Caravan / long distance trade based items as hoard wealth

[Lurker]

Ok, I just got back from a long driving vacation, over 3k miles in the car with my wife, mom, and daughters. To save my sanity, from listening to all the woman talk, and my daughters new fixation on cutesy dog movies – Red fern, and Ole Yeller aren’t bad, but some of the others, hour after hour in the car … - and keep my mind active while driving most of that 3k miles, I listened to more of the college lectures I have down loaded, and let my mind wander about gaming.

Plus, as I drove across NW Oklahoma, N Texas and N New Mexico, I was reminded of the semiarid steppe land scape from the “Steppe Barbarian” lectures I listened to a few months ago. Then the lectures I listened to about ‘pre history human civilization’ and the fact that even earliest villages of quasi farming peoples (even before the cow and pig were domesticated) showed signs of long distance trade ( Jericho – yes the city from the bible, but a 7k to 6k BC instead of the aprox 1k to 800 BC from the bible story – showed sea shells from the Mediterranean, and another village from the same time (I can’t remember the name of that village) had not only sea shells but volcanic glass. Then it covered the ‘international trade’ of the earliest bronze age cultures around the near east, Africa, Mediterranean, and NW India. So this is one thing I thought of on the endless driving

Long distance trading and what would be found by adventures that raid a caravan, or recover things from barbarian/goblin raiders – or monsters’ hoards that preyed on the caravan.

The items would have to be light enough to transport on slaves’ backs, on a donkey (or camel if your world setting is advanced enough for effective camel saddles) or in a cart, but also be valuable enough to be transported despite the danger. With that:

Common Food stuffs ???? only local to semi reginal food stuffs would be traded. The towns and cities all along the trade route (and any city for that matter) can’t feed itself and requires food to be brought into the city. However, most food stuffs are to perishable for long distance trade. However … seeds of specific plants trees can be carried and thus spread ‘exotic’ / valuable food sources from their source region. *** Specifics would very on the region and type of game world, but a bag of Turkish blood orange seeds, or Elven golden sweet pear seeds is a good start

Luxury food stuffs – unlike normal food stuffs (wheat, barley, beef, etc) luxury food stuffs were highly traded. This is the classic Italian /Greek wine, Greek and Turkish Olives, European apples and pears (into Greece and Turkey – that surprised me when I heard the apple etc was valued in Greece Turkey and into the middle east . *** For a game world, who hasn’t heard of elfin wine or dwarfin beer being exceptional

Spices – no brainer here, it is what Columbus was trying to find an easy way to the East, and around the Ottoman Turks, for so things like cinnamon, pepper, etc etc etc would be part of the caravan. *** I’m a quasi foodie so I could open my spice cabinet and find the names of at least 20 types of spices to name to make a verity. I’m not sure what would be relevant for any specific game world
Not only spices but perfumes and aromatic items . Items used in scented oil – even archaic ladies like to smell good apparently - Egyptian mummification and religious incense were being traded well before the start of the bronze age.

Ores – copper, tin (for making copper into bronze), lead, and iron were all traded from England Spain through the Mediterranean into the SW Asia and from India across into Greece. The lecture mentioned a ship wreck that had ingots of copper and tin (ingots cast into a size and shape to easily stack in donkey ‘saddle bags’ to be carried across land) that weighed 30 tons – I want to say it was 300 tons, but I’m not sure and don‘t feel like back tracking though hours of lectures to see if it was 30 or 300 tons – and was enough ore to make bronze, a full set of bronze armor and weapons, for over 100 soldiers. However, precious ores –silver gold etc weren’t traded … ever. A nation that had gold or silver kept it for itself, until the advent of coin that is. *** I’m not sure what other ore would be valuable in a game world … maybe make ‘dwarf iron’ be more valuable than the local human mined stuff …

Semi precious / precious stones – again this is a no brainer, unworked stone and sea shells were some of the first traded items. Amber from E European & Russian forests were found in hunter gather camps even before the advent of farming, so they could be some of the earliest traded items … There are tons of gems listed in the various treasure tables so this is one area that doesn’t need lots of development. However, some more ‘common’ items – volcanic glass – is more valuable than I’d have thought. It even now has use in doing ultra precise eye surgeries – the glass is more sharp that any metal can be sharpened.

