Merchant Mages of Honor Island

 Honor Island is an island in the Ierendi chain that is occupied by mages - over 2000 of them plus 4000 goblin "servants" that are effectively slaves dwelling principally in the sole town of Filtot. The island does not have significant topsoil for growing crops so all food has to be imported from elsewhere. Fortunately Honor Island is well placed for trading with the southern coast of Brun. Another complicating factor is the mages are quite secretive and territorial and rarely allow visitors, therefore nearly all trade with other nations is done by merchants of Honor Island visiting other ports. 

To this end there has arisen a company of 43 spellcasters of various levels of power who are also merchants. They generally work together, with different mages specialising in different food stuffs and beverages, and usually developing contacts and trading partners in different ports, thus minimising competition within the company. They describe themselves simply as the Merchant Mages of Honor Island, though there are a few clerics mixed in among them. 

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Filtot has a harbour that is primarily for keeping the fireships safe - these are the 12 naval combat ships that are capable of incinerating their opponents with powerful magic and alchemy, clad in iron and propelled by magi-tech. However, there is also room for other vessels, and the merchant mages operate a fleet of 20 or so craft, about half of which are normal surface sailing ships but the rest are skyships, capable of flying over land or sea. 

Notable NPCs

Exendamius

21st level magic user, human male, align neutral

Str 8, Int 18, Wis 12, Dex 12, Con 10, Cha 15

Exendamius is from Thyatis and is proud of his heritage. He moved to Honor Island mainly to be with those who understood his obsession with magic, and he is still very much a scholar of the arcane arts. However, his father was a merchant who travelled northern Thyatis (Kerendas, Thyatis City and Port Lucinius), transporting goods from city to city. He has inherited some of his father's business sense, and sails his ship, The Sapphire Swordfish, between Thyatis and Honor Island. He spends so much time at sea that his ship has a library and study built into it so that he can continue his magical research even when away from Honor Island. When in Thyatis he will often seek out and talk to mages about their magical research, spells and items. Although he does this out of curiousity, some Thyatian mages wonder if he is a spy from Honor Island or even spying for Alphatia. Other Thyatian mages will happily chat to Exendamius as he is not very discrete about Honor Island and the magical research going on there. 

Tarrama the Swift

11th level magic user, human female, align chaotic

Str 10, Int 16, Wis 14, Dex 13, Con 10, Cha 11

Tarrama is shifty and some would say amoral. However, this makes her blend in well in the pirate ports of Ierendi, particularly in Vlaad, though she also frequently visits Ierendi City. She mostly trades in fruit and vegetables grown in the Ierendi Islands but she has enough shady contacts that she can get her hands on anything (as long as she can make a decent profit). Her skyship, The Nightflyer, is originally from Alphatia but was taken by Thyatian adventurers over the Isle of Dawn (some would say by piracy and hijacking) and then sold to Tarrama. She has a mixture of human and goblin crew - the goblins are clearly subservient and the officers are all human but nonetheless the goblins are treated as crew, not slaves. 

Lucius Blagavescu

14th level magic user/elemental mage, human male, align neutral

Str 13, Int 16, Wis 9, Dex 14, Con 13, Cha 14

Lucius grew up in Specularum and started his training in the Magicians Guild. However, he quit and moved to Honor Island when he found that mages of Karameikos were not interested in elemental magic. He plies his normal sailing ship between Honor Island and various ports around the northern Sea of Dread, particularly Specularum but also Shireton in the Five Shires and Athenos in southern Darokin, picking up various beverages such as elven wine, dwarven beer, Thyatian brandy and halfling mead. Although he behaves well while onboard his ship, he has been known to get completely drunk while at port, and his first mate, an Ierendian mage called Vierex (8th level MU, human male, neutral) has to haul him back to his quarters.  

Nalthargia

5th level magic user, human female, align neutral

Str 8, Int 14, Wis 13, Dex 11, Con 13, Cha 17

Nalthargia is a native of Honor Island. Although she can cast some basic spells and is therefore accepted into Honor Island society, she finds her real talent is in talking to people. She uses this primarily for trade and bargaining, but she also sometimes finds herself as an informal diplomat, passing messages and requests on from Honor Island's ruling council. Her skyship, Filtot's Hand, often travels further than most merchant mages - she will sometimes travel to Alphatia, Glantri and Ochalea.  

Venthan of the Ocean

15th level cleric, human male, align neutral

Str 14, Int 11, Wis 17, Dex 9, Con 9, Cha 13

Venthan is a reminder that not all the spellcasters of Honor Island are magic users - a significant number are clerics, and Venthan is a follower of Proteus, the Immortal of the Oceans. His voyages in his ship The Song of Proteus have taken him south and east, and he has developed trade contacts in the Thyatian settlements on the northern coast of Davania, particularly Cittinova, where he buys various tropical fruits, spices and herbs only found in the Davanian jungles. His expeditions have also taken him to Ochalea (excellent for tea, rice and noodles) and the southern Isle of Dawn. The Song of Proteus has a crew of 20, of whom 10 are goblins. Unusually for an Honor Islander, Venthan treats them well although never as equals. The goblins realise that compared to their fellows back on Honor Island they are in a very good situation and thus are surprisingly loyal to Venthan. His bo'sun, an elemental mage called Saskallia (human female, 12th level magic user/elemental mage, align neutral) is not so sure of this liberal management style but keeps her mouth shut.

 

Caltoni Inkwell

16th level magic user, human female, align Neutral

Str 8, Int 16, Wis 14, Dex 10, Con 8, Cha 14

Caltoni is a native of Honor Island and well-respected in Filton. She owns and runs a skyship, the Joyous Dolphin and is now middle-aged with silver-grey hair in a bun and several pairs of spectacles perched on her nose or forehead at the same time (one pair lets her Read Magic at will). Caltoni has left the food trade to younger merchant mages and now specialises in stationery and magical supplies, particularly scroll vellum, spellbooks, quills, ink and spell components. These are all things that cannot be created on Honor Island without magic. She has dabbled in alchemical supplies and does still occasionally trade in glassware and straightforward laboratory equipment but has had to draw the line at refusing to trade in ingredients and reagents. Things like petroleum, green dragon chlorine and black pudding acid are dangerous to her and her crew, while others are repugnant (otyugh faeces? Nope, it stinks out the whole ship no matter how it is stored) or morally unacceptable (elf blood for a potion of longevity, when she has several elves from Minrothad in her crew).