The Midwest has a great number of trading routes, and with trade comes traders. Here I document one trading company, not the largest or richest, but one that is moving up in the world.
The Seria-Badlands Trading Company, popularly known as the "Ess-Bees" due to their initials, is headquartered in [Serian capital] and is best known for their Seria-"Badlands" (actually Tarbek) route, from which they get their name. However, this is not their only route, as they also trade northward with the barbarian tribes, and are currently working on setting up a "triangle trade" route from Seria to Tarbek to Qaras.
The S-B's have developed a (well-deserved) reputation as the company that "trades where no man has traded before," taking the tough and dangerous routes that other companies are afraid to tackle.
The SBTC has a fairly complex charter, which all members must sign on to. The organization is nearly guild-like, with four levels of status: Prentice, Journeyman, Master, Partner. All new members of the SBTC begin as Prentices, although for highly skilled members the period as Prentice can be of token duration. No one may become a Master without having successfully led a substantial trade run. The only exceptions to this are by the unanimous consent of all Partners, or by the unanimous consent of all members of a trade run (this has been used to reward exceptional valor in the face of danger).
All SBTC members, even Prentices, have shares in the Company. The exact formula for shares is complex, but one gets more shares by moving from Prentice to Partner, and also by number of years with the Company. Other ways to gain shares are possible based on responsibilties taken within the Company. The formula is set up so that there is always incentive to advance, yet even SBTC Prentices have enough stake in the outcome of each trade mission to be properly "incentivised." It's also possible that a diligent and senior Journeyman could actually gain more shares that a new and lazy Partner.
Shares are paid out as profits are realized. Shares can also be willed, so if any unfortunate accidents occur during a trade run, survivors will be compensated appropriately. (This also means that there's no profit in not helping your fellow S-B's get back in one piece.)
What possible profit could there be in trade with the Tarbek?
The answer is simple: smokeweed. There are a number of plants which grow in the Great Western Savannah which, when smoked, have a number of interesting pharmaceutical properties, and are highly prized within the Midwest. The Tarbek incorporate a number of these within their medicine, magick, and mysticism, and are expert in both the use and the location of various smokeweeds. No one has yet been able to grow the smokeweeds in commericial quantities outside of the Savannah, so the only access to them is via trade with the Tarbek. And of all the trading companies to attempt to trade in smokeweeds with the Tarbek, the SBTC is the only one to have achieved major success.
Note that tobacco is technically not a smokeweed, as it does not grow in the Savannah. It requires a slightly wetter and warmer climate. Tobacco was originally cultivated by Halflings, and was introduced by them to both Dwarves and Humans. (Most Elves won't touch the stuff.) Qaras has taken to growing tobacco as an export crop, and Qarassi Leaf is prized by cigar connessuers everywhere. A recent innovation has been the blending of tobacco with particular smokeweeds for enhanced palate or recreational effect. Thus the SBTC interest in a Seria-Tarbek-Qaras trade route, which would give them a lock on this lucrative luxury market.
The SBTC has elements of a secret society. All SBTC Partners know that "S-B" really stands for "Serene Bastards."
This derives from the historical fact that most Partners are, in fact, of illegitimate birth. And bastards, too. And have decided that "serentity is the best revenge." All but two of the ten current Partners are of mixed Serian-Tarbek birth.
The Senior Partner, the Most Serene Bastard himself, is Brandon fitzTarbae. Brandon's last name tells the story; his father and mother were part of a Serian border settlement that was raided by a Tarbek war party, and Brandon was the result. His mother was shattered by the attack and never recovered mentally. His father left the homestead, moved the family back to the Serian capital where he took a desk job (logistics) in the Serian military, to be as far as possible away from Tarbek.
Brandon was not a happy kid -- the mother who he adored never left the house, his "father" hated him as a reminder of his wife's violation. So, Brandon tried not to be home much, and became a bit of a street rat. His mother finally died when he was thirteen; he ran away from home the evening after her funeral. He picked the first caravan out of town to stow away on, it was headed West. Over the next several years, Brandon rose through the ranks until he ended up taking it over after the untimely death of the company leader and re-creating it as the Seria-Badlands Trading Company.
Brandon occaisionally jokes about founding a new "fitzTarbae" clan. In all seriousness, he's on track to do so with the SBTC, as they've recruited heavily from the "half-breeds."
ObGamer: I would put Brandon as about 9th level: 2nd Thief (that street rat phase), 3rd Fighter (the old caravan master was a military man who taught Brandon a thing or two), 2nd Barbarian (getting in touch with his Tarbek heritage), and 2nd Magic-User or Sorceror (really getting in touch with his heritage by learning Tarbeki shamanism).