On a whim...

The Basics

The Trader Guildleader Ansprahv says, "What, you want to know about contracts? Why, they are the life blood of the trader. Other enterprises perhaps give more profits from time to time, and others may sometimes permit the trader to learn his trade at a faster rate, but contracts are the most consistent means to experience and wealth. There is never a shortage of contracts."

I have traveled far and questioned many other traders to compile some useful information for making your profits (in coin and skill) on the routes. You will want to start out with enough coin to pay off debts right away, if possible. RENT CARAVAN from the clerk. Caravans are much more convenient to rent because they lead thru some areas and you can train during this time. Then ASK MINISTER FOR CONTRACT, GIVE CONTRACT TO CLERK and PAY CLERK to keep up on dues (do this at every outpost you pick up a contract). Do not forget to have given the contract to the clerk, very embarrassing to make it to the delivery outpost without the goods. You can LOOK CARAVAN to verify your goods are loaded.

Caravan commands - TELL CARAVAN TO...
LEAD TO (CITY) - direct caravan to lead on routes, see province notes below for listing of cities.
FOLLOW - always have caravan following and pay attention when it isn't.
WAIT - pauses lead on route.
STOP - cancels route.
RETURN - goes backwards on a route.
GO FAST - go fast.
GO FASTER - gofaster!
GO SLOW - go..slow.
GO SLOWER - go...slower.
SPOOK - fun to do but need to feed after plus helps you get out of danger.
JOIN (LEADER) - start a convoy.

Some useful items to start out with is a ledger, feedbag, jugglies, appraisal items, origami and compedium. If you are stolen from on the route in town you can accuse at the guard house; on routes out of town you need to accuse to the clerk. You have a limited time frame to do so. Remember, you are allowed only one contract per outpost until it expires or is completed so plan your routes accordingly. And feed your caravans regularly as you get fined if they die, or pay stable costs if found. When your caravan leads you will not get stuck in webs, mud, etc. There is a two minute time limit between SPOOKing your caravan.

Lost your caravan?
First, check with the clerk at any outpost to see if it died by RENTing another one. They will either fine and give you another or tell you to look elsewhere. Next, try checking the stables in the area you were trading or the last outpost you told it to lead to. Caravans can continue on without you and stop at the end point on its own. Also, with sufficient mental aptitude and scholarly ways, a trader can RECALL CARAVAN in an attempt to remember where they parked. The results can vary based on both the recall ability of the trader and the distance from the caravan.

Threads to highlight
The caravan driver watches with satisfaction as the animals in his care finish off the last of their feed.
The driver of your caravan calls over to you, "They are done with that last bit of feed, madam!" OR The driver of your caravan calls over to you, "They are done with that last bit of feed, sir!"
, following you
Oddly, your pouch seems suddenly heavier for a moment. Knowing the lands as you do, you doubt it was a donation.
bank
caravan
barge

Posted by Rajara | 10.10.08

Stables

There are some times where you may want to store your caravan or pack animal. The caravan stables are scattered in useful locations near the trade routes. To have the stablehands take your caravan or pack animal, have them in the stable with you and PAY fee (also useful to figure out if the stable takes caravans at all if the list below is not available). The fees are for four andaen and there is an additional cost after more time which you will be charged when you come back to RETURN CARAVAN. If you are running contracts be sure you keep track of the time left, as they will still expire. Stabling is mostly useful if there is a caravan you like and want to keep, have items in your storage box, have commodities you are saving or any other reason you can think of not to RETURN CARAVAN to the clerk. If you do not stable your animals they will most likely starve, leaving you with a bad reputation and fees to the guild. There are rare times when your animals will be brought back to the guild or stabled for you.

