Merchant Houses

What players would know #

Merchant houses began as trade families and grew into institutions: buying council seats, funding militias, and shaping law with contracts instead of crowns. Their caravans keep provinces fed, supplied, and informed, which makes them indispensable to nobles who pretend to despise them.

In practice, a merchant seal can open doors a baron can’t—because the baron still needs flour to arrive.

Common rumors #

• A merchant’s seal is worth more than a baron’s.
• Merchant houses purchase minor titles to dodge tariffs.