Board Thread:Custom Lore Development/@comment-26535281-20161218221749

The Mercator (Plural Mercatorae) are the Traders and merchants of the Empire. No matter wears, world of origin, or current location each has a 'Imperial Grant of Trade and Commerce' (IGTC). The basic trader to the Entrepreneur falls under the Mercator. Most are humble planetary merchants that have been hired out by the state to provide goods for such things as factories or Imperial worlds.

Another type (More common outside the Empire) is a Rouge Mercator those merchants who brave the unknown searching for wealth and glory some after years of adventure are hired by the state as privateers or Explorae. Mercators can make money in a variety of ways from mapping unknown space to finding relics or just from selling goods they have found. Most employ all of these to make fortunes and build from a small ship and crew to an entire fleet.

Still they must have a IGTC which in a way binds them to the empire with 5% of all findings going to the empire no matter what. It also puts them under the scrutiny of the Officio Commercium which employs agents to watch over most Mercator's most Commercium agents become full time members of the crew while others are used to hunt down Mercators who have skipped over a few payments to the empire. Depending on the severity the punishment can be a slap on the wrist, to the revoking of the IGTC, and in sever cases death. 