Zoluren:
Crossing - two rooms east of west gate at manure pile.
   Fees: Pack animals 200 kronars / Caravans 400 kronars.
Arthe Dale - north and east of gate, go path.
   Fees: Pack animals 120 kronars / Caravans 240 kronars.
Kaerna (near Stone Clan) - stable outside outpost.
   Fees: Pack animals 120 kronars / Caravans 240 kronars.
Caravansary - on NTR at path to Dirge go NW and SW, then stable, gate and pen.
   Fees: Pack animals 100 kronars / Caravans 200 kronars
Dirge- three rooms east of bank, go stable twice.
   Fees: Pack animals 100 kronars / Caravans 200 kronars
Leth Deriel - from town center go north til you can go west, at Rest of Ages Inn.
   Fees: Pack animals 125 kronars / Caravans 250 kronars.

Therengia:
RiverHaven - door outside outpost.
   Fees: Pack animals 175 lirums / Caravans 350 lirums
Langenfirth - from outpost south twice, west, then pen and barn.
   Fees: Pack animals 120 lirums / Caravans 240 lirums
Hvaral - entrance outside outpost.
   Fees: Pack animals 100 lirums / Caravans 200 lirums
Muspar'i - once inside the caravansary you're there.
   Fees: Pack animals 200 lirums / Caravans 400 lirums

Ilithi: (fees are for four andaen, additional cost after more time)
Fayrin's Rest - stable outside outpost.
   Fees: Pack animals 140 dokoras / Caravans 280 dokoras.
Darkling Wood - stable outside outpost.
   Fees: Pack animals 100 dokoras / Caravans 200 dokoras.

Forfedhdar: (fees are for four andaen, additional cost after more time)
Hibarnhvidar - stable outside outpost.
   Fees: Pack animals 200 dokoras / Caravans 400 dokoras.
Ain Ghazal - door outside outpost.
   Fees: Pack animals 100 dokoras / Caravans 200 dokoras.
Boar's Clan - NE of outpost.
   Fees: Pack animals 200 dokoras / Caravans 400 dokoras.

Transfer Caravan Traders with at least circle 25 and no outstanding contracts or commodities can transfer thier caravan from stable to stable. If you've left it in Riverhaven, you can now have it delivered in Shard for a small fee and possibly wait time. The cost is 5 gold of whatever currency you're in. You can RETURN CARAVAN at the destination to see about how long it will be until the caravan arrives

The time to transfer is:
30 min for same province
1 hour for each province line crossed
1 additional hour if either endpoint is on the islands

Posted by Rajara | 05.06.09

Zoluren

Outposts - Crossing, Arthe Dale, Stone Clan, Dirge, Tiger Clan, Wolf Clan, Leth Deriel
Banks - Crossing, Dirge, Leth Deriel
Dangerous areas - Arthe dale gate (Death squirrels), Stone clan (caravan stops in Bueiswurms), Dirge (Madmen and Ghouls), South of ferry to Crossing (caravan stops in room south of ferry watch for kobold)
Caravan destinations:
Path to Dirge / South of ferry to RiverHaven
South of ferry to Leth Deriel / Leth Deriel at northwest gate
Leads from Crossings guild double doors to outposts up to Dirge
Crossing at northeast gate
Arthe Dale at gate
Stone Clan up the trail
Dirge at path
Other notes:
Ferry to Leth is 35 copper normal, 80 with empty caravan, more with varied weight (25 per crate?)
Go to Leth only when contract is near expiring or you have two or more.

Posted by Rajara | 03.28.09

Therengia

Outposts - RiverHaven, Langenfirth, Therenborough, Fornsted, Hvaral, Muspar'i
Banks - RiverHaven, Therenborough, Muspar'i
Dangerous areas - Therenborough / Fornsted (Marauders and Vines)
Caravan destinations:
North of Lagenfirth / Therenbrough gate
Arnshal Keep gate by Fornsted Village / Gate to Hvaral
Other notes:
Make sure to have caravan join when you're ready to leave barge from RiverHaven/Langenfirth.
Save time by renting a boat (thru the black iron gate near the barge), cost is 1 gold kronar after you ASK pilot FOR COMMAND.
Get passports at Ibec Hall in Therenborough to get thru Arnshal Keep.
Sand barge takes about 20 minutes each way for Muspar'i, try to trade fast to make it back to barge before it departs.
Stay in Langenfirth, Therenborough, Fornsted until you get two or more elsewhere.

