The Consortium for Magical Trade on Earth

The Consortium for Magical Trade on Earth (or the CMTE) handles the trade relations between the rest of the Multiverse and Earth. Representatives from the CMTE can be found in most Sanctuaries, and they make sure that researchers and Sanctuary members have the magical supplies they need to keep going.

History

The Consortium formed in the early 20th century in response to a growing amount of magical research among the Terran mage population. Mages had very little ability to get ahold of magical ingredients like potion reagents or magical foci, among other things. The Consortium set itself up to fulfill this need, forming a network of small warehouses to store materials in between deliveries and pick-ups. When the first travellers from the rest of the multiverse arrived, the Consortium, among other similar organizations that they have since driven out of business, quickly stepped in to profit off of the demand.
Because of the agreements reached with the Seven in the early 1950's, the Consortium began to cooperate closely with the Department of Transport. This broadened its ability to reach far-flung markets in the Multiverse and led them to spend more of their energy on making Terran products desirable in the rest of the Multiverse, as opposed to focusing solely on the sourcing of magical supplies and ingredients.

Trade Agreements

The Consortium makes most of its money from their trade agreements with the Sanctuaries. For a significant but not unreasonable annual fee, the Consortium helps the Sanctuary in question place orders with the Department of Transport and keeps goods moving between the magical artisans of the Sanctuary and their raw material suppliers in the Sunless City. As of now, most of the several thousand Sanctuaries have some kind of arrangement with the Consortium, with the remainder either too small to demand goods at such a high level or (in case of several Sanctuaries in Australia) having had multiple bad dealings with the Consortium and set up their own rival networks.

Trade Brings Us Forward

Founding Date

1923

Type

Consortium, Business

Alternative Names

Semtee (slang)

Parent Organization

The Seven

Location

Earth

Products Bought and Sold

The Consortium purchases a variety of products from Limbo and other magical markets, such as:

• Potion ingredients;
• Individualized robes; and
• Magical chalk and other necessary implements.

In return, the Consortium focuses on the production and distribution of finished goods, such as magical items and potions created by Terrans, magical literature done by researchers on the world, and a variety of mundane products that are unique to Earth. In particular for this last category, very minor amounts of Terran technology have been distributed, such as flashlights, calculators or other implements that speed up administrative tasks in the Sunless City.

All images were created by me, EmperorCharlesII, unless otherwise credited.