Pack Master

Every traveling party needs a pack master to keep the caravan moving. The smallest traveling parties will have at least someone versed in animal handling, teamster, and packing skills should they travel with pack animals. Medium caravans will tend to have an individual that also takes charge for wagon maintenance and animal care. The largest caravans will have teams of pack leaders with one pack master in charge of seeing that the operation moves at a quick and steady pace during the journey. He or she will often handle all of the barterings for animals and their care and provisions as well as the wagons and carts used in the journey.

Career

Career Progression

Anyone can take up the skills of a pack master and be the designated person for taking care of a small group. It takes time and experience to be a pack master for a medium-to-large caravan. Typically, these pack masters have worked their way up from pack hands for larger caravan ventures.

Payment & Reimbursement

Many caravans operate on little pay at a daily rate, since longer journeys and provided provisions mean you do not need to pay for much along a journey. Many larger caravans have a separate balance for what the pack master can spend on animals, care, maintenance, and provisions versus their own compensation for the job. Medium to smaller caravans typically pay by the pack master saving money on his budget. You're given a lump sum at the beginning to start the journey, and you're expected to return lesser portion at the end. With the tendency for one-way trips to be lucrative for pack masters, many don't have a place to call home and operate as traveling workers.

Other Benefits

A good pack master with his own gear can be worth his weight in gold for longer ventures. Many pack masters even find ways to turn a profit on the initial capital by the end of the journey. In this way, good pack masters are in a strange balance of homeless and wealthy elite.

Perception

Purpose

These pack masters serve the role of care and maintenance for animals and the carts they haul.

Social Status

Some professional pack masters can gain elite status via their connections with the wealthy elite and their own business dealings. However, most pack masters are simply another face in the caravan. They are a very important face, but they typically hold no additional sway outside of their operations.

Operations

Dangers & Hazards

The hazards to a pack master are no greater than the hazards to any travelers. Trips along short, well-traveled, or guarded routes will typically be safe. Longer journeys along sparsely traveled roads with long stretches of no civilization will be much more dangerous. The dangers come not just from bandits, but also the delicate balance of having enough provisions for people and animal. The more food you pack, the more carts you need. The more carts you have, the more animals you need. More animals means more food. The same goes for the people. And then, you need to still find space for any goods you may be trading or people you are transporting.

Alternative Names

Packer

Type

Transportation

Demand

Good pack masters are typically available enough to meet the demands of the trading economies. The average pack master works in small-to-medium caravans.

Legality

While the profession is legal in all parts of the world, the technicalities of various areas might differ. Some areas may have no qualms about where you stay or do business, while others have specific holding areas for animals as well as where you are allowed to trade your goods with or without the necessary beaurocratic papers.