• The Grand Bazaar — merchant familiars

[Quaji]

 

[Quaji]

This group will likely never be official in the sense they'll have a cert since familiar certs do not have ranks and this is a primarily familiar-heavy group.
Instead, this will be an unofficial fun thing for people to participate in if they want! This is meant to be kind of silly!


For lack of a better name, this group has none to call itself besides 'Family', but they all call the Grand Bazaar their home, though on the road it is usually simply referred to as 'Home'.

The Grand Bazaar is the point at which all major trade routes they follow converge. This is where a majority of the group stay while not on the road. This is also a point in which outsiders may easily find them, but this is also the most heavily defended location. Set in a green valley with flora to spare for the herds that occasionally move through, they enjoy relatively nice weather year round. With honey badgers abound, even the bravest of thieves will think twice before trying to steal from them if they value their paws.

This home was founded by a need to store goods as well as a need to settle so that way prides and rogues may have an easier time locating them if they wish to trade while on the road. It is still new, not even a full generation old, but they have settled in their new home quite quickly.

The group is headed not by a hereditary ruler, but rather by the most influential merchants who hold the most sway in negotiations, as well as have the largest stock. Their ranking is not permanent and they can be displaced if their standing falls. These leaders typically head their own Caravan, which are known for typically being the largest and most extravagant.


Dominant Species: Honey Badgers
Allowed Species: All, including all familiars.
___Carnivores are expected to eat before arriving, or to trade for their meals while in the Bazaar. Eating other patrons is not permitted. plz be nice. <3  

[Quaji]

The Bazaar is typically bustling by the time the sun is well above the horizon and the sounds of life have already begun.

Daily life in the Bazaar consists heavily of bartering and trading up, even for non-merchants. It's so heavily ingrained in their way of life that negotiating is natural for most now. The food culture is also so intense that many will eat anything once, even if it appears dangerous or otherwise inedible. There's no real reason besides the fact they love food.

Most days begin with a meal, morning grooming, checking to see if there are any orders that need filling and then either preparing to travel along a trade route or setting up to trade with visitors. Multiple small snacks are taken throughout the morning, leading up a midday meal. This is followed by more multiple snacks which lead to supper, the largest and only real communal meal the group has. Several small snacks can be taken afterward, but most typically they end the day with fruit.


They are a joyous, good-spirited and generally helpful group known for their hospitality. Most will feed or house anyone who needs it, but will nearly always request aid with some task in return. They take pride in their work and generally tend to live in the moment, rather than worry about tomorrow. Practical jokes are fairly common and so it laughter. Oh, and so is alcohol.

Guests of caravans are common to see, as are visitors from neighboring and far away prides who come looking for things, sometimes specific.



Another part of life, albeit one that most would like to not be, is the Gang, otherwise known as the Monkey Gang. They're a group of vervet monkeys who found a small group of domesticated goats that had escaped from a village. Since then, the goat herd has grown and now serve as mounts and a faster means for the troop to harass the Bazaar while trying to steal shoots, nuts, berries, bird eggs and even insects from them to feed their growing population.

They're found in acacia trees a day and half's walk to the north of the Bazaar, where they let their goats graze. Multiple attempts to remove them from the territory have been made, none successful.  

[Quaji]

Merchant ranks are only available to familiar species.

Tippy-Tops: These guys are the head honchos, the big bosses, the top tier merchant and ones who call (most) of the shots, though they still can't do anything without the general approval of the group. They're typically the ones who have amassed the most loot, but still try and trade and haggle to grow it more.

There can be as few or as many as the group is able to produce at any given time, meaning the Grand Bazaar could be host to dozen(s) if there are merchants able to prove themselves to be masters.
___Requires 30 MP.

Good Sellstuff: Good Sellstuffs are the cream of the crop and are widely respected. They tend to have amassed a large collection of a variety of items during their travels over their career.
___Requires 15 MP.

Sellstuff: Sellstuffs are the majority of merchants that make up the members of the Grand Bazaar. They have completed their basic training and are beginning to learn more advanced tactics in bartering. They can now take on training would-be merchants.
___Requires 10 MP.

Learner: Having made a few sales or trades, they are now learning the ropes and have become true apprentices. Though their techniques still need refining and they still need wealth and experience, they are getting closer. At this stage, they have earned the right to wear a bag around their neck. Wearing said bag is a symbol of successfully becoming and is something to be proud of.
___Requires 5 MP.

Newbie: These are the potential Sellstuffs who are just now getting into the swing of how actually being a merchant works. They're normally young or new to the group, but they are attached to either a Sellstuff or a higher ranked merchant as they learn the trade.
___Requires 0 MP.



These ranks are open to any species.

Noyoudon'ts: Otherwise known as the guards or 'my friend', in the sense of '"Let me go get my friend." when someone is acting up. The toughest, meanest lookin' guys you'll ever meet. They make sure that all of the Bazaar's rules are upheld and that thieves don't get away with their theivin'. They usually work for the entire Bazaar, taking their pay from a Trade Prince who sponsors them out of own self-interest, but some act as personal guards for one merchant, especially when they're on the trail.

Thingkeeper: A keeper refers to anyone who tends to something. There are dozens of different kinds of keepers who tends things ranging from mushrooms, to herbs, flowers to bees. This can also encompass caring for colonies of insects. They are also the direct sources for some merchants' goods who would rather not have to do the work themselves. They are adepts at what they do and are all equally important to the survival and growth of the group and are thus just as important to the group as merchants are.

Thingfinder: These are basically thingkeepers, except finders and they, well, find things. Generally, they're stupid brave, able to go into unknown territory and retrieve things, bring them back and trade them to merchants for better things (at least in their opinion). These are generally bones, furs, teeth, organs, etc. They act as the other wholesellers who provide goods to merchants that they can't get from keepers.  

[Quaji]

MP is gained through successfully bartering for an item in a roleplay. The amount of MP gained is static, so long as the required word count and content is there.

One roleplay = 1 MP

Requirements
___A minimum of 1,000 words.
___Can be a solo-RP.
___Must realistically show a trade of some kind, with the honey badger receiving some kind of monetary gain in the end.



The Trading Post is a place where orders from prides, colonies, coalitions, or any other kind of group that has relations with the Grand Bazaar may show up from time to time with an increased amount of MP as a reward. Some may even offer direct IC compensation, such as items, fur or even jewelry for your merchant!

Member Pariticpation
In order to participate, you must post a trade with the same requirements as normal MP gain in which the merchant is responding to prompt provided. All prides or otherwise will need to have one representative (minimum) sent to the Grand Bazaar to pick up their order. This representative can be either a player or NPC.  

[Quaji]

Trade routes are relatively safe paths that caravans consistently take as they make the journey to prides to peddle their wears without the pride actively needing to come to them looking for things. These routes are marked by typically large and noticeable landmarks or carvings in trees or rocks to help their fellow caravans stay on the right path. Some routes even have small outposts that are set up to give them somewhere safe to rest, though these are typically only seen on the way to and from larger, more populace prides.

Interested in your pride being connected the Bazaar? Let me know!

___• Bonelands
___• Nchi`mahadhi



Caravans are small communal sub-groups within the Bazaar that are headed by one merchant who is at least a Sellstuff, with several other merchants. These groups travel along the same trade route together and generally look out for one another even while off the road. Due to this comradery being so vital to the Bazaar, it is rare to find a merchant who is not part of a caravan.

Typically each merchant in a caravan will specialize in a specific type of item, but this is not always the case. In fact, it's not uncommon to find an entire caravan who specialize or at leat favor a similar type of item.

Since members of a caravan may leave and move between them freely, their numbers swell or drop according to the popularly and influence of their leaders. Most find that the larger caravans more profitable to join as they are typically the ones that head towards larger prides with more goods to trade.

It is not uncommon for caravans to disband after a few times on the trail, or to have members leave to seek their fortune in another, but this sometimes brews bad blood between merchants.

Merchants can not be heading a caravan of their own and be part of another one at the same time. They either need to a) head a caravan of their own or b) be part of someone else's.

Caravan: Snowberry
___• Uju — focuses on fruit and honey  

[Quaji]

Only thing I really need is images and the rank you want. Anything besides Goodies and Tippy-Tops is available to join right now!

'Can I get a cool bag?'
___If they're a Sellstuff or Learner, I'll throw a bag onto them (like the two in the first post). You can give me some color ideas, but in the end, they're mostly CC in color. Keep in mind that they will not have the three gems present as those are only for Tippy-Tops.

'So this isn't going to be official, yea?'
___Correct! Due to the fact the group is familiar dominated, this group will not be obtaining a sub-forum. All of their RPs should go into the Roguelands sub-forum or in a pride who has allowed them access.  

[Quaji]

Want a merchant?
DON'T HAVE A HONEY BADGER?!?

Wow, what kind of madness is that. Let me know and maybe I'll fix that. ;D

 

[bipolar bee]

How can I love one thing so much?!  

[Polette]

Aaaaah, I don't even care that you don't have the Joining section up, I have two badgers that would come as a pair!

Mama Popo is a bit of the 'hero' type, a little more grounded these days as daughter Yakuti won't stand for her silliness all the time.

YES I HAVE A BATMAN BADGER

I DUNNO. I THINK THEY'D HAVE FUN.

 

[Quaji]

Polette

Aaaaah, I don't even care that you don't have the Joining section up, I have two badgers that would come as a pair!

Mama Popo is a bit of the 'hero' type, a little more grounded these days as daughter Yakuti won't stand for her silliness all the time.

YES I HAVE A BATMAN BADGER

I DUNNO. I THINK THEY'D HAVE FUN.

HELL YEA~<3

I added the joining up section if you wanna glance over it~<3  

[Polette]

I'LL GIVE YOU THEIR CERTS TOO.

I think Popo could def be a Thingfinder, and Yakuti should start off as a Newbie! She's got more practical smarts than her mom...

 

[Tanakako]

I will have to throw my serval in here!!
I has no honey badger tho.  

[Annchen]

heart  

[Kathryn Dragonna]

I am rather lacking in familiars, but no badgers at all. If i had one or two I'd throw them in this. It is amusing.