Welcome to the Grunwald Trading Company

I'm very pleased to announce the Grunwald Trading Company will be opening its doors upon launch at Braenaroch, Trade City of Aranor NA-West server. Braenaroch, already promised a central location and host of the extensive Roighail Tradeway network, will be the ideal location for merchants all around Elyria to gather and trade together. Safety, purpose, and (most importantly) opportunity awaits!

What can we do for you?

The Grunwald Trading Company offers many advantages to its members. Many dangers lurk the roads, despite the best efforts of the nation's brave patrol forces. The guild can provide valuable information on road safety, sudden war outbreaks and known bandit schemes. We'll even be organizing large caravans so that you may make the most profit with the least amount of risk! Even better, the guild will also provide market price information for your goods before you even leave the city. Take the guesswork out of your purchases, with the Grunwald Trading Co, merchants can share the best routes, new emerging markets, and other investment opportunities. In the medieval competitive markets of Elyria, even the smallest advantages can lead to the largest rewards.

Guildhall Services

The Braenaroch Guildhall, home of our operations, will be more than just an information hub. We plan to offer free lodging and local storage to our members. As the guild expands and contracts are made in other cities, we guarantee that these privileges will be extended as secondary guildhalls are constructed in Aranor and other nations.

Shared Resources

On launch, some merchant equipment will be provided by our sponsors. If you wish to be a merchant, but cannot afford backing the tier IRL, you can use the guild's carts and horses for your first few expeditions, in return for a fee taken by the guildhall after each journey.

Notes of Credit

The Guildhalls will be offering an additional service to members, The Notes of Credit System. On some trips, namely to military outposts or remote areas, a problem will arise for merchants both well-established and fledgling. Consider the senario where it is more profitable to bring goods to one city and not buy anything there for the return trip. You are now carrying a large sum of gold, perhaps all of the money you own since you want to maximize profits, and have to take a risky ride back to purchase more goods. It would be in the best interest of everyone if you could deposit your gold and obtain a note that would be redeemable at your destination for the same amount of gold. If stolen, reporting the theft at the hall you deposited into would allow them to return your money and invalidate the notes at the other hall. In theory, your money would teleport from one city to another, removing bandits' source of income while promoting trade! What do we do with the gold? We will transport it later in a larger caravan or guarded unit. Any losses during transport will be taken up by the guild, if they occur at all. Although not available at start, this system is currently backed by Braenaroch, Moonwall and the crown of Aranor, and can be expected to be implemented in more cities as the guild extends.

Warders

Thieves, bandits, vagabonds...the enemies we will face on the road and at home. In order to protect our merchants, guildhalls, warehouse, and livelihoods, the guild will support a small force of mercenaries, tasked with hunting known criminals and groups that have targeted Grunwald Co. Merchants. Each guild will have between 3 to 12 warriors living in-house to respond to emergencies, while less urgent dangers will be posted as quests on the guild's noticeboard.

What we ask in return

The guild itself will be generally benefited by information sharing. If there is a new bandit camp somewhere, sudden drop in market prices, or other information that could benefit other merchants, we greatly expect you to report it. The guild represents cooperation between competing merchants, and this will make conflicts of interest, thus we will have harsh penalties for intentionally incorrect reports. We also expect that you will help other guildhall merchants in times of need. As a form of insurance, the guildhall will occasionally loan the means of business to members (supplies or carts or animals). If you fall on hard times, we will organize investors from within the guild who can provide a low-interest loan or lend assets, until you recover and are able to pay them back. In return, the thriving merchants are expected to volunteer (we will never force you to make risky investments) to help their fellow Grunwald Merchants.

How to join the Grunwald Trading Company

If you are interested in joining, (or partnering if you represent an organization), please join our discord here and leave a message.

Partnerships and other private negotiations need not use the public chat, and may message me directly.

I look forward to our guild's success,

Yours truly,

Matrim C. Grunwald