I decided to flesh out the different economies of the various nations. I
started with an assumption that three things would govern relations in a
given nation. The climate, the geography, and the dominant religion. So,
for the Brecht, I looked at cold winters and hot summers, a mountainous
terrain, and the influence of Sera. And so for each nation. Here is what I
came up with.

I`ll mention the Vos first, because they don`t really have an economic
theory. They have a social theory with economic implications, but they
don`t value production itself. Their economic ideas focus on distribution,
mostly through raiding. They seem to produce slightly (or even well) below
a subsistance level, and make up the difference in raiding or hunting. When
they don`t make up the shortfall, the weak are left to starve. Tools are
mostly poor in quality, very few in number, and this means that the
technology for producing weapons and armor is pretty rare in Vos lands. Any
smith capable of making a master work weapon is probabaly what the vikings
called a "famous smith". A far larger source of masterwork weapons is
probabaly the Brecht. As I will detail later, the Brecht probably produce a
lot of masterwork weapons. Land is probabaly poorly maintained, little
investment is made in infrastructure, and hence, the Vos are probabaly
semi-nomadic, villages moving every several years.

Anuire is a warm, well watered land, mostly flat with and ideally suited for
agriculture. Haelyn`s ideology supports a flat social structure in which
most people are probabaly yeoman farmers. Haelyn`s ideology also supports
stability. All this considered, Anuire is probabaly dominated by a form of
the manorial system. Private ownership will be weak, ownership will be
strongly communal, and tools and animals will be shared by customary
regulation. Carl Cramér`s post contrasting our atomistic society with a
more organic society goes to the heart of Anuire. A strong element of
justice will influence economic thinking in Anuire, emphising fair access
and reciprocity to a great degree. Two smiths of vastly different skill
might still get the same amount of work from the community because it is not
just for one man to starve while another man profits. A look around Anuire
may reveal that most common tools are not masterwork, and that only the
Rjurik and Vos have fewer masterwork tools. Tools will be loaned and
borrowed by custom, and it will be an injustice not to loan a required tool.
Equity is the end result. Most individuals probably have very similar
standards of living, because those who are able are required to assist those
who are in need. This is both just, but it is embeded in the principle of
chivalry. The strong protect the weak. It is a duty.

In non-peer relations differences certainly exist. The noble is clearly
wealthier than the farmer. However, the principle of justice remains. The
lord is obligated to protect his tenents (renting freemen) from crime,
invasion, and hardship. In addition to providing courts for justice and
embracing the knighly life style to be ready to repell invaders, the
Anuirean lord also regulates economic activity to promote equity and also
stability.

Stability, along with justice, is a core element of Haelyn`s ideology. This
will be served by some attention to sustainable practice (though not nearly
to the extent that the Rjurik do, following Erik`s teaching). It will be
served by the managed cooperation just discussed. But mostly it will be
served by constantly putting as much of the surplus back into the economy as
possible in the form of infrastructure and improvements. The Anuirean
emphisis on equity and stability will tend to undermine its productivity.
In terms of return on investment, Anuire probabaly produces substantially
less than the Brecht and noticably less than the Khinasi. However, the land
is rich, well watered, warm, and flat, so in terms of final income, the
Anuireans do about the same as everyone else. The emphisis certainly is not
on making a profit, it is on taking care to see that everyone has what the
need, and that it will be this way for a long time. Its just, orderly, and
stable, and it achives this by regulation, law, and custom.

Towns in Anuire are more administrative centers than elsewhere. Trade
comprises a smaller share of the town`s life. Courts, archives, chanceries,
and officials play a much larger role in urban life in Anuire than they do
in other nations.

In Rjurik lands, the teachings of Erik hold sway, and that means a focus on
sustainability as the highest goal, and little desire to maximize
productivity. Where Anuire puts the needs of the community above those of
the individual, Rjurik puts the needs of nature before the individual. As
the Rjurik say, this orchard will produce as much and as good for my great,
great grandson son as it does for me. The land is cold much of the year,
although the land is flat and well watered. The Rjurik suffer from a lack
of tools, materials, and skills. Their focus on the preservation of the
land tends to prevent them from becoming more effecient users of the land.
Rjurik tool makers are sometimes quite good, but the good ones are too few,
and there is no great plentitude of tool makers over all. While some of
this might be overcome by an Anuirean focus on cooperation, sharing, and
mutual assistance, Erik demands that each individual be capable of fending
from himself. As such tools are often absent, or of inferior quality
because each household is limited to its own resources. As a result, while
craft and profession skills are sometimes wanting, survival skills
compensate.

Druids over see the use of the land, by far the largest economic activity in
Rjurik. They make sure that resources are not exploited beyond their
natural replacement rate. Since labor is relativly ineffecient, unskilled,
and under-equipt, and the population is lower than in Anuire, a greater
proportion of food comes from animal husbandry. Animals require more space,
but less labor. Instead of a steward (the Anuirean office), the Rjurik have
a hlaford - the keeper of the loaves.

In Brecht lands, as I have mentioned, the land is cold in winter, and hot in
summers, well watered on the windward sides of slopes, but too dry leeward.
The land is not very flat, so climate and terrain conspire against the
Brecht. Agriculture is less of a focus here, and because of Sera`s
teachings, wealth is sought through trade. So, there is a great emphisis on
productivity. The best farmers get the best land, the best craftsmen get
the best tools, the best is matched with the best to maximize yields of any
resource. It is by this means that the Brecht make a living comperable to
Anuire or Khinasi despite their meger capital. As you might have noticed,
there is little concern for equity. Just as the best is matched with the
best, the worst is left for the worst. This produces a large class of
landless, semi-employed urban beggers. This class is a rich source of
rogues. The Brecht call the idle beggers, the "luckless".

Lady Luck is fickle. This view tends to mitigate against heavy investment
in long term projects, especially long term projects with low returns. The
Brecht want the fast thaler, the quick turn around, or at least the prospect
of a big score. They extract wealth, they don`t invest it. An Anuirean
lord might build a bridge, not because it will increase wealth, but because
his people need a bridge there. Further, she will build it in stone,
because a lady who thinks in terms of stability builds in materials that
will last. A Brecht owner (land is property in Brectuer, a resource for
individual use) may not build a bridge even if it would produce wealth, if
the return on investment isn`t either substantial or quick. After all, he
may sell the estate to buy a ship and be selling quality woolens in Rjurik
ports in a few years.

While infratructure investments are neglected, tools are definitly not. The
return on investment in quality tools is easily observable, so everyone
wants the best that their money can buy. As a result, masterwork tools are
more common in Brecht lands than anywhere else. Brecht craftsmen and
professionals also strive to have as high a skill as they can manage. Skill
Mastery is a common feat. Key skills are max`ed out, and specialization of
labor helps to facilitate focus on just a few skills.

While in Anuire they have a plentitude of tools (probabaly more tools than
anywhere), in Brectuer they have the best tools. Skill and masterwork tools
spell rapid manufacture, high volume, keeping overhead low, and more profit
for the master craftsmen. Brecht merchants find no difficulty selling such
high quality wears. The result is that a fairly narrow base of wealth is
exploited more thoroughly than other societies. Their government is of the
merchants, by the merchants, and for the merchants.

Avani, as goddess of reason, favors a rational approach to competing
economic values. The result is a shifting emphasis based on a rational
assessement of conditions. As rationalists, the long term is strongly
valued. The lands of the Khinasi are hot, and poorly watered. More than
anyone other than the Vos, the Khinasi have the worst land upon which to
base an economy. Their saving grace, however, is their intelligent use of
what they have. They can look to sustainability, equity, stability, and
productivity and make a rational judgement about where to apply themselves.

Because of the poor climate, agriculture is a poor livelihood. Nomadic
grazing and caravan trade are more common and more lucrative. As such
farming is given little esteem, while traveling commerce is greatly
esteemed. The travelling merchant has opportunities to see new things,
learn about the world, encounter new ideas, and purchase books, art, and
strange products. Other than the dedicated scholar or wizard, the caravan
merchant is ranked as possibly the most respected profession. The Khinasi
are more willing to make investments than anyone, except the Anuireans.
However, much of their land will not benifit from improvements. They value
skills, but their interest is less practical and more knowledge oriented. A
Brecht craftsmen may know little more than the best techniques to craft an
item that will command a high market value. The Khinasi craftsmen is also
quite capable, but also knows the history of his craft, the role of his
craft in the broader society, and may know about how his craft is performed
in foriegn lands. So the Khinasi tend to be second, behind the Brecht, in
terms of their quality goods, but they also see the value in having enough
tools for everyone, poverty being irrational.

Kenneth Gauck
kgauck@mchsi.com

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