Death Notice Book 8: Chapter 54: Amn

Amn, often called the “Land of Merchants,” was the youngest kingdom in the southern part of the Sword Coast. Most Amnians worshipped Waukeen, the goddess of trade and wealth. Money was not as highly valued or circulated in any other country as it was in Amn.

Every merchant in Faerûn had some connection to Amn—either they traded directly with Amn, or they passed through it several times a year.

Amn’s geographical location gave it a unique advantage in continental trade routes. It lay exactly in the middle of the mainland trade route, connecting the north and south of the Sword Coast. Products from the two great powers, Calimshan and Tethyr, needed to pass through here to be sold to the north, while the abundant natural resources of the Northlands needed to be transported through Amn to the southern industrial area of the Steaming Lake.

This gave Amn a status in trade equal to “Sembia” and “Deepwater City.” These three regions also engaged in a long and continuous competition over who could become the continent’s trade center.

The highest leader of Amn was not a king but a council of six formed by six large merchant groups. Due to their backgrounds, the Council of Six set very low commercial taxes for Amn, removed most domestic checkpoints, and largely achieved free trade. This was the fundamental reason why Amn became the trade hub of the southern Sword Coast.

However, because of their respective merchant group interests, the Council of Six often failed to unite. They also had little control over other domestic guilds and organizations, leading to chaos in Amn’s governance outside of trade.

According to inaccurate statistics from the administrative bodies under the Council of Six, Amn now had a population of about three million, most of whom lived in the Two Rivers Region between the Sword Coast and Lake Esmel.

The vast majority of Amn’s population were humans, with a small portion being Half-Beings. Dwarves and Elves rarely appeared openly in Amn. The former lived in Amn’s mountainous areas, while the latter lived in the Serpent Forest.

In fact, most of Amn’s dwarves were Gray Dwarves. In ancient times, they were driven underground by the Sannata Dwarves. Their status among the Dwarven race was similar to that of the Drow Elves among the Elven race. The Elves in the Serpent Forest were scattered tribes with few members, lacking their own Elven Court. Even Milleras did not plan to formally visit them.

The capital, Athkatla, was the center of all activities in Amn. The city had a well-equipped Amnian Guard. In addition to an elite fleet that sailed year-round on the Sword Coast, they also had three small fleets stationed in the Esmel River and Warm Lake to protect merchant ships on the river.

Amnians had relatively open views on race and religion and could tolerate other Sapient Races and any religious beliefs. In fact, this was the nature of merchants. For them, as long as the customer across from them had gold coins in their pocket, even if they had green faces and fangs, it did not matter at all.

…

“Firal, why haven’t they returned yet?” Milleras paced back and forth in the tent with his hands behind his back, making Qin Lun feel dizzy.

“Milleras, Leader Stark and Leader Robin have only been gone for two hours. If they don’t find a suitable target, they might not even come back tonight. Please, sit down first!” Qin Lun rubbed the bridge of his nose and said helplessly.

“Firal, do you think your idea will work?” Milleras said with some worry.

“It’s not just my idea; it’s a plan we all discussed together!” Qin Lun stood up and lifted the tent flap, observing the small camp by the lake.

The Lake Esmel area was crisscrossed with waterways, somewhat resembling the Jiangnan water towns in the Huaxia District of Earth. In the distance beyond the camp, rice fields on both sides of the road swayed like golden waves in the warm spring breeze. At noon, wisps of cooking smoke rose slowly from the villages far away.

On the vast expanse of Lake Esmel ahead, flat-bottomed merchant ships sailed in an endless stream. These ships had spacious holds but were unsuitable for rough seas, only fitting for calm inland rivers.

After the Serpent Forest was blocked, the group had no choice but to head to Athkatla. However, due to the threat of the Zhentarim, they could not enter that chaotic yet opportunity-filled merchant capital unprepared. For this reason, everyone discussed many options, and finally, Qin Lun came up with an idea.

Most of their diplomatic mission were mercenaries, at least in appearance. After this period of travel, not to mention the Apostles, even Milleras and Iristin, who were originally Elf nobles, had grown accustomed to the mercenary life.

Qin Lun’s idea was to disguise themselves as an ordinary mercenary group, then take on employment with certain merchant caravans near Lake Esmel, and enter Athkatla under the cover of the local caravan.

The method was simple but effective. As long as they did not reveal any flaws, even if the Zhentarim noticed this caravan, they would not recognize them. The best way to hide in plain sight was to blend into the crowd, just as the best way to dissolve in water was to become water oneself.

Originally, Robin wanted to take it a step further and directly take control of a small caravan, but the idea was ultimately rejected by everyone. With their combat strength, controlling a caravan would have been easy. The problem was that caravans were different from mercenary groups—they had to interact with all sorts of people along the way. Any flaw could attract the suspicion of the Zhentarim, so it was best to go with the flow.