Initial stage of processed /crafted artesian goods – glass, exotic woods (Lebanon cedar from the bible and historic records is a prime example of this, or simple mangrove wood staffs being traded into Arabia or into upper Egypt (areas with NO trees). The same ship wreck mentioned in ores had ingots of blue glass that a glass blower could use to blow a glass bowl etc at the city it was traded too. Similarly, there are threads of special or superior items. Silk threads, Egyptian cotton treads, English wool thread are all examples of this. Plus there was bolts of cloth of linen cotton silk etc *** Again, you could say Elf silk from a special caterpillar could be as valuable or more valuable than ‘normal china silk’.

Plus, there were always attempts to smuggle out the trees and caterpillars for silk from China to break its monopoly on the Silk trade. Eventually, they were smuggled into Persia, Turkey and into Europe. So, there could be ‘simple’ items that are vital to production of the specific luxury goods hidden in the caravan loot

Valuable items processed from animals – fur pelts /skins, tusks and ivory, fangs and teeth etc. Similarly to the initial stages of processed goods, items like furs and seal skins were valuable in themselves and were used to make other more valuable items. Seal skins were water resistant and easily water proofed, other furs were better at warmth, others are valuable for their looks. Ivory, tusks, and whale bone were traded. Feathers from exotic birds were traded across Africa into Egypt and up into the middle east, and from Central America well up into the Rockies and into the Mississippi valley by Native Americans. Even teeth / fangs were used as early ‘buttons’. Heck even in the late bronze age ‘boar tusk’ / leather armor/helmets were used and sought after despite the existence and popularity of bronze helmets .

Items ‘perceived’ to be unique / superior to local items – this is the classic ‘this car has Corinthian leather seats’ when there is nothing unique about the leather seats and there is nothing that is specifically ‘Corinthian leather’. Again historically there was Chinese Silk, and Turkish silk (then down the road there was Italian and French Silk) However, Chines silk was always the most valuable because it was … Chinese silk. *** For this, is that Halfling leather actually better than the local leather, but it is Halfling sooooo it has to be better, just ask the Halflings and the merchant trying to sell it to you.

Valuable finished goods . That silk thread becomes bolts of silk (well silk was shipped both as threads and bolts of cloth all the way from China) Turkish/Persian rugs, cotton or linen becomes lace, cloth becomes vests shits and fashionable dresses, leather becomes sandals belts and the like – The lecture mentioned a letter from a bronze age king in the middle east that ‘nicely’ returned a set of leather sandals – they were to small – to the royal supported merchant that gifted them to the king, and the sandals were explicitly stated that they were in a fashion of those from the Minoan islands and studded with bronze. Also, going to India there was a find with a bronze dagger with scimi precious stones on its hilt and scabbard – the ore for the bronze and stones were all from the bronze age Indus valley area – being sent from the Mediterranean / Middle east back to India. *** Again, there are lists of valuables in multiple tables, so there isn’t a lot to add to this area.

Unique items – This is the items like a copy of the teaching by (insert teacher) , a copy of one of the Dialogs of Plato, a carved ivory pipe, an oriental silk painting, etc etc etc. Again, this area is covered fairly extensively in multiple treasure tables. However, to round them out you could put religious / philosophical items from the specific world into the list - The steppe barbarian lectures, when talking about the cities along the Silk road, talked in depth about these items being the little things a good merchant looked for (or expected his kin in the various cities he visited to look for and save for him when he returned to the specific city) and how important those were in exchanging and spreading ideas from one end of the silk road to the other. *** In a game world this would be magical items too.

Now the question for you all … What have I missed, especially with a magical world? I get too focused on ‘historic’ type settings so I’m sure I’m overlooking items that would be traded. What items would come from a setting that is moderately low to mid-level magical? What are the items that would come from ‘fantastical’ beasts and fey lands to enhance the historic items ???

[serleran]

There is, of course, people.

And livestock.

Anything can be traded, really, from pottery to glowing rocks.

Spell components.

Food, like tea or chocolate / coffee.

Religious items.

Marble, granite, other building stuff... raw or manufactured.

Art.

As far as magic goes, alchemical reagents and whatnot -- sort of depends on what you have in the world.

Some monsters are valuable. Gelatinous cubes can be well worth the effort... to some. As can rust monsters.

Money in the form of not money, like beads, shells, even paper.

Likewise, relics which may not be religious but could be how X culture records their spells. Flying scrolls, for example.

I tried to add some of this stuff to Engineering Castles, if you had it. Definitely not complete.

[Treebore]

I've got a couple of RPG specific PDF's on this very topic, from Expeditious Retreats Silk Road; Farm, Forge and Steam, plus others I would have to look up to get the titles of. Plus there are a wide variety of articles on this very topic for the Harn setting, many of which you could find for free on lythia.com, that are pretty easy to adapt to any campaign setting with similar assumptions. IE Medievel life.

Plus I still have things Serl posted about marketplaces, banes and balms, expert craftsmenship, poisons, etc... that you could combine together to develop such trade item lists.

[Mark Hall]

Don't forget there may be a market for ideas or books.

You might also find a market for the slaves themselves... you don't want war prisoners going into service near their homelands, so you sell them further afield.

[Lurker]

Rgr on people and slaves too.

See I get to focused to see what is a given ... One thing the lecture on the steppe barbarian pointed out over and over was the people on the silk road. ... Yes slaves from other steppe tribes, or captured by Rus and sold to the Turks etc etc etc and of course the merchants. However, there were also performers, scribes, artisans and even 'freaks' - the lecturer pointed out a letter from the emperor of Constantinople to a king in India (maybe another kingdom on the silk road, and I may have it reversed but you get the point) talking about the gift of an armless and legless singer, other letters about dancers that were 'different' ... So, even the nobles of the ancient world liked their own freak show.

Oh yeah, political refugees were also streaming back and forth in and along with the caravans. So yeah, people are part of the wealth too.

I've got a couple of RPG specific PDF's on this very topic, from Expeditious Retreats Silk Road; Farm, Forge and Steam, plus others I would have to look up to get the titles of. Plus there are a wide variety of articles on this very topic for the Harn setting, many of which you could find for free on lythia.com, that are pretty easy to adapt to any campaign setting with similar assumptions. IE Medievel life.

Plus I still have things Serl posted about marketplaces, banes and balms, expert craftsmenship, poisons, etc... that you could combine together to develop such trade item lists.

I think I have that 'Silk Road' PDF myself ... I'll have to dig for it and see.

Serls posts .... I think I've copied some back in the day, but no telling where I saved them too ... Always good stuff.

There is, of course, people.

...
As far as magic goes, alchemical reagents and whatnot -- sort of depends on what you have in the world.

Some monsters are valuable. Gelatinous cubes can be well worth the effort... to some. As can rust monsters.

Money in the form of not money, like beads, shells, even paper.

Likewise, relics which may not be religious but could be how X culture records their spells. Flying scrolls, for example.

I tried to add some of this stuff to Engineering Castles, if you had it. Definitely not complete.

I have Eng Castle, but haven't looked at it in a while, I'll have to look into it. I like how you point out money that isn't money ... perfect way to say it ... in the right place a string of glass beads is worth more than a whole tusk of African Elephant Ivory ... and a bag of specific sea shells was worth more than a bag of gold ore ...

Gel Cube, and rust monster ... see I'd never in a 100 years think of that ...

[Tadhg]

Interesting thread!

Like!