Merchants
Your first merchant is free. Each later hire costs more than the last. There is a per-player limit.
Transport icons
| Icon | Transport | Terrain | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🛒 | cart | land | 3 |
| 🐴 | caravan (horse-drawn) | land | 6 |
| ⛵ | junk | river | 12 — needs a market with a ⚓ port to dock |
You can hire during prep, live play and pauses, but not after the match has ended. Hire only from 🔁 Routes — on the route list tap + merchant (confirm) or open a route and use Hire & Assign in the editor footer. The Merchants sheet is status only (no hire). Transport matches the route and can't change after hire.
Tap a merchant in the list to center the map on them and open their details (route and current task). Assign a saved route from Routes or from the details sheet. On the map, the merchant uses the same transport icon (🛒 / 🐴 / ⛵).