Romestead Market Guide
Last updated: 2026-08-23
The Market is easy to dismiss as a place to dump surplus goods. It isn't — it's the only source of several things you can't make, craft or loot, including Fish, the Canteen of Youth that respecs your talents, and the Drum and Lyre a god quest demands. This page covers how to unlock it, what merchants actually stock, and the two rules that explain why yours never seems to sell what you want.
1. Stock is biome-specific. A Desert market will never sell Fish or Forest seeds, however long you wait. 2. Stock is rank-gated. The good items only appear as your merchant levels up — and merchants level by buying, not selling.
On this page
Unlocking & building the Market
The Market is gated behind the Art of Trade quest. Once that's done it becomes buildable at a Workbench:
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Unlocked by | The Art of Trade quest — see the quest index |
| Build cost | 8 Lumber, 6 Stone, 2 Clay, crafted at a Workbench |
| Staffing | Assign a citizen — they become your merchant, and their rank determines your stock |
Clay is the input that catches people out early, since it needs a Wooden Bucket to gather and is a carried item that only goes in Material Storage. If you're short, that's almost always the bottleneck rather than the Lumber.
Merchant rank — and how to raise it fast
Your merchant's rank is the real gate on the Market. Low-rank merchants stock utility tat; high-rank merchants stock the things you actually came for. Ranks run up to at least 7.
Selling goods earns coin but no merchant XP. Buying is what levels a merchant, with XP roughly proportional to what you spend. So the fast route up the ranks is to buy cheap items in bulk — Flint Arrows at 2 Quadrans and Wood Sticks at 5 are the cheapest XP per purchase in the game. Full economics in our money guide.
This inverts how most players instinctively use a shop. Treat the Market as an investment early — deliberately spending on cheap stock to climb ranks — and as an income stream later. Mercury's Cheaper Prices blessing (−5% vendor price) makes the bulk-buying phase cheaper; see the gods guide.
Everything merchants sell, by biome
Stock varies by where the Market is built. This is why experienced players end up with more than one.
Every market, from rank 1
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Flint Arrow | 2 Quadrans |
| Wood Stick | 5 Quadrans |
| Torch | 15 Quadrans |
| Flint Shard | 20 Quadrans |
| Wood Plank | 20 Quadrans |
| Adventuring Boots | 15 Denarius |
| Adventuring Hat | 15 Denarius |
Plains & Forest markets
| Item | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fish | 1 Denarius 50 Quadrans | Rank 2. The only way to get Fish — see below. |
| Dates | 50 Quadrans | Food |
| Yellow Onion | 50 Quadrans | Food |
| Recipe: Cape of the Fallen | 50 Quadrans | Plains only |
| Recipe: Bark-back | 1 Denarius | Forest only |
Forest markets additionally stock the growing stock you can't easily find: Red Currant, White Currant and Blackberry Bush Seeds, plus Chanterelle, Boletus and Amanita Mycelium — all at just 5 Quadrans. If you're building out food production, a Forest market is the cheapest way to diversify crops.
Desert & Volcano markets
| Item | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Drum | 2 Denarius 50 Quadrans | Required for Venus's In Vino Veritas |
| Lyre | 2 Denarius 50 Quadrans | Required for Venus's In Vino Veritas |
| Recipe: Bedouin Cloak | 1 Denarius | — |
| Placeable Sand | — | Decorative terrain |
Higher merchant ranks
As your merchant climbs, the stock list opens up considerably — through to rank 7. Confirmed higher-rank goods include the Canteen of Youth, Empty Pot, Cheese, Minor Health Potion and Health Potion, Copper Arrow, Magical Candle, Lucky Dice, Lobber Wristguards, the Adventuring Cloak and Thick Cloak, and placeable Dirt and Grass terrain variants.
The five purchases actually worth making
- The Canteen of Youth. The standout. It resets your Favour Point spending, which makes it the respec item for the entire talent tree. Because talents are cross-world meta-progression, a respec is a genuinely big deal — and the Market is where it comes from. On its own this justifies levelling a merchant.
- Fish. There is no fishing in Romestead — buying is the only route. Fish feeds Garum and Deep Fried Fish; details in the food guide.
- The Drum and Lyre. Both are demanded by Venus's In Vino Veritas. They also drop in Satyr camps in the Desert, but a camp raid is a fight and a purchase isn't — if you have the coin, just buy them. See the quest index.
- Forest seeds and mycelium at 5 Quadrans. Absurdly cheap crop diversification.
- Bulk Flint Arrows and Wood Sticks. Not for the items — for the merchant XP. This is the cheapest way to unlock everything above.
Protect your merchant
The Market is staffed by a normal citizen with no special protection, and the Fallen target production buildings during night raids. Losing a high-rank merchant means losing all that accumulated buying XP — and with it your access to the Canteen of Youth and the rest of the high-rank stock. Site the Market inside your defended core, not out on the perimeter, and light it. Torches and Scorpio placement in the raid defense guide.
This is the strongest argument for treating your Market as core infrastructure rather than a decorative stall at the edge of town. Everything about it — the rank grind, the biome-locked stock — is slow to rebuild.
Common questions
How do you unlock the Market?
Complete the Art of Trade quest. It's then buildable at a Workbench for 8 Lumber, 6 Stone and 2 Clay, and you staff it with a citizen who becomes your merchant.
Why doesn't my merchant sell what I need?
Two reasons, and both are by design. Stock is biome-specific — a Desert market will never stock Fish or Forest seeds — and it's rank-gated, so premium goods like the Canteen of Youth only appear as your merchant levels. You need either a Market in a different biome or a more experienced merchant.
Where do you buy Fish?
A Plains or Forest market, 1 Denarius 50 Quadrans, at merchant rank 2. Desert and volcanic markets don't stock it, and there's no fishing mechanic — buying is the only way. See the food guide.
Where do you get the Canteen of Youth?
From a Market merchant at higher rank. It resets your Favour Point spending, so it's the respec item for the talent tree — which makes levelling a merchant a progression goal, not just an economic one.
How do you level up a merchant?
By buying, not selling. Selling earns coin but no merchant XP; buying grants XP roughly proportional to spend. Buy cheap items in bulk — Flint Arrows at 2 Quadrans, Wood Sticks at 5 — to climb ranks efficiently. See the money guide.
Where do you find the Drum and Lyre?
Buy them at a Desert or Volcano market for 2 Denarius 50 Quadrans each, or loot them from Satyr camps in the Desert. Both are needed for Venus's In Vino Veritas quest.