Accept the job.
You begin to head east before the end of the season. From the looks on your men's, and your, faces the caravan master gives you some information about the area you're heading into.
Piata, Zema and Veruna were all once part of the same Nation of Motavi some 2-300 years ago. Some internal conflict had fractured the once large Nation into the current layout of city-states.
Piata
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Piata was once a University town within the old Nation and for the longest time had boasted the highest number of scholars in the entire Storm Coast. The fracturing of Motavi had forced out many of the scholars due in part to the new nation's requirement to support itself via industry and farming.
The university has since been repurposed into a sort of House of Commons. The highest ranking members of their society are, astoundingly, elected to govern the nation. They have seasonal meetings as required to address the current state of affairs or whatever else needs attention.
Zema
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Zema probably took the seperation of Motavi the easiest. Having already been teh industrial center of the nation to begin with, they had little more to do than accept the fact that now they'd get paid for their exports. Zema sits on a rather large shelf of marble and other building materials. The tradeoff for the area is that the soil itself is rather poor for crops. Much of the food in the area is via grazing livestock.
Zema has no shortage of workers and as such immediately outlawed slavery the moment Motavi collapsed. Now the nation of Zema tries to attain the majority of their infrastructure support from other nations that share their aversion to the slave trade.
Veruna
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Once the central administration of Motavi, Veruna had to retake stock of their internal labor distribution after the fall - especially considering they didn't really have any to begin with. The area of Veruna was once some of the most luxurious land in the northern coast which has now become what it needed to be for survival.
Much of the old 'royal' lands (which were never truly used to begin with) have been repurposed for industrial uses. The old groves of Magao Pine, once considered national treasures, have become a well-maintained lumber farm for some of the highest quality Lumber on the eastern Storm Coast.
Travelling through the Old Motavi Empire is exceedingly boring for the most part. [1] Somewhere along the outskirts of the Zema-Veruna border the caravan comes to a stop. Several men are standing on the 'road' between the two nations, the Caravan master seems to be having a heated discussion with the men which ends with [5] him stabbing the man with was talking to in the throat yelling
"TAX THAT ASSHOLE!". The rest of the men approach the Caravan Master as he slowly backs to the wagons...
Caravan Guard: 5str (self inclusive) vs Highway Robbers: 2str
5+5 v 3+2
The leading bandits are swarmed by the collective guard of the caravan, not even given time to draw their weapons effectively, killing half their numbers instantly. The rest of the bandits approach in a screaming bloodrage...
5+5 v 2+1
...ending poorly for them. Their fear and rage outshines their combat senses and they're dropped quite efficiently by the guard.
The arms and equipment are gathered by your men and the rest of the guard and piled into the wagons. They're sold in Veruna to the state armory for (.25*[5]) ducats, of which the Caravan master holds .35d and splits the rest between the three regiments of guard (.3d each). [6] The arms are recognized by the quartermaster as those of Verunan manufacture. From the description provided to him, it appears they were a troop of guardsmen for the Marquois - fired a few seasons prior for 'excessive actions' taken during their service.
[4] The remainder of the trip to Moun is uneventful and slightly faster as the Caravan Master had hoped. You arrive in Moun a few weeks earlier than expected, gaining him an advantage over his competition. He unloads the remainder of his cargo, beaming the entire time. Payments gained a modest bonus and accumulated to (.5*3+10%=)1.65d all told.
Regiments:
Thornbred Knights - Regular Infantry
Ducats: 4.20