Ships in the 1500s, 1600s and frozen lakes?

[Jess A]

As your Duke is already in major trouble with his King, he would't mind a tidy bit of illegal trading.


He has to know not only the right Kings but also the right merchants. No King or nobleman trades by himself (many hadn't the brains for it). Your Duke will use agents for his own business, guilds will trade on their own (taxes) and he'd need probably a big banking house (see: Fugger) to borrow from and have an account by. Also he needs trade pacts for trade to the neighboring country and for trade through it.

Yes, just my point - he has quite a nice illegal trade going. And he tries to steal away recruits at the same time.

Ah, I see! I never thought of a banking house. This Duke is more of a warrior than anything. I'll need to look into the banking house and the trade pacts. I have a shelf full of books to scan through. The Duke is actually one of the protagonists of the story (not a major one though) but is as shady as he needs to be to get things done. He can't exactly be wealthy yet, but he has some good resources and assets.