TRACE WOOD
Ivy jogs up to Kree,..so..Cousin?..you are going to just walk over the palace Bridge..knock on the door of the palace and say 'i am here to turn myself in.."
we are going to the Plank, first..talk to Reedick , eat and wash up..get some rest while i send a runner to the palace.... When and if the summon me.. I will go..any who want to come are welcome..
..neither one of us have a Merchant's brain..right.... But this Emperor is the 'coin emperor'...and Tou is all about Coin... if they beg and plead enough They might lock you up and support Tou with burning Merchant's landing to the ground..
..They can do that... but..Trace wood... the plains elves... and the Highpeak dwarves will side with us... Trok as well..unless Ironmound puts them under thier heel.
why would the Highpeak dwarves side with us this time?
Because they , and the Furman's chain..won't have to risk the storm river and the pirates..., they will only need to sail across the Storm to the edge of the Timber...pass through the timber with trade goods... then sail Down the LAter River to the docks there, even to the sea?... there will be pirates and slavers there..but not as many as the Storm..and the caravans will be in The Timber , almost the whole
way on land.... Tou will see , much less, in ships going up Tou River, and then having merchants caravan from there to Ironmound
So tou will whiter and Die...and Trok?
Trok will grow, now that they can send things through The trace wood.....some of the brave merchants would sail down the Oree river ans save time and coin... but the pirates still roam the Storm... The pirate will come to the Lather River, soon enough, but..there is a wealth of elven bow men who would make coin as ship's archers.
and Tou will have to trade with everyone..including Elves, or they will end up being resort town with thier lake and fish..
That is how i see it... as you say.. there is no merchant living in my brain ... and? one must also think what would happen if a war , of sorts broke out...Hargen would pour over the Highpeaks like a kicked ant hill