Taelwind: Trading Tycoon

Taelwind is a trading voyage across a lightly fictional China Seas in the age of sail. Buy low in one port, sail for another, and sell for what the market will bear. The sailing is the dangerous part. THE CROSSING Every passage is a decision. Pirates, storms, and navy patrols stand between you and the port that wants your cargo. Fight, run, throw cargo to lighten ship, or pay them off. Your ship, your cannons, and your crew set the odds; the manifest sets the stakes. A LIVING CHART Every voyage inks a line on your chart. Twenty voyages in, the chart is a web of your own making: your routes, your habits, your history. It is the ship's log drawn as a map, and it is yours alone. THE TRADE Fourteen goods across eight ports, from tea and silk to cargo the customs house would rather not see. Prices swing with monsoons, embargoes, harvests, and rumor. Read the word on the wind, time the market, and mind your Notoriety: a house that trades too hot draws inquiries. SILVER IN THE HOLD IS A TEMPTATION Elder Brother Wu lends when the tide is against you, on his terms. Li Yuen sells safe passage with the odds shown plainly. The bank keeps silver out of a pirate's reach. Every arrangement in Taelwind states its terms before you sign. A GROWING SHIP Deeper holds, faster rigging, more cannon, a sharper crew. Every upgrade is visible on the ship herself, as a single junk grows into the flag of a merchant house. RISE Climb from Ship's Boy to taipan of the China Seas trade, then retire the house to your heir and begin again with permanent renown. Widgets keep a weather eye on the market, and a voyage under way rides in the Dynamic Island. Two faces of the chart: a day chart in parchment and ink, a night watch in navy and lantern gold. The monsoon does not negotiate. The manifest is open.