, or caravans to move things overland to more remote regions.[1a]
The most powerful of the merchants are the Great Merchant Houses, ruled by merchant princes who wield power nearly equal to kings and lords. They have the power to deprive a city of any resource in order to drive the prices up or inundate it with surplus goods to hedge out their competition. With offices in several cities, they have large networks of lesser operatives who negotiate prices with local finishers or farmers to get the best price and relocate the goods to markets with large demands. Details on some of the major families follow.[1a]
House Agnew[]
While there is a nascent middle class in Bretonnia, it lacks the strength and vibrancy of the Imperial burgher class. The noble houses control every facet of Bretonnian life and that includes trade. House Agnew, which is famous across the Old World for its wines and spirits, is a noble household whose accomplishments in trade have far eclipsed those of the battlefield. Wealthy and influential from their brisk trade in exporting fine wines from the Morceaux Valley, they helped fund Marienburg’s secession from the Empire for their own economic advantage and (so they say) the defence of Bretonnia. While some noble families disparage the Agnews for engaging in such unknightly pursuits, House Agnew has become key to the economic prosperity of Bretonnia.[1a]
House Bacher[]
Established as a factor for moving breads and other baked goods in Marienburg, House Bacher established themselves as the premier house for moving foodstuffs throughout the Old World. Still based in Marienburg, they have unprecedented control and influence given the city’s unusual relationship with the Empire. Some whisper House Bacher has a hand in the local politics, but most discount such rumours as paranoid nonsense. House Bacher sells to both Bretonnia and the Empire. Displayed on their merchant ships, their banners, a grasshopper on a red field, can be seen in ports all over the world. Their biggest rivals are the smaller businesses within the Empire, but they maintain a foothold in most places because of their monopoly importing Bretonnian brandies.[1a]
Korbrel's Fine Wares[]
Korbrel's Fine Wares is a large and wealthy organization catering to the wealthiest citizens in the Old World. Selling commodities like precious metals, gemstones, glass wares, and gromril ore from the Dwarfs, Korbrel is a household name among the Empire’s decadent aristocracy. So great is their prominence, there is always a Korbrel at any one of the Emperor’s personal parties.[1a]
Von Kantor Family[]
Situated in Averheim, the Von Kantor Family is small and efficient, made so by the constant raids of the Orcs and worse boiling out of Black Fire Pass. They deal in ores culled from the Worlds Edge Mountains, using cheap peasant labour to beat out Dwarf competition. Much of their control stems from the city, but most of their business transactions occur farther north. Their House symbol is a mountain with two peaks.[1a]
The Rumster Clan[]
This sprawling house of Halfling merchants contains some of the sharpest minds of the Halfling nation. With agents and members spread across all the Empire, their “penny pies” and “travelling meat breads” are infamous as cheap and slightly dubious fare. Wherever there is cut-price meat or spoiled flour, a Rumster is there, cornering the market and warming up the ovens. They’ll put anything in a pie, even, it is whispered, each other.[1a]
Other Houses[]
Many more merchant houses have influence throughout the Old World, from the Elven merchant house Swiftwind, which represents Elven trade goods in Erengrad, Marienburg, and even Altdorf, to the Fabbricante Family in Tilea who bargains with northern lords for mercenary units and their Free Companies. The Steinhauer family transports rare marble throughout the Old World, and their excellent tile and stone are used in the palaces and homes of the wealthy.[1b]