Thus, finding a suitable target as an employer became particularly important. Large merchant groups were definitely not suitable—they not only had fixed mercenary guards but also complex sources of information. It was hard to say whether they would become suspicious of a foreign mercenary group approaching them.

As for small caravans, they were not so easy to find either. Small merchants did not have as wide a range of information sources as large merchants, but since they could establish themselves in the chaotic land of Amn, their ability to read people and situations would not be weak. The journey from here to Athkatla would take at least a week or more. It was hard to guarantee that such a mercenary group, with many Elves and strong combat power, would not arouse suspicion.

What Qin Lun and the others needed was a small caravan whose leader was not too sharp. Honestly, this selection task was indeed not easy. Fortunately, Qin Lun did not have to do it himself.

Stark and Robin might not match his intelligence, but they far surpassed him in adventure experience and knowledge. Some tasks that gave him a headache were perfectly handled by these two. He only needed to come up with ideas.

During this period, Qin Lun had benefited greatly from the Apostles of the two major teams. Whether it was Stark, Robin, or even Novice Apostles like Longer, who were far less powerful than him, they often impressed him with their performance. This made him increasingly aware of the importance of a mature team.

In fact, Robin and the others returned before evening and brought good news—they had found a suitable employer.

The Hulan Trading Company, a small trading company from Tethyr, had just been established a year ago. The company head, Sif Hulan, who returned with Robin and Stark, was a young gentleman with a well-groomed appearance and a neat mustache.

He was originally a minor noble from Tethyr, but his family had fallen on hard times. Having no talent for martial skills or magic, he had to learn business before bankruptcy, hoping to restore his family’s fortunes one day.

For this trip, Hulan sold all his assets except the family estate and gathered a batch of Tethyr’s specialty alchemical items, intending to sell them in Baldur’s Gate. Like Qin Lun’s group, due to the blockade of the Serpent Forest, they had to divert to Athkatla on their way to Baldur’s Gate.

This small caravan met Robin and Stark’s requirements very well. Its final destination, Baldur’s Gate, also secretly aligned with the diplomatic mission’s plans. However, when they met Sif Hulan, they were greatly puzzled by the caravan’s previous travel route.

Unlike them, the Sun Elf Diplomatic Mission had enough strength to deal with the rogue groups and magical beasts in Amn’s eastern border region. But Sif’s caravan was different.

Upon inquiry, they learned that due to his own experiences, Sif believed that even within Amn, there would be layers of exploitation by Tethyr nobles. To avoid numerous tax checkpoints, he impulsively decided before departure to take the sparsely populated eastern border route, rather than follow the Two Rivers Region to Athkatla like other caravans.

For this reason, the newly formed Hulan Trading Company even hired a well-known mercenary team from their homeland. However, from Tethyr all the way here, these mercenaries had either died or been injured. Although he avoided the imagined tax checkpoints and his goods were not plundered by rogue groups along the way, the compensation for the dead and injured mercenaries was still a large sum, making the inexperienced young noble regret his decision.

If the goods carried by the Hulan Trading Company this time did not fetch a good price in Baldur’s Gate, Sif might even end up losing money. Originally, after arriving here, Sif did not plan to spend more money hiring other mercenaries, but fortunately, he had a shrewd Old Butler. The old man persuaded him not to take risks—it was better to spend a little more to ensure the safety of the goods.

For this reason, Sif’s caravan stayed for two days at the Brothers Tavern by Lake Esmel, where they happened to meet Robin and Stark, who were looking for an employer.

Hearing that Robin’s team included many Elves and Dwarves, Sif’s Old Butler persuaded the head of the family to hire this mixed mercenary group. Although this Old Butler also lacked adventure experience and had always been in charge of internal affairs for the Hulan family, the experienced old man understood that mercenary groups with many Elf and Dwarf mercenaries mostly adhered to mercenary ethics; at the very least, they would not covet the employer’s wealth.

After inspecting the camp, Sif Hulan and his accompanying Old Butler were very satisfied. They felt that Robin and Stark had not hidden anything. This mercenary group not only had Elf and Dwarf mercenaries, but the mercenaries, though looking travel-worn, were all refined and formidable, perfectly meeting their requirements.

The two employers were satisfied, and of course, Qin Lun and the others were even more pleased. The Hulan Trading Company from Tethyr also covered their last potential flaw—at least no one would find their appearance and attire, different from Amn’s local mercenaries, strange.

However, things were unpredictable. The next day, when they actually joined up with Hulan’s caravan, everyone realized that things were not as perfect as they had imagined…