The Seven Suns Trading Coster was a merchant organization operating in the Western and Eastern Heartlands of Faerûn during the 14th and 15th centuries DR.[2][4][6][7] The name of the coster was in reference to the great distances that separated each of its merchant members.[5] .
The Seven Suns' symbol, used on banners and trailglyphs, was seven spaced circles arranged in the shape of a stick figure, laid on its side with head to the right.[2]
Organization[]
The leading partners of the Seven Suns were Alvund, Chond, Dzunn, Nammna, Jhasso, Pomphur, and Shield.[2][4] The Bleth noble family controlled Seven Suns activity in Cormyr, with Lord Gruen Bleth managing affairs in Suzail.[3][note 1]
The coster had regional bases located in cities across Faerûn,[2][4] such as Baldur's Gate on the Sword Coast, managed by Jhasso,[8] and Suzail in Cormyr, managed by Gruen Bleth.[2][3] Each of the partners provided wagons, horses, and draft oxen to the coster, and hired local guards.[2][4]
Activities[]
The Seven Suns was a trading coster,[2][4] a coalition of merchants who merged their caravans for safety and offered transport to other merchants.[9] The Seven Suns was one of the poorer quality costers around, with weak locally hired guards and shabby wagons. As a consequence, its caravans were slow and often targeted by bandits. But it was also the least expensive, undercutting their competitors on almost every trade-route.[2][5][4] As a result, they normally carried low-value cargoes, but occasionally people chose to cut corners and costs and took the risk of sending valuable goods with the Seven Suns. Rand Sharpsword, a Zhentarim anti-caravan agent, felt they were hardly worth the effort of attacking.[10][11]
They operated throughout the Western Heartlands,[10] Cormyr and Sembia.[11]
History[]
The coster was formed by seven partners of widely separated origins: Jhasso of Baldur's Gate, Shield of Everlund, Pomphur of Almraiven, Chond of Calaunt, Alvund of Ormpetarr, Dzunn of Sheirtalar, and Nammna of Milvarune. The "Seven Suns" referred to the seven merchants themselves. Each had their own small companies,[2][4] such as Jhasso's Wagons,[8] but converted these into regional bases for the coster.[2][4] The Seven Suns were in business by 1358 DR.[8]
They were still going strong as of the Year of the Shield, 1367 DR.[2] In Cormyr, at least, it came to be controlled by the Bleth noble family. It was among the most powerful merchant houses in Suzail and Cormyr, and made the Bleths both wealthy and powerful.[3]
In the late 1360s, the head of the Cormyrean Seven Suns attended a celebration held by Lord Partic Thistle at his manor, Thistleflame Keep, in honor of King Azoun IV's birthday, in addition to Lord Gruen Bleth.[12]
In the Year of the Banner, 1368 DR, the Seven Suns headquarters in Baldur's Gate was infiltrated and taken over by doppelgangers, working on behalf of the rival Iron Throne. One assumed the identity of Jhasso and kept him captive in the basement. The doppelgangers then proceeded to make poor business decisions that drove the coster toward bankruptcy. This affected the economy of the whole city and attracted the attention of the Grand Dukes.[1]
Scar, the commander of Baldur's Gate's Flaming Fist mercenary guards, asked Abdel Adrian to investigate strange goings-on at the Seven Suns headquarters in Baldur's Gate. He and his adventuring companions eliminated the doppelganger threat and rescued the merchant Jhasso.[1]
The Seven Suns were still operating as of the Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR.[4]
By the late 15th century DR, the Baldurian Seven Suns were struggling to stay afloat. As of then, that branch of the coster had come under the control of the Jhasso patriar family.
Notable Members[]
- Grengoral Whelshire, an adventurer-merchant who went on to found the Perfectone Mercantile trading company of Longsaddle.[13]
Appendix[]
Notes[]
- ↑ Cormyr, page 46, says the Bleths "control one of the largest merchant companies in Cormyr: the Seven Suns trading company". It is unclear if the Bleths control the entire Seven Suns Trading Coster, or if only they command its activities in Cormyr, with Gruen Bleth as an 'eighth partner' in the coster alliance.
Appearances[]
Video Games
Baldur's Gate III
External Links[]
Seven Suns article at the Baldur's Gate Wiki, a wiki for the Baldur's Gate games.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 BioWare (December 1998). Designed by James Ohlen. Baldur's Gate. Black Isle Studios.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 Ed Greenwood, Julia Martin, Jeff Grubb (1993). Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 2nd edition (revised), A Grand Tour of the Realms. (TSR, Inc), pp. 55, 100. ISBN 1-5607-6617-4.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Eric Haddock (1994). Cormyr. (TSR, Inc), pp. 9, 11, 46. ISBN 1-56076-818-5.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 Ed Greenwood, Eric L. Boyd (March 2006). Power of Faerûn. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 76. ISBN 0-7869-3910-9.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Anthony Herring, Jeff Grubb (1993). Player's Guide to the Forgotten Realms Campaign. (TSR, Inc.), pp. 18–19. ISBN 1-56076-695-6.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Adam Lee, et al. (September 2019). Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus. Edited by Michele Carter, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 165. ISBN 978-0-7869-6687-5.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood, Matt Sernett, Steve Winter (August 20, 2013). “Campaign Guide”. In Dawn J. Geluso ed. Murder in Baldur's Gate (Wizards of the Coast), p. 40. ISBN 0-7869-6463-4.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Jeff Grubb and Ed Greenwood (1990). Forgotten Realms Adventures. (TSR, Inc), p. 76. ISBN 0-8803-8828-5.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood, Sean K. Reynolds, Skip Williams, Rob Heinsoo (June 2001). Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3rd edition. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 91. ISBN 0-7869-1836-5.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Rand Sharpsword (August 2001). Caravans of the Western Heartlands (HTML). Rand's Travelogue. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2015-09-20. Retrieved on 2010-10-31.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Rand Sharpsword (September 2001). Caravans and Trading Companies in Sembia (HTML). Rand's Travelogue. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2015-09-20. Retrieved on 2010-10-31.
- ↑ John Terra (November 1997). Four from Cormyr. Edited by Kim Mohan. (TSR, Inc.), p. 22. ISBN 0-7869-0646-4.
- ↑ slade, et al. (April 1996). “The Wilderness”. In James Butler ed. The North: Guide to the Savage Frontier (TSR, Inc.), p. 69. ISBN 0-7869-0391-0.