Chapter 2: THE STRUGGLE FOR KHITUS Profit & Influence Bleeding well crossing Bleeding Well Crossing is the manifestation of merchant house power in the wasteland Named for its history as much as the bloody color of the local sand and rock, Bleeding Well Crossing lies at the intersection of most of the major trade routes Its deep underground cistern once had only a small wall and a few buildings around it when it served as a way station for weary travelers With the recent wars and the devastating climate change, the cistern’s importance grew For a time, Bleeding Well was a prize sought by different tribes, cities, raiders, and the great merchant houses Needing it the most, the merchant houses put up the biggest fight War, however, was not a profitable endeavor—at least when they had to engage in it A truce split control of the Crossing between the great houses, turning the growing village into a nexus of trade and intrigue Each month, control of Bleeding Well Crossing rotates to one of the eleven houses on the Merchant Council This provides each house the opportunity to profit from the Crossing in both coin and information It is also the place first struck when the Merchant Council targets another Council house for extermination The Crossing itself mostly comprises taverns, inns, stables, carpenters, and other establishments designed to service caravans The citizens ostensibly owe loyalty to no single house but serve all of them In reality, some are bought by regular bribes or favors and others pocket more than one paymaster’s coins their own soldiers, and keep a large staff of both city and caravan merchants to ply their enormous catalog of goods throughout Khitus The vast wealth and influence wielded by these houses allows them to play an important part in the regional politics of their home cities, and they constantly jockey amongst themselves for position and prestige The eleven most powerful of these great houses sit on the Merchants Council Many hold that it is the largest merchant houses who work in close league with the Bev al-Khim, entreating eagerly with them and in so doing sealing the world’s doom However, most know deep in their hearts that it is all traders, both great and small, who are easily tempted by the silver falling from their pale hands “Profit is king, but influence is queen,” is a popular saying amongst merchants Merchant houses naturally chase down coffers full of coin, but they all recognize that profit is impossible without the influence needed to secure the best contracts, trade routes, military protection, or government favor City rulers, in turn, recognize that the merchants of the great trading houses are the best sources of information about rival cities and the wasteland itself Indeed, because of their unique position within the bazaars, merchants are excellent sources of information about the local citizenry as well Rulers and their officials recognize that, for all their wealth, the merchant houses operate at their sufferance inside their city’s walls and are rarely in positions to deny a bureaucrat’s “request” for information Thus, the great trading houses not only engage in commerce, but often serve as begrudging agents and spies In re- affiliated or Unaffiliated? Affiliated merchants belong to a merchant house This provides advantages like being able to draw on the merchant house’s reputation protection, commercial resources, stronger negotiating position, and built-in network of merchants and informants However, an affiliated merchant is beholden to his merchant house and is rarely free to act on his own counsel Affiliated merchants go where the house needs them to go, make the trades the house needs them to trade, and always keep the good of the house before their own needs The larger the merchant house, the more resources an affiliated merchant may draw on This conversely reflects how much less freedom a merchant has outside of the house’s will Unaffiliated merchants have all the personal freedom they can want and afford They also have no added resources beyond their own house to back them up They often get cut out of larger deals, lose out on prime locations, or have to scramble to make a profit They live a day-to-day existence, but they keep all the money they make and can with it what they will Most new merchant houses rise from successful unaffiliated merchants wanting to start their own trade dynasties Affiliated lesser houses rarely break away from their greater houses, save in coups that switch a house’s ruling power As customers for stolen property, thieves tend to seek out fences aligned with unaffiliated houses who are generally freer to negotiate with a wink and a nod 15