Wessia Mercantile Consortiums

Each of the old aristocratic families of Wessia maintains a Mercantile consortium of their own along with variety of upstart new money merchant princes. The four Senators Zythym, Ullaster, Crowdale, and Phist along with the Swires are the five most prominent, but there generally considered ten major and perhaps 30 minor merchant houses, all maintains some degree of warehousing, shipping, porters, security, and perhaps a caravansary in the city. The competition is fierce and beyond the most prominent ten, it's common to see fortunes rise and wane in a matter of only a few years as each struggles for the best contracts from around the Stormchalice. As the primary commodities are grain and ore, it's a low margin business where fortunes can easily turn with the weather. Only the prominent ten have significant business in things like jewelry and textiles which add to their stability through leaner agricultural years, and those that have access to Red Iron from the mines in the north are able to do brisk and lucrative commerce with the lands to the south.