Trade
Five city-states, one law: buy low, sell furniture.
Greyharbor
Unlock: First route, freeSells: Fish, salt, dyes
Buys: Furniture (×2.2!), planks
— The furniture meme lives here. Ship planks no further than here.
Oakhollow
Unlock: 5,000 goldSells: Stone, timber, berries
Buys: Tools, bread
— Your quarry-in-law. Buy stone here when construction stalls.
Emberforge
Unlock: Town tierSells: Ore, ingots, coal
Buys: Bread, furniture
— Ore cheaper than mining it yourself — mid-game at least.
Windmere
Unlock: City tierSells: Wool, cloth, paper
Buys: Dyes, furniture
— Paper feeds scholars. The quiet research subsidy.
Sunspire
Unlock: Capital tier + 50k goldSells: Everything, at a price
Buys: Everything, at a discount
— The endgame exchange. Convenient, slightly insulting.
Route Margins (tested, full caravan)
| Route | Margin | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Planks → Greyharbor | ~40% | Low |
| Furniture → Greyharbor | ~120% | Low |
| Bread → Oakhollow | ~25% | None |
| Tools → Oakhollow | ~70% | Low |
| Fish → Emberforge | ~30% | Low |
| Dyes (from Greyharbor) → Windmere | ~55% | Medium (pirates) |
Logs → planks → furniture → Greyharbor → gold → Oakhollow stone → more workshops → MORE furniture. Break the loop only for tools (production bonus beats trade margin long-term). This loop funds a Wonder by day 5-6.
Sending caravans "at dawn" (game hour 6) is said to dodge pirates. Mechanically, pirate rolls are per-trip random. Emotionally? Dawn caravans. Always dawn.
Pirates, welcome to Windmere routes. Goods are gone; the trader walks home in shame after a while. Watchpost levels reduce pirate odds; insurance policy (City tier) reimburses 50%.
— reply from someone who lost three caravans learning this
margins sampled from 20 caravan trips each, v1.0.1