Posted by Rajara | 05.24.09

Ilithi

Outposts - Fayrin's Rest, Steelclaw Clan, Shard, Darkling Wood
Banks - Shard
Dangerous areas - Darkling Wood (Eidolon Steeds)
Caravan destinations:
Leth southwest gate / Gondola on north side.
Shard east gate / Path to prairie.
Other notes:
When you enter the Darkling Wood outpost there is a chance you might be engaged the moment before, so it is advised to pause in the outpost before you exit so you will not be at pole range with a steed.

Posted by Rajara | 03.28.09

Forfedhdar

Outposts - Hibarnhvidar, Ain Ghazal, Boar Clan, Raven's Point
Banks - Hibarnhvidar, Raven's Point
Dangerous areas - Himineldar Shel (ice, move slowly about every 10 seconds)
Caravan destinations:
Hibarnhvidar / Boar Clan.
Hibarnhvidar / Raven's Point / Ain Ghazal.
Other notes:
Keep your burden down for going across Archers Ford between Hib and Boar Clan.
Raven's Point closes the south gate to Shard at night and when the Dragon Priests attack.

Posted by Rajara | 03.28.09

Interprovince

Outposts - RiverHaven, Crossing, Shard
Broker has contracts - Crossing in North room of clerk, RiverHaven in alley outside guild, Shard ivory door east of clerk.
Caravan destinations:
Crossing guild to Dirge / Dirge to RiverHaven ferry southside.
RiverHaven ferry southside to Dirge / Dirge to Crossing NE gate.
Crossing ferry southside to Leth NW gate / Leth SW gate to Shard gondola northside.
Shard gondola northside to Leth SW gate / Leth NW gate to Crossing ferry southside.
Other notes:
Same basics apply as with local contracts.
Carry all types of coin for ferry and paying your dues.
Learn to swim the river by haven, saves 30 min.
Learn to cross under the gondola, saves 42 min.
Gondola is limited to four caravans (still true?).
DO work local contracts in Zoluren and Commodities. DO NOT stop at Tiger and Wolf Clan unless directed.
Trade between RiverHaven and Crossing until you are nearing the time limit or have more than one contract for traveling south to Leth and Shard.
Gondola is timed for you to be able to do one run from Fayrin's Rest to Darkling Wood.
You cannot be stolen from on gondola or its platforms.

Posted by Rajara | 03.29.09

Commodities

The Guildleader Ansprahv pauses before telling you, "Now then, listen up. The better you present yourself to prospective buyers, the more likely it is they will barter fairly with you over your goods. It is imperative that you always keep moving and keep up with new trends. Stagnation is death, and there is no profit in death."

Pits - Crossing, Arthe Dale, Leth Deriel
Other notes:
Pit clerk sells, shipment clerk buys.
Boards update randomly so get a copy of the commodities board by either: opening the familiar window to have boards listed on side to get back to later or copying it to a word document.
Get a few plat out of the bank, can buy more than one commodity at a time.
Compare commods and prices, buy low and sell high! (syntax is ORDER # commod)
Guild cut varies, higher cost of commod means higher the cut
Goods don’t go bad, check ledger for max amount you can buy, stable or put goods in warehouse (tho its costly and buggy)
Use in conjunction with local and interprovince trading to make the most profit.
Formula for max commodity units = (trading ranks * 2) + (circle + charisma)
Other information sources:
Commodities Handbook by Benes Malcgua.
Commodity Trading on Elanthipedia Wiki.
Commodities Spreadsheet by Naniaki Nightswing. Calculate the rough profit from the commodities system.
Commodities Spreadsheet by GM Godrich. Instructions from old site: Right click on the link to save it to your computer for use later. To use: Simply copy/paste the information that appears in the game window when you read the commodity board into the appropriate place on the first sheet. Use the "Text to Columns" function (in the Data menu) to get the data into the right cells. Then go to the second sheet to see the spreads between the different outposts. If you are familiar with spreadsheets you can sort the list to see which offers the highest value spread. This is also a work in progress as I never got around to color coding all the supply levels and such.

Posted by Rajara | 03.29.09