Unhinged Posted December 10, 2014 Report Share Posted December 10, 2014 This is just something that has been floating around in my head for a while. On Roshar gemstones are cheap as dirt, while (presumably) on other worlds they're valuable. My idea is that a worldhopper could go to Roshar sell everything they have for a few spheres then travel back to their homeworld, or any other world in the Cosmere really and sell it for a fortune. Then you buy more trade goods and repeat till you're rich. I suspect that a few savvy worldhoppers might have picked up on this trick already, it could be how Mraize/Iyatil are funding the ghostbloods. And I wouldn't be surprised if Hoid was doing something similar on Nalthis since he seems to have reached one of the lower Heightenings of course Hoid being Hoid there was probably another explanation as well. So that's the theory I know that eventually this would lead to gemstones becoming more comon on other worlds but if it was done carefully a worldhopper could fund whatever activities they were engaged in while traveling the Cosmere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king of nowhere Posted December 10, 2014 Report Share Posted December 10, 2014 I'm sure the chances for lucrous trade would not be limited by gemstones. but anyway, I'm sure with their magical knowledge they could find a way to make money anyway. and in a pinch, they could just rob something: havving powers no one in the world knows of is a huge advantage. basically, to a worldhopper money is purely a matter of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oudeis Posted December 11, 2014 Report Share Posted December 11, 2014 Soulcast silver, bring it to Threnody. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaggai Posted December 11, 2014 Report Share Posted December 11, 2014 Go to Scadrial, use Hemalurgy to obtain Feruchemical gold and Allomantic gold, then become unkillable. Go to another planet (not Roshar) and bet large amounts of money that you can beat their best fighter. Rinse and repeat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titan Arum Posted December 11, 2014 Report Share Posted December 11, 2014 (edited) Soulcast silver, bring it to Threnody. Soulcast the 16 Allomantic metals in large amounts (not atium or lerasium for obvious reasons), then go to Scadrial and corner the metals market by undercutting everyone else, thus creating your own metal monopoly. Surely, even at this price point, your profit margins are huge and nobody else can enter the market because they'll just lose money. Because, you know, mining is expensive! Edit: For an added wrinkle, because vials of metal contain alcohol, Soulcast/buy kegs of the various shades of Rosharian wine and assign a color to each Allomantic metal so that it's easy to distinguish which vial contains which metal. Due to this user-friendly (and potentially user-enjoyable) system, you may even be able to increase your prices ABOVE the cost of the lowest competitor because nobody else can use these wines to distinguish which vial of metals is which. Edited December 11, 2014 by Titan Arum 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oudeis Posted December 11, 2014 Report Share Posted December 11, 2014 Soulcast the 16 Allomantic metals in large amounts (not atium or lerasium for obvious reasons), then go to Scadrial and corner the metals market by undercutting everyone else, thus creating your own metal monopoly. Surely, even at this price point, your profit margins are huge and nobody else can enter the market because they'll just lose money. Because, you know, mining is expensive! Edit: For an added wrinkle, because vials of metal contain alcohol, Soulcast/buy kegs of the various shades of Rosharian wine and assign a color to each Allomantic metal so that it's easy to distinguish which vial contains which metal. Due to this user-friendly (and potentially user-enjoyable) system, you may even be able to increase your prices ABOVE the cost of the lowest competitor because nobody else can use these wines to distinguish which vial of metals is which. I like the cut of your jib. Basically, I think we all agree that worldhopping is a not-terrible way to make money any number of ways. In fact, I was working on a story once about a Mistborn (born about 300 years before Vin) who didn't himself worldhop, but was brought from world to world through the agency of a worldhopping trader whom I only ever referred to as the Cosmerchant. He set up people with unique skills or unheard of powers as his agents on each world, gathering useful supplies unique to that planet, and spent his time traveling from place to place with his goods, buying low and selling high. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titan Arum Posted December 11, 2014 Report Share Posted December 11, 2014 I like the cut of your jib. Basically, I think we all agree that worldhopping is a not-terrible way to make money any number of ways. In fact, I was working on a story once about a Mistborn (born about 300 years before Vin) who didn't himself worldhop, but was brought from world to world through the agency of a worldhopping trader whom I only ever referred to as the Cosmerchant. He set up people with unique skills or unheard of powers as his agents on each world, gathering useful supplies unique to that planet, and spent his time traveling from place to place with his goods, buying low and selling high. Who doesn't like arbitrage!? Worldhopping would be great for merchants in general. If only every babsk would think of this...which leads me to believe that maybe Rysn will eventually be the Worldhopping Merchant of our dreams? She has to set herself apart from her Vstim, who's well-regarded (and potentially famous) on Roshar. How else to do this other than becoming Cosmerchant? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the Gleeman Posted December 11, 2014 Report Share Posted December 11, 2014 Think of the profitable biotrading too! Rare animals and plants, like say chickens and chull, traded for a mistwraith. It seems like a cosmere zoo would be really interesting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titan Arum Posted December 11, 2014 Report Share Posted December 11, 2014 Think of the profitable biotrading too! Rare animals and plants, like say chickens and chull, traded for a mistwraith. It seems like a cosmere zoo would be really interesting... That's probably exactly why the One's Above are at First of the Sun. Aviar's will probably fetch quite a sum on the open market. Also...imagine how much Herdazians would pay for a Mistwraith chouta! Would it still be considered cannibalistic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mckeedee123 Posted December 15, 2014 Report Share Posted December 15, 2014 (edited) Yeah, I thought this was pretty apparent. Though what's really cheap on Roshar isn't gems, it's gold. Gold has virtually no value to Rosharans since it's so easy to make. That's why they have to use gems as currency. Compare that to Nalthis, where (correct me if I'm wrong) currency is basically just gold ingots. I'd say, grab a bunch of chickens or horses, trade them for a low-quality Soulcaster, and then use your newfound gold to buy yourself an infinite amount of breath. You could be completely immortal! I've got to wonder why Vasher hasn't done this. Perhaps he's trying to lie low. Maybe the 17th Shard regulates worldhoppers so that they can't cheat the system like this. Edited December 15, 2014 by mckeedee123 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oudeis Posted December 15, 2014 Report Share Posted December 15, 2014 Yeah, border patrols in Shadesmar are killer. Seriously though, it's possible if not likely that travel in Shadesmar is actually incredibly hazardous to your health. It's possible you risk death with each and every trip. Sidenote... i don't know that even a "low-quality Soulcaster" is cheap or possible. There seem to be a limited number, and since they're viewed as religious relics they might not even be for sale. Though, granted, we only have direct knowledge of the Alethi ones; maybe in other cultures, they're simply a tool. Still, there's prolly an easier way. Vstm (I can't recall his real name, Rysn's babsk) says he got the metal from ardents practicing Soulcasting. For a presumably only slightly more nominal fee, you could ask them to pick gold instead of whatever metal they did pick. Though I wonder if that's still the best use... allomantic metals might be in more demand, especially difficult to get ones like cadmium. Aluminum, we know, is expensive on Roshar, so while it would fetch an excellent price on Scadrial, it might still not be cost-effective. I've already mentioned bringing silver to threnody; there's not a ton which is of worth on Threnody, however, to trade your silver for. It might make an interesting fortress, however... if one were able to acquire a Soulcaster capable of silver... bring it to Threnody, soulcast the ground itself into a MASSIVE disc of silver, build your house on it. Buy slaves on Roshar, feed them to the Shades around your property, so that it's just lousy with Shades. You have your own little fortress surrounded by demonic forces to protect you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titan Arum Posted December 15, 2014 Report Share Posted December 15, 2014 Buy slaves on Roshar, feed them to the Shades around your property, so that it's just lousy with Shades. You have your own little fortress surrounded by demonic forces to protect you. If we're pretending we live in-Cosmere, this totally makes sense. But real-world me hesitates with the ethical dilemma of purchasing slaves on one planet to use on another just to sacrifice them for your own demonic force. Heck, even the just buying slaves part is hard for me to stomach, even if it's an economic boon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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