Trade & Negotiations

Skill Master: Ashriel Fayre
Rank Range: Rank 1 - 6
Topics: Trade Routes, Money, Bartering, Seafare, Merchants, Piracy
Books: Trade and Negotiations Vol 1, Trade and Negotiations Vol 2, Trade and Negotiations Vol 3, Trade and Negotiations Vol 4, Trade and Negotiations Vol 5, Trade and Negotiations Vol 6
Where to Go: Course Link

 

Earning money is a fickle thing, even in Isilendor. Unfortunately gold doesn’t just fall into your lap - unless you’ve got a knack for pickpocketing and even then, that career has its… risks. Swinging a sword may be a straightforward path to fortune, but not everyone is cut out for the life of a sellsword. And even those that are must know how to negotiate their own prices, read a contract thoroughly and be able to walk away from a bad deal when necessary.

That’s where

Trade

& Negotiations comes in. This course isn’t just about counting coins or selling wares, it’s about understanding the art of bartering, the science of sales and the nuances of valuing good and services. You’ll learn how to sell your wares, whether it be potions, weapons or whispered secrets, and how to read the people buying them just as well as you read the goods they offer in return.

Whether you are selling alchemical brews, offering your blade to the highest bidder or steering through the bustling docks full of trading ships and foreign merchants, the skulls taught here will give you a distinct advantage over your competition and perhaps, even your own allies.

Isilendor is a land overflowing with opportunity, but that means it’s also teeming with competition. Street vendors haggle for every copper. Shopkeepers charm customers with a practiced smile. Smugglers and pirates work in the shadows, trading goods most would never dare touch. In a continent like this, money is power, and power often goes to those who know how to talk the talk, trade the trade and take the calculated risks.

So whether your trade is legal, questionable or outright unlawful, who’s to say you won’t rise through the ranks and become a merchant lord yourself one day? At the end of the course you will earn the chance to certify as a Master in Trade & Negotiations.

A sneak preview of the Trade & Negotiation course for the whole six years:

Note: This is taken from the

Trade

& Negotiations Course Overviews
Year 1 - Theory of Trade
In the first year you will learn the theory of

Trade

; the concepts that will be built upon in the later years. From the geography of the land you will traverse to the resources that can be sold across the continent, there is much to learn to become a great trader.

Year 2 - Money
If your main focus is gold and all that glitters, this course is for you. Crowns and florins are your friends, my apprentices.
In the second year we will be covering everything you need to know about money. The coin in your pocket will never have had so much meaning as you learn its true worth. And of course build on your skills to help muktiply how much coin you have.

Year 3 - War and Trade
When swords may cut and arrows pierce it is always the house that wins.
For the third chapter we will be studying and investigating the affect war has on trade, how you can prepare against it and use it to your advantage. Remember, it's tradersthat make the world go round and a war can be won or lost due to supplies.

Year 4 - Travelling Salesman
The road calls you to travel along, better make some coin to pay your way.
The travelling salesman is a staple in the lives of people in Isilendor. Whether you trade with them or as one of them there is a lot to learn, and we shall be taking those steps to bring your trade into the real world.

Year 5 - Seafaring
The sea is a cruel mistress. For those who can tame her can reap her bounties.
Sea travel opens up a whole new world and trade routes that would otherwise be unreachable. To learn to traverse docks and ships can minimise the risks and enhance the profit from sea trade.

Year 6 - Trade, the King and the Kingdom
Trading on one's own terms in the small scale is easy. Creating a trade empire that bridges the distance of Isilendor is less so.
The politics of the realms and trading in a way that can be scaled to cover the land is a very important. It's the way to bring you from small time traders to those of vast enterprises.

Here is what SM, Ashriel Fayre had to say:

"From the lowliest beggar to the greatest of kings, diplomacy, bargaining, and bribery are essential arts. Whether you seek fame as a merchant or merely the words to escape danger, Trade and Negotiations will teach you all you need. And in the end, it is not strength or steel, but a full coin purse that rules the world."

~ The Mystic, Hecate

For more detailed sources of information, see the following links:
Hall of Attainment
Guild Registry
Trade & Negotiation