Monday, April 29, 2013

Jessum, the Traveling Merchant

Most major roads in Martapa have nice inns to stay in about a day a part.  Usually they are well stocked with food and those little things that just need to be picked up.  Boots, cloaks, rations, saddle straps, the like.  For these inns to keep supplied they rely on the traveling merchants that simply go from one major city to another, supplying not only inns but travelers as well.

One such merchant is Jessum Thunderhead.  He works the major road between Calabay and Eton.  He has three wagons, each pulled by a team of draft horses.  (He saved up long to get horses over mules.)  He has three guards and a cook, which he pays well.  He isn't rich, but the people who he supplies keep him well fed and able to pay his team on time and what they are owed.  Jessum is honest enough, though like all good merchants he tries to get the best deal.  He is a major life line between Eton and Calabay so even the patrols know him by name and give him aid if need be.

Though Jessum likes the life of a merchant, he also helps the crown as well.  In the time of the High King's Sword he is part of the Society of the King.  Because the northern Houses desperately want a new High King, they are always searching, though not openly.  Calabay and Eton, especially, are trying to find the King and work closely with each other to find clues.  Jessum lets them pass such information back and forth easily.

In game you can use Jessum to get your players involved with the Society of the King or you can use him as an information source, or even a source of employment.

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