Caravans

Caravans in Wanderfolk are 8 named traveling traders who route between biome-specific villages, buying surpluses and selling into shortages using autonomous economy-aware logic. They carry 50-item inventories, snapshot village stockpiles at each stop, and choose destinations based on profit-opportunity scoring.

The 8 Caravan Traders

Each trader specializes in goods from their route biomes. Cedric carries meadow herbs and farmland produce. Ragnar hauls mountain ore and tundra furs. Zahra trades desert spices and volcanic minerals.

Caravan Behavior

Arrival

Caravans spawn outside village boundaries (1500px radius) and travel toward the village center at 90 px/s. They arrive and set up shop near the village center.

Stay Duration

Traders stay for 2–4 game hours (120–240 game minutes). A trader who arrives at 9 AM might leave anywhere between 11 AM and 1 PM. Check the time when you spot a caravan.

Departure

Caravans depart between 7 AM and 2 PM. They won’t leave after 2 PM on the same day — if they’re still in the village by then, they’ll stay until the next morning.

Route Memory

Each trader remembers the last 6 villages they visited and won’t return to the same village consecutively. This means you’ll see a variety of traders over time.

Trading with Caravans

Interact with a caravan trader the same way you’d interact with any merchant — walk up and press E. Caravan traders carry goods specific to their route biomes:

• Cedric — fresh produce, seeds, meadow herbs, common crafting materials
• Ragnar — iron and obsidian ore, mountain herbs, thick furs, cold-weather gear
• Zahra — desert spices, rare minerals, heat-resistant materials, luxury goods
• Finn — fish, sea salt, coastal herbs, navigation tools
• Reed — river fish, delta herbs, woven goods, water purifiers
• Silas — ancient artifacts, rare crystals, scholarly items, mystery goods
• Willow — enchanted herbs, rare plants, fae-touched materials
• Brenna — quality timber, forest herbs, animal hides, handcrafted goods

Caravan Dangers

Caravans are vulnerable while traveling:

• Monster detection range: 180px — caravans detect and avoid monsters
• Flee speed: 130 px/s — when threatened, caravans flee faster than they travel
• Bandit targets: Wealthy caravans attract bandits

If you see a caravan being chased by bandits or monsters, intervening earns gratitude and may lead to better prices or special items from the trader.

Finding Caravans

Caravans follow predictable route patterns through their assigned biomes. To find a specific trader:

1. Visit villages in their route biomes — Ragnar visits mountain and tundra villages
2. Check during morning hours — caravans arrive and depart in the morning
3. Look for the cart — each trader has a distinctive cart type visible on the overworld
4. Wait at trade hubs — larger villages attract more caravan visits

Strategic Uses

Access Rare Materials

If your home village is in a meadow and you need mountain ore, waiting for Ragnar Stonehauler is easier than trekking to the mountains yourself.

Sell High-Value Goods

Caravan traders will buy items at competitive prices, and they accept goods your local merchants might not value as highly — Zahra pays premium for luxury items.

Discover New Recipes

Some caravan goods include crafting materials you haven’t encountered before. Buying an unfamiliar ingredient may unlock new recipes at the appropriate station.

Smart Trading

Caravans don’t just carry goods — they understand the economies they’re trading in.

Economy Snapshots

When a caravan arrives at a village, it snapshots the local stockpile levels — recording which resource categories are in surplus and which are in shortage. Over multiple visits across different villages, each caravan builds a mental map of supply and demand across the world.

Autonomous Buy/Sell Logic

Caravans use their economy knowledge to make informed trades:

• Selling into shortages — when a village is low on a resource category the caravan is carrying, the trader sells at a 20% markup. A mountain village desperate for food pays premium for grain.
• Buying surpluses — caravans buy goods that are plentiful locally but scarce at other villages they’ve visited. A coast village with excess fish becomes a supply source for inland settlements.
• Minimum profit margin — even cheap goods carry a floor markup, ensuring low-cost items are worth transporting.

The result is an economy where caravans actively move resources from where they’re abundant to where they’re scarce — not just random goods along random routes.

Profit-Opportunity Routing

Caravans choose destinations based on a scoring system instead of wandering randomly:

The top 3 candidates enter a weighted random selection — so caravans trend toward profitable routes without being perfectly predictable.

Trade News & Caravan Gossip

Caravans carry economic intelligence between villages. Traders share gossip like “The mountain village is desperate for food” or “The coast has more fish than they know what to do with.” This information feeds into NPC conversations — ask a merchant or innkeeper what’s happening in the wider world and they may repeat what a passing caravan told them.

Caravan Economy Stats

Trade Route Knowledge

Caravan traders also carry geographic intelligence. Each trader remembers the villages they’ve visited along their route and can share that knowledge in conversation.

What traders can tell you:

• Village names and the biomes they’re in
• Approximate directions and distances between settlements
• Their current destination
• What kinds of goods are available at each stop

This makes caravans a valuable source of world knowledge, especially early in the game when your map is mostly fog. If you’re trying to find a mountain village to buy ore, asking Ragnar Stonehauler is faster than wandering north hoping to hit peaks. Traders know the world because they’ve walked it.

Related Articles

• Trading — reputation price modifiers and demand indicators when buying from caravans
• Village Economy — the stockpile simulation that drives caravan buying and selling
• Bandits — caravans as bandit targets and the rewards for defending them
• Gossip — how caravan traders spread economic intelligence between villages