The Trading Company

Despite its name, the Trading Company is in fact not a mercantile establishment but a mercenary force, selling warriors and weapons to those who can pay­ Symbol: An infinity sign within a crystal sphere. Headquarters: The Trading Company maintains a major outpost on the Rock of Bral near the docks. The Company also maintain training grounds in re­mote areas on several worlds. Purpose: The Trading Company seeks profit. Staunchly neutral, except for refusing to supply mer­cenaries to both sides of a conflict, the Trading Com­pany is an equal opportunity group, willing to sell to the highest bidder. The Company’s only saving grace is that once its mercenaries are purchased, they stay bought. The Trading Company commonly organizes expe­ditions to wars and other hot spots to open negotia­tions. Trading Company mercenaries are common in space, and some are found in groundling wars, where they are legendary as “soldiers from strange far-off lands with odd accents and powerful weap­ons.” Allies: The Trading Company has many customers but few allies. The priests of Ptah and the Seekers have been known to employ the Trading Company, but the only true allies of the Company are its own mercenary units. Enemies: The Tenth Pit views the Trading Compa­ny as incompetents who get far more than their share of the mercenary business. The Sindiath Line has earned the Trading Company's emnity for refus­ing to transport mercenaries, but thus far the Line’s responses have been conservative and limited to de­fending themselves. Should the Trading Company attack the Line directly, however, the mercenaries will have to contend with the full might of the elven Imperial Fleet. The Shapers see the Trading Company as destabil­izing because the Company make military might available to any side in a conflict. They try to dis­courage the spread of mercenary groups, believing that if combatants are forced to use their own people for war, they are less likely to participate in it. Joining: The Trading Company takes all who are interested. The formal requirement is that you can write your name on the proper document. If this is a problem, however, the recruiting officer will do it for you. Advancement in the Trading Company is almost entirely by seniority. Each rank has an associated service time and number of battles in which the war­rior must participate to advance to the next rank. The Trading Company trusts that the daily deaths of war will weed out the undesirable and the unworthy. Notably skilled warriors may be breveted to a higher rank than private if they can demonstrate their skill. Once they have been given a rank, how­ever, they fall into the standard system for advance­ment. Benefits: The Trading Company offers regular pay, rations, and a place to sleep. For those commit­ted to a career in the military, and who feel skilled enough or lucky enough to survive, this support can become quite comfortable at the higher ranks. The Company also offers the chance to travel throughout the Known Spheres, and all the battles you want (and then some). Obligations: The Trading Company is a true mili­tary organization. The Company requires obedience and respect to superiors at all times. Disciplinary problems are handled by a military tribunal appoint­ed by the commanding officer. This tribunal’s find­ings cannot be appealed or countermanded, and a common punishment is death. Leaving the Trading Company is possible, how­ever. A mercenary can leave only after finishing the current assignment, receiving any back pay owed and transport to the nearest Trading Company base. From there, the former mercenary is on his own. Given the death rate, however, there aren't many ex­Trading Company members among the spheres.

THE TRADING COMPANY This poorly named group isn't actually a mercantile organization, it's a mercenary company. They sell mercenary and full-scale military contracts to the highest bidder without any concern for the morality or goals of either side. All that matters is who pays the most. The only lines for The Trading Company is that they won't sell mercenary contracts to opposite sides of the same conflict and once a contract is paid for, it is guaranteed. A mercenary of The Trading Company is loyal for the duration of their contract and will never break it. Perhaps most unusually, The Trading Company will even offer military contracts to help groundling civilizations wage war. Mercantile organizations are exactly what you expect: They are groups devoted to making profit by trading goods between spheres or planets. Travel between spheres can be rather difficult by magic, even more so when you want to bring a lot of stuff along with you. As a result, wildjammers hauling goods between spheres is a common way of making money and paying for ship upkeep.

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