Sword & Sorcery Hero: The Factor

Continuing my series of posts on novel sword and sorcery heroes, another based on trade and commerce could be the Factor.

A Factor is the head of a Factory, which in this context refers to a system of trading posts set up in foreign cities or colonial possessions to facilitate trade. Though the ancient Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans maintained trading posts in their overseas possessions and colonies, the Factory system was a unique medieval European institution. The individual posts served as markets, warehouses, customs houses, defense and support facilities, and the de facto local government for the merchants, traders, and citizens of the nation that established the factory. In North America, a modified version of this system was used to facilitate trade with native tribes, as well help emigrants traveling through wilderness areas and provide protection from hostiles.

So, let’s imagine that we are writing the Sword & Sorcery version of Centennial. The first chapter describes the life of the Couer des Brois I described last time, and relates how during his exploration of the wilderness beyond the kingdom and trading with the native tribes that inhabit the region, he discovers gold in the mountains. He returns to the kingdom, attracts investors, who fund miners, and he guides them back to the strike. He negotiates with the natives for the right to settle, establishes a camp, and forges a trail to bring in supplies and carry out gold. Upon his return he trains younger couer des brois to take over, and retires on his shares of the output. He marries and starts a family, and tells stories of his exploits.

In the next chapter, a grandson, who grew up on the stories, decides to see the wilderness for himself. By this time, the mining camp has become a town with several thousand inhabitants. The trail has been turned into a road for easier transport, and not only supplies but also settlers follow it to the town, some looking to get rich, but most looking for a better life. It takes three months to reach the town, and along the way the grandson sees that the natives resent the road, because they are cheated by unscrupulous traders who trade them junk or liquor. Some attack the travelers, hoping to disrupt the traffic, while others trade valuable furs for liquor. However, many travelers suffer accidents and deprivations, but there is no one to help them. In the town he finds a burgeoning crafts industry, but the local market is too small to support it, and the natives won’t come near the town thinking it taboo. The grandson realizes that trade with the natives and the road travelers would open up a large market for the craftsmen. As the grandson of the Couer des Brois he has some clout, and he convinces entrepreneurs in the town to fund his idea: a trading post set up at the half-way point along the road.

He negotiates with the natives for land along the side of the road, and they trust him because his grandfather could be trusted. They help him select a good spot, and he obtains volunteers from the town to build the post while the natives supply food for the workmen. When the post and compound is finished, he buys his wares on credit; trade goods for the natives, but also supplies for the travelers. And he opens for business, conducting trade, offering service and protection, and eventually representing both the town government and the king. His post serves as neutral ground, where the tribes can gather to parley between themselves and the two governments. There are hardships to contend with: wild animals, bad weather, natural disasters, hostile natives, bandits, rampaging mercenaries, disease, and famine. But he prospers over time, expands to include on-site craftsmen and warehouses, adds a tavern and inn, and creates satellite posts along the road and further inside the wilderness. By the time he dies an old man, he has created a trading empire that spans the road and covers most of the wilderness.

Out of this basic outline can be created numerous adventuring scenarios, as the Factor defends his post, searches for new places to place satellite posts and to woo new customers, and settles disputes between natives and kingdom citizens, with his biggest challenge being protecting the natives from exploitative elements among his own people.