Yeah, this might make humans a bit too predictable for predators, and detract from the image of an untamed Felarya, but what do you think about having frequently used paths that have some form of shelter along the way or something like that? Should I even be concerned with something so apparently trivial? Maybe I should have posted this in the main idea discussion forum...

Well I don't think such routes would be very safe unless you don't have something like a death zone around it with heavy fire support which prevents predators from planning some mean ambushes. This routesystem is quite believable since it would make transports much easier than right through the jungle but you already mentioned it yourself: Preds would know where to find some food and await you there.

But still I think its a good Idea. People have to choose between the fast way on this path / street or the MAYBE safer one though the jungle. It would be interesting to see some (un-)armoured Convoy moving on the street, always in fear of getting attacked. I like that.

I was thinking of something like hidden checkpoints, like an underground inn, out of most preds' reach, where caravans could stop and take a breather, before continuing on their way. These would be few and far inbetween because of some areas being too dangerous or something like that.

Wherever there's a chance for the traders to make a big pay-off, there's bound to be at least some who risk it. Beyond which, I always imagined the more competent caravans being heavily armed and protected by hired thugs so as to make travel easier. Be it wall of pikes making the caravan a walking land urchin, mages lobbing fireballs at all who stand in the way, death seekers who tie up the threat while the caravan advances, there's several ways the caravans could protect themselves between the checkpoints.

However, I honestly doubt any one checkpoint would remain secret for long. Only a matter of time before someone tries to plea with their life with the info ("Wait, spare me and I can point you to DOZENS of unprepared others!"), a Predator stalks them to watch where they go, etc.

so true...

thats why they have to be armed...

You're right. Prehaps some deadly traps should alleviate that concern, or the entrance being just small enough for the convoys to get through, and to prevent preds from reaching through them... a giant beartrap-like device perhaps?

I like the idea, and I don't think it's too farfetched, even for an "untamed" world like Felarya. Like Malahite said, wherever there's the chance of a big payoff, people will take the risk. Not to mention, it would make a sort of "game trail" for predators to frequent.

Now, there could be a system of moving checkpoints, with some sort of code to say which one will be used when. Naturally, to reduce the risk of predators catching a random guy and said random guy trying to barter for his life, this code would only be given to caravan leaders.

My thoughts on the matter...

I think that it would vary a lot depending on the merchants/traders involved. To be honest, once someone figures out a marginally safe route, there is NO reason at all to tell their competitors about it. Altruism might be handy for group survival, but it's just not good business, even if the other guy is from the same species/nation/city as you.

I imagine there would be a lot of cloak and dagger stuff among traders, to try and find out the routes their competitors are using, so that they can either figure out how to steal them, sabotage them, or trade the information for their own benefit. If you think about it, corporate espionage on Felarya would take the meaning to a whole new level of ruthlessness, and might just involve assassins and private armies of mercenaries.

I'm sure there are some cultures that would use large, heavily defended caravans for transporting their goods... but I think the more successful traders would be the ones who use a distributed transport method. It's the same issue drug smugglers run into (not that I know personally); if you use one bulk shipment, you can move all of your product at once... but if anything happens to that shipment, you lose everything.

If you split up the shipment into smaller packages, it becomes easier to transport and hide, and you can send couriers along different routes and then have them meet up at a checkpoint or the final destination. That way, if you lose one or two couriers, at least you're not out a fortune. Things work pretty much the same way when you're dealing with routing infrastructure (the backbone of any computer network, including the internet).

I think the most successful Felaryan trading companies would probably have a number of routes with "safehouses" along them, and use several couriers carrying light packages. Maybe mounted on horses or other swift animals; they just make a run for the city, along a route chosen right before they depart, and hand off their package to the trader at the destination.

As far as trade routes, I think traders using multiple small couriers would probably use dynamic routes. That is, they have several "safe points" set up along the way, that are well-hidden and defensible. Rather than trying to get directly from Point A (the starting point) to Point Z (the ending point), the couriers just focus on making their way from safe point to safe point, until they're finally within a longshot of the destination.

This makes their routes fairly unpredictable, and minimizes the danger of a predator waiting around and watching where they go; if a courier decides to skip one or more safe points on their route, that predator could be waiting all day for a meal that never arrives. In addition, those safe points would have to be trapped or otherwise armed to deter predators, if a courier comes in with a pursuer hot on his tail.

Spring-loaded spears at the tunnel entrance or a porticullus-like structure to keep a predator's tongue at bay, a heavy metal door in the floor with a "cellar" that the courier can hide in to avoid being vacuumed out by wind magic, a light ballista to urge the predator to keep its face away from the entrance, etc. They should definitely contain food and emergency supplies, in case the courier winds up needing to wait the predator out.

One of the issues I notice a lot of people glossing over is the fact that Felarya is built on a macro scale; when you look at the map of the regions, the units in distance are as measured by the scale predators use. Just like in the real world, we measure distances in relation to the scale we exist on. "So what?," you ask.

When you walk down the street, or across an empty lot, or even in your backyard... do you ever stop to think about how many ants, gophers, field mice, birds, squirrels, and/or earthworms you pass along the way? The best defense human-sized creatures have against giant predators is that the predators are giants, and can't get into places the humans can.

Whether it's between tightly-linked tree branches, a "small" knothole in the wood, a crevisse in a boulder, or the equivalent of a gopher hole, there are billions of places on Felarya for a human or neko to hide that a predator never even notices until they have a reason to. Those are the kinds of places I imagine Felaryan traders making heavy use of, when transporting their goods.

Nicely put again ^_^
I agree, if there is some routes, the discretion is the best way to go in my opinion

I love the idea, of course it may be necessary to abandon old checkpoints and make new ones as the predators learn the routes.

I'd say there is a high probability there are several running from Negav to The Gate at Ur-Sagol. The shear number of people seeking out the gate and those coming from it, would cause either intentional or unintentional (worn paths) to occur. makes sense that to avoid not only predators but thieves as well, merchants would agree upon something.... especially if they are in a guild or such back in the city.

the only real difference is that if they are connected to two fixed places, the trails could be varied and movable. perhaps the trade routs to and from the gate and the city could be agreed upon by variable. say by choosing the date as a key to some merchants guild guide... just throwing out some ideas^^