Celtricia- The Economy of the CradleLands

[LordVreeg]

I've always done a good amount of research and put a lot of effort into making the economies of Celtricia make some logical sense.
I've been redoing this and adding on.  Figured I'd thread it and get some feedback from the brilliant ones within the CBG

[LordVreeg]

What is Money Worth
More on the Economy of the CradleLands

[LordVreeg]

from above...some of this has been in the site for a while, other parts are new.


More on the Economy of the Cradle  



The Electrum Standard and the Economy of the CradleLands
How is money used and played in Celtricia?  What is common to find, what types of coins and how are transactions handled?  Especially in the Cradle area, which includes Trabler, Orbi, and the plutocratic BrightLands.

The northern celtrican cradle is based on the Electrum standard, in that an unskilled villein's work is worth an electrum coin per day. In a city like Igbar, the electrum standard still holds true. Igbarian Drafted soldiers are recompensed an electrum goodwife a day, as well, though this may take a while to catch up to them.

So, in terms of the electrum standard, thes minted coins of Trabler, and the worth of money in most systems,  (please note the inhabitants do NOT normally mention the metal when discussing money.  They call them Goodwives or trips or horn...)
 

100 Copper Strips=

10 Silver Children=

1 Electrum Goodwife=

1/2 Gold Horn=

1/10 Platinum Unicorn.

 

In terms of the total economy, that electrum per day signifies the absolute lowest end of the pay scale, one certainly that is in the poverty range.  Unfortunately, there are many laborers in every city that earn this or less.  While this is the low end, a very large part of the population cannot move past this level.

 

The Scarlet Pilum's Militia pay their beginning recruits 13 silver children a day, and a buck seargent makes 3-5 Goodwives a day.   Remember that the military houses and feeds these people, as well.  There is no tax on income in Trabler or the Grey March, so I always use a rule of thumb for income only think of an electrum as being 50 american dollars. It's 6.25 per hour in todays world (literally.  50 dollars a day, *5 days, *52 weeks is 13k per year. 250 for a week/40 hours is 6.25).  It is also very important that the normal Celtrician Work week is 5.5 days in town of the 8 day hawaak, though that is for the upper working class.  Business owners and blue collar workers put in 7 out of 8 days (reserving Fastak only), and the truly poor of course work everyday.

So the most common coin in the central Cradle are is the electrum goodwife, followed by the silver Child, followed by the Gold Horn, followed by the copper Strip. Bars, restaurants, and most normal businesses use Electrum Goodwives and Silver Children almost exclusively.  Northern use the Orbic or Marcher coinage more often.  Though I still price things in my head automatically in gold, I have gotten better at responding to all price inquiries in terms of Goodwives, when they are speaking to a merchant. After once glass of wine too many, it gets hard, but answering that 'a new suit of Studded Leather will cost a hundred Goodwives, less 19 goodwives for the ripped-up old suit you are trading in' is the way to go.

It also important to take a partially Age of Reason, partially gilded age approach to money, in that there is a tremendous range of incomes, a tremendous range of prices, and a lot of people trying to make money.  At first glance, those two time periods are far apart, but the cradle area of Celtricia has a huge lower and lower middle class, a new and growing middle class, but still, 95% of the wealth of the world is placed in 1% of the population.

So while 750 Goodwives in a  year is the low end for a houshold income in Trabler, the actual average Household income is probably around 1800 goodwives.  Furthermore, in Igbar , it is probably closer to 2500 goodwives of actual income per family due to the communication, the proximity to trade, and the concentration of Factions.  Understand that in the math, the paragraph above affects this average.

And if an 'average' family makes 55-56 goodwives in a hawaak, that means someone making 100 goodwives in a hawwak is pretty well off, and a shopkeeper who makes 150-200 goodwives a hawaak is doing very well.  A lesser landed nobleman who has estates might find his estate income nets him 400-1500 goodwives a hawaak, if it is well run and profitable, and the ROI for a large caravan can be a loss, up to 100,000 Goodwives.

These numbers are most useful to a GM when a group of PC's wander into Igbar or SteelIsleTown with 500, 2000, even 5000 goodwives a piece.

There are flophouses in Igbar, places where a bed is paid for by the night, where they pack 6-10 beds in a room and charge between 5 copper strips and a silver child per bed per night. A crappy room rented for a hawwak (the eight day week) near the docks will be a 10-15 Silver children for the week (1-1.5 electrum goodwives).

A decent Teque Guild Inn rents rooms (with 2 beds) for 5-10 silver Children per night, Hostem's House of Hospitality has rooms from one to seven Goodwives a night, and the Upper Crust's room rates are between ten and forty goodwives a night.
 

Slavery, officially, was outlawed in most of the cradle lands over the last four or five hundred years (excepting The Argussian areas), but indenture to a guild is still common, and the poor often work decades to pay back their indenture fees to the guilds before making any profit.

 

Renting a small apartment for the 60 day month in a poor section of town will be 30-40 Goodwives.  A middle level apartment would be 50-75 goodwives for the same period.  Renting a $2500-$5000 a month luxury apartment would be 100-200 goodwives per 60 day month.

How much does a backpack cost? A decent one runs 1-2 goodwives.  A Tunic? A basic homespun cloth one is 2 silver children, a nice one in a shop maybe 4-7 silver children. Nicer cloth or embroidery will be 5-12 silver children. Silk or Samite? Now we are talking the same range, but in Goodwives. Sharma's Dresssmakers, part of the Vissippe Trading guild, can get 40+ Goodwives for a dress.

Property is huge. Owning (deeded) property is gigantic. Buying an acre of farmland in Igtiche (the farming community just outside of Igbar) runs about 1000 Goodwives, though property is normally done in Gold Horn or in Writs of Worth ensured by one of the banks, so it would be 500 horn. With a little farmhouse, maybe 1000 Horn, though these do not count the administrative fees and bribes.  A two-story house in Igbar would run between 4000 and 10000 gold horn, in one of the medicore neighborhoods, maybe a tiny bit less in SteelIