A Trader's Life

A Trader's Life is the title of a book written by a trader named Sven. The book contains Sven's recollections of his life at sea. The book contains a chapter on the Staff of Tier written by Sven while he was sailing with the Bold Maiden and they passed the Isle of Tier. Sven wrote down the tale of how the Staff and the isle came to be, the way the story was told to him by the ship's captain Wrass.

History
The trader Sven wrote A Trader's Life long before Deltora was invaded by the Shadow Lord, based on his own experiences during his life at sea.

The trader Dare Larsett used to own a copy of A Trader's Life which he kept in his library before it was sold with everything he owned.

The Wondrous Staff of Tier
Sven recounts the time he was sailing with the Bold Maiden and passed the Isle of Tier. He wanted to get to the isle, but the captain and crew of the ship refused. Eventually the captain Wrass told Sven the tale of how the Staff of Tier and the Isle of Tier came to be, and how the pirate Bar-Enoch stole the Staff from the dead Tier, and Sven wrote it down. Sven ended the chapter asking how Bar-Enoch had defied Tier's Staff when he took it and wondering where he hid the Staff in the end before he had let himself die.

Voyage to Maris
Sven recounts his first visit to the island of Maris and town of the same name. Sven writes about how much he found surprising in Maris, despite all he had read and heard about it. Sven was worried, since Maris had no harbour, but faced the open sea, since he knew that rough seas could be disastrous to their schedule, or even prevent them from reaching the town at all. Trader Wix, whom Sven served as assistant on the voyage, put his mind to ease when he told told him that the Maris leader, the Keeper, could control the weather and tides by the power of a magic Crystal. Sven found this hard to believe, but soon he discovered it was the true.

Sven writes about his dealings with the strange, chilly Maris people, and includes advice on how to trade in the town. He also lists many of the high quality things for sale in the town of Maris: fabric woven from bukshah wool, high-quality silk dried fish, good cheeses, hoopberry wine, tricks, toys and 'the best honey in the Silver Sea'. He also mentions beautiful objects of glass and silver, precious jewellery inlaid with tiny, rare blue shells called odi and talks about the pickled eggs of a creature called the Kirrian Worm that Maris-folk eat. He also writes about the belief that odi shells only wash up on the Maris shore once every seven years, always on the night of a full moon, and that odi ornaments are highly prized as love tokens.

Star of Deltora

 * Shadows of the Master
 * Two Moons
 * The Towers of Illica (mentioned)