Guide 14 of 20
Travel and Routes
The Map Room turns a promising price difference into a complete decision. Every road balances time, money and risk, and no route is intended to be the obvious best choice in every situation.
Selecting a destination
Click an unlocked town marker to select it. The Map Room automatically chooses an available connected route when possible. You can then click another route to compare alternatives.
Only routes connected to your current town are usable. Other unlocked routes remain visible in black; selecting one explains that you cannot reach it from your present location. Closed and locked roads are greyed out and cannot be used.
Route trade-offs
Cost
Travel cost directly reduces the margin of the next trade. Political rules can raise or lower it, and tolls may be modified separately.
Duration
Travel consumes days. Longer routes allow the economy and politics to keep moving while also reducing the remaining freshness of perishable cargo.
Risk
Route risk represents the chance of theft. The chance is the displayed risk level multiplied into a percentage; when theft occurs, between one and three units of a carried good may be stolen. Active laws or decrees can modify the real theft chance.
The arrival notification appears only when a robbery actually occurred and identifies the good and quantity taken.
Political changes
A decree can close a road completely. Closed roads appear unavailable on the map. Another rule may create a safer or cheaper alternative. Restrictions apply both to the preview and to the final travel action, preventing the displayed route from disagreeing with the journey.
Rivals on the map
Rival disks show whether a rival is in a town or travelling. Each town has separate marker positions so two rivals can appear without overlapping. Clicking a rival opens their page in the Merchant Notebook.
Before confirming travel
Check:
- Whether the destination market will be open
- Route cost and tolls
- Travel duration
- Theft risk
- Cargo freshness on arrival
- Destination permit fee
- Last recorded prices and how old they are
- Rival movement toward the same opportunity
Arriving
Scene loading and saving happen during the covered transition. When the town appears, no menu should already be open. Any robbery notification is presented at the beginning of the arrival morning.