Marketplace

The Marketplace is where Governors barter directly with one another across the archipelago. A surplus of stone in one harbour can become the lumber another settlement desperately needs, provided merchant ships are ready to sail.

Bazaar

Spend coins on timed offers from roaming merchants.

Guildhall

Send anonymous letters and buy public distinctions through the clerks.

Fleet

Move goods between your own settlements or send reinforcements.

Before Trade Can Begin

A settlement must have a Marketplace constructed before its Governor may post or accept offers. Both buyer and seller require idle merchant ships in port, vessels already at sea cannot be committed to new contracts.

Posting an Offer

A Governor posts an offer by naming the resource and quantity they wish to sell, and what they expect in return. The offered goods are reserved immediately, drawn from the settlement stores and held until the contract is fulfilled or withdrawn.

At the clerk's window, the current stores and coin reserve of the chosen settlement remain in view so the bargain can be judged before it is entered into the ledger.

Each settlement may maintain up to 20 open offers at a time. Offers remain on the board until another Governor accepts them or the seller withdraws. When another Governor accepts an open offer, the seller receives a dispatch at the Governor's Desk.

Accepting an Offer

The buyer selects one of their settlements as the receiving port.
The requested payment is deducted from the buyer's stores.
The buyer also pays harbor dues in coins when the contract is sealed.
Both sides commit merchant ships, one fleet carries payment to the seller, the other delivers the purchased goods to the buyer.
When each fleet makes landfall, cargo is deposited into the receiving settlement's stores.
Merchants return home once the delivery is complete.

A Governor cannot accept their own posted offer.

Storage Limits

Any cargo that exceeds a settlement's storage capacity upon arrival is lost at sea. Expand storehouses before accepting large shipments.

The Merchant Fleet

Every trade requires merchant ships. The harbour master assigns the most efficient combination of available vessels.

Vessel	Cargo	Speed
Small Merchant Ship	80	1
Large Merchant Ship	200	0.7

The Trade Ledger

The ledger records all completed transactions and active offers. Governors may review past trades and cancel their own open listings at any time, withdrawn goods are returned to the settlement stores.

The Guildhall Counter

The same Marketplace that handles barter and bazaar trade now also opens the Guildhall counter. There, clerks sell timed distinctions that alter how a Governor's name appears across the archipelago.

Current guildhall commissions concern identity, influence, and quiet schemes rather than cargo. A Governor may buy a title or decorative name style for a fixed term, or purchase a sealed anonymous letter that arrives at another Governor's desk as an unsigned dispatch.

Guildhall Terms

Guildhall commissions are paid in coins from the settlement currently consulting the market clerks. Expired commissions remain in the ledger, and unclaimed timed offers may be marked as missed once they pass from the table. Anonymous letters are spent once delivered. Durable goods are not sold here.

Treasurer Mora: Treasury habit

A well-timed trade can resolve a resource shortage faster than any mine upgrade. Watch the market before it watches you.

Trade Fees

Marketplace contracts charge harbor dues in coins to the buyer when a deal is sealed. The seller still delivers the full offered cargo; no goods are shaved off in transit.

A stronger Marketplace reduces these dues. In the present world, the fee begins near 8% and falls by about 0.55% per Marketplace level, but never below 1.5%.

What decides whether a trade can sail?validation checks

Both ports need an eligible Marketplace, enough idle merchant capacity, enough resources for the promised cargo or payment, and enough buyer coins for harbor dues. Cargo is reserved when posted and committed when accepted.

The receiving storehouse still matters. Goods that arrive above storage capacity are lost, even if the contract itself was valid.

Prefer coin-based purchases over direct barter? Visit the Bazaar. To move goods between settlements under the same authority, see Fleet.

Common questions

Why can I not seal a trade?

The usual causes are no receiving settlement selected, insufficient payment, not enough coins for harbor dues, or idle merchant ships missing from either port.

Why did an offer vanish from the board?

Another Governor may have accepted it, the seller may have withdrawn it, or the seven-day listing window may have expired. Withdrawn and expired offers return the reserved goods to the seller.

Can a Guildhall commission replace normal diplomacy?

No. Titles and name styles change how a Governor is seen. Anonymous letters are one-use dispatches, not an ongoing message thread.