Unlike in the original Mount&Blade, Swadian lords in Mount&Blade: Warband are called counts. Swadia is the oldest faction in the game, as it has been around since version 0.202. As a starting point, the Kingdom of Swadia is profitable as it is close to all of the other factions. This means that you can easily venture into any other nation and buy goods, then return and sell them in any Swadian town. Swadian lands are relatively safe for trade routes, with the most common bandits being weak Forest Bandits and occasional Mountain Bandits near the river at the frontier with the Kingdom of Rhodoks. The downside of starting in Swadia is that it has no specially priced goods of its own.