Trade, Don’t Buy!

A Pamphlet On How To Deal With the Natives

Roland, Shipmaster of the East Empire Company

Listen up colonists, merchants, and workers! And you listen good (well, actually since this is in writing I best be telling you to read good). I know the last thing you want to be doing is reading some flimsy paper after the long boat ride to these islands, but this is important. You absolutely need to know this or you’ll be in some deep trouble with the natives.

You know that big purse of coins you just brought here, hoping to buy some exotic rugs or robes or some delicious ice cream? Well, they’re useless in these lands. Yeah, that’s right. Septims are absolutely worthless here on Yneslea.

Them Echmer? Some of the strangest business partners I’ve ever dealt with and I’ve conducted deals in Windhelm, Soulrest, and on Vvardenfell. The concept of buying goods and services is completely foreign to them. They’ve done nothing but trade all their life. It’s part of their ‘philosophy’, they say. I’m a merchant, I’m not supposed to worry about philo-somethings!

Hell, there is even an actual account that drives my point home in its entirety. Once the Company tried to trade 4000 septims for 12 crates of cream. When the Echmer received our money, they gave us a strange look and proceeded to open our chests to investigate. They pulled out the coins and – believe it or not – asked what these gold discs were for! We told them it was for buying tools, and that just confused them even further. After we explained the process of currency, they scoffed and unbelievably dumped all 4000 septims in the sea! When we yelled at them why did they do that they told us that coins are stupid and have no value, and that we were wasting perfectly good metal. They then demanded that we bring them something of equal or greater value to trade for the cream. We gave them our food, staring at the tips of their blades the entire time.

What I’m trying to say here folks is this: don’t try to buy anything here. Just bring something with you of equal or greater value and trade it with the kind bat folk. Or at least, get a blacksmith to forge your money into a nice necklace or something.