Northern Interests Trading Company
| Northern Interests Trading Company | |
|---|---|
| Members | Vathi, Eusto, Winds |
| Services | Aviar |
| World of Origin | First of the Sun |
| Universe | Cosmere |
“We'll lose it all. We can’t fight them. They’ll find an excuse, they’ll seize the Aviar. It makes perfect sense. The Aviar use the worms. We use the Aviar. The Ones Above use us. It’s inevitable, isn’t it? ”
—Vathi[1]
The Northern Interests Trading Company is a mercantile business which has an interest in settling and exploiting the Pantheon isles for commercial purposes, namely selling Aviar to people on the mainland.[1]
History
The company staged a preliminary scientific exploration to Patji, aiming to test some scientific equipment it had acquired from the Ones Above. The stated goal of the mission was to find out why only Aviar raised on Patji had powers while birds raised elsewhere did not. They brought two hundred soldiers, one hundred scientists and merchants, and two ironhulls armed with cannons. They sent an expedition lead by a reluctant Vathi to scout the other side of the island for a location where they can build a second outpost. Dusk found a ruined campsite that had been used by the members of this expedition before a deepwalker had attacked them. He was frustrated that they had not heeded his warnings and had come to Patji anyways, sealing their fate. He later found Vathi, who had survived the attack, stuck in one of his traps near his base. She explained the full extent of the company's plans to him.[1]
“We found instructions in the machine... A manual on its workings, left there as if accidentally by someone who worked on it before. The manual is in their language, but the smaller machine I have... it translates.”
—Vathi to Dusk.[1]
When they reached the company's fortress on the other side of the island Vathi discovered that her coworker, Winds, had gone ahead and opened their latest 'gift' from the ones above, a device which can track Aviar on a large scale. Dusk tried to convince the workers that to do so would be dangerous, but his words failed him and he was ignored. A short while later, terrified, Vathi came to Dusk and told him that in that machine they had discovered the true intentions of the Ones Above. She told him that they had found a manual in their language inside the device they had been given by the Ones Above.
“They may be cunning, but they have not lived on Patji. We will gather the other trappers. We will not let ourselves be taken in.”
—Dusk to Vathi[1]
When Vathi used her translating device on the manual she discovered their benefactors' true motives. She said that it explained the ideas behind the devices and that with time the scientists of the company could figure out how to make them for themselves. She realized that the she and the entire Northern Interests Trading Company were being manipulated by the Ones Above. According to their laws, the Ones Above were not allowed to trade with a society that was on a lower technological level than themselves. Therefore they were attempting to fast-track the natives to modernity so they could exploit them for their Aviar. Vathi recognized that things were too easy and went to Dusk in despair. He told her that they knew Patji better than the newcomers and could fight back and defend themselves from the invading foreigners.[1].
Assets
Technology
They have received various technologies from the Ones Above. One of these is a device which can map out the locations of all of the Aviar on the island. A second device that they have is a small device which Vathi found with one of the Ones Above who died while in their company. It can translate between their languages and point to the location of individual Aviar.[1]
They also have firearms which use an explosive powder to fire a small arrow out of a metal tube. It is not clear if they received these guns from the Ones Above or if they developed them on their own.[1]
Fortress
They have built a large walled fortress on the shores of Patji out of logs. It has large wooden gates. They have guardposts on the upper walls as well as cannons to protect from approaching ships. They have two heavily armed and armored ironhulls docked at the fortress to protect them from the deepwalkers.
Employees
- Vathi
- A clerk and one of the lead investigators on the trip
- Eusto
- The captain of the ships
- Winds
- One of the staff