Game Mode: Normal; completely vanilla

I've been paying a new game for several in-game days and thought that it was odd that Wandering Traders never seemed to spawn with the consistency that they have in my past games.  While re-building a nearby village, I went down to a cave directly below it and noticed a lot of Trader Llamas and even some dropped leads & figured out that the Wandering Traders are spawning underground…even when I'm above ground.

I also think that this might be linked to the greater scarcity of Pillager patrols as I've been play for 50+ in-game days & have yet to see any.