The Trade Posts of the Obibo

OOC: The following two posts may aid you in reading and understanding:

• West Africa NPC Map 350 CE
• The Merchants of Abedan

The Tozana Alááshu guaranteed Abedan's merchants a safe haven, or multiple ones, such as Abedan, Mbórí and Ogídígbe. The security at home allowed families to make more risky investments instead. 'High risk, high reward' was a well-known philosophy to the merchants familiar with sailing. The families were large and close-knitted concerns, but a dangerous venture was not for heirs. The men and women in the story were cousins: close enough to be trusted, but distant enough not to lament a possible loss.

Amásu came from House Bùwòwì. He was raised at sea because his father was a sailor and bad with numbers. He himself was more inclined towards thinking thanks to his mother, but Amásu had sailor blood and he had lived a sailor's life. He was a natural choice when Nna Bùwòwì (the head of the family) desired a permanent trading post on the island of Bokó (Bioko). It was close to the eastern border of Tozan and Amásu became the head of the estate on Bokó that he had been ordered to build. He established good relations with the local king and became his importer of silk and gold.

Feruefa came from House Chelìfì. Their biggest obstacle was the naval power of some other houses, but the sea had large downsides. Wise inventors and powerhungry merchants poured resources into new vessels, but the sailships of the Obibo had a tendency to sink if one tried to get too far. Sailing beyond Kwaman was a risky and unhealthy affair, and it took ages because the frail relations with the warring states on the western coast could go sour in a single meeting. Feruefa was ordered to succeed at opening up the west for Chelìfì, but he did so overland. Warowei and Talata were ruled by Chelìfì's friends and they probably owed House Rainwealth some coin too, so he took the route along the Ilesi. There, he reached Nijaay and became the Obibo of Nijaay. From there, Feruefa led some caravans west, one even to Kanbida, but decided that the situation was not yet ripe for a trading post. He settled in Nijaay.

Harásha came from House Ghewáro. She had grown up in Uwára, despite the family's origin being in Abedan. She was the daughter of Ghewáro's leading merchant in the capital city and she grew up among the nobles and the Dabazou, who had integrated in upper-class Uwára. She was a good accountant and and spoke Dabazou fluently, and she was as hesitant to marry as her father, who saw her potential, so the girl from Ghewáro stayed in Uwára, dealing with the Dabazou. The former dwellers of the Sahara were good traders too and her experience made her a valuable asset. The opportunity arose to establish an important relationship with the Farba of the Zagou due to her dealings and she and her brother travelled far to cement that relationship.

Harásha decided she liked to travel and she began to dream of an expedition. She asked her father about opportunities by Lake Kada and after a year of negotiating with the Nna Ghewáro in Abedan, she received her permission. Dressed in a tagelmust, her sex obscured, Harásha and several employees of the Ghewáro journeyed to Lake Kada. The Mosghas Kaghad ruled the land, but respected the Obibo merchants, as the Kaghad were one of the chains in the inderect trade through the Sahara, where Tozan was the final station of most of the trade. On the northern shore of the lake, a trading town by the name of Surga became the new home of Harásha, where she established an office, hired local carriers and made it possible to import wares from as far as Abedan to Lake Kada. Furthermore, she married a local member of the Kaghad and took a personal interest in the Saharan trade lanes..