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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mustrum_Ridcully" data-source="post: 4220516" data-attributes="member: 710">Merchant are moving targets. They can be attacked by laying ambushes, but many monsters just don't lay ambushes. Animals and magical beasts have little reason to attack a merchant that has guards that can fight back, and possibly doesn't even carry stuff it can use. A threat are all kinds of humanoids or barely civilized creatures. But these threats usually are also threatened by the presence of guards. Attacks are risky. It can be a a lot easier to just ask for a little (or a little more) money and goods for safe passage. The merchant's prices will just increase a little bit with each ambush he walks into. There is a also a possibility to minimize risks by following established trade routes with a lot of settlements along the road. Traveling this way ensures relative safety. But if you ever have to leave the path, venture a little further into the woods, you run into hostile monsters that will kill and eat you if you don't outrun or outfight them. The risk is - what happens if a few of the PoL settlements along the road are taken out by the darkness? Your road stops, and you need to send soldiers or adventurers to "repair" the road. Or both. (But remember, soldiers are expensive, and you might prefer to keep them for your own safety...)</blockquote>