After talking with Nabeel, I started thinking about what goods I could take for trade. I went to the caravan that was going to Dar-Kazaan and asked about what they were selling. They told me about their wares — crates of starcoal for smithing, barrels of strong Ironbeard Ale, fragrant amberwood for carvings, rare gems like deepcrystal and emberstone, and vials of concentrated stoneflower oil, a scent prized by nobles. From what they said, it seemed too difficult for me right now to trade in those things. Most of them required big investments and trusted connections to get a fair deal.
In the middle of the conversation, I saw one of the merchants with spices. I overheard that they are sold at very high prices, which gave me an idea — a plantation of goods. Sous is not that far from the northern region, and even if I bought expensive plants, I could easily grow them here and sell to merchants at half the market price. It's something that is high in demand in most kingdoms.
I went to the merchant and asked the price of each spice he was selling. He showed me a small list with neat handwriting. The price of Blackthorn Pepper was 35 silver per pound, Cindermint Bark was 50 silver for half a pound, Moonclove Pods cost 1 gold, Embernut was 1 gold and 50 silver, and Sunfire Threads — the rarest of them all — were 2 gold per small pouch.
I kept my expression neutral, but in my head, I was already doing the math. If even one pound of pepper could sell for that much, then a full harvest could be worth several gold coins. The rarer ones like Sunfire Threads were almost like holding gold dust in your hands. Still, I couldn't let greed cloud my mind. Spending too much now would drain my coins before I even had a proper plan. I had to be careful, buy just enough to test my idea, and keep the rest of my gold safe for living costs and emergencies.
I thanked the merchant for the prices and walked away slowly, already turning the numbers over in my head, weighing profit against risk. This could work… but only if I stayed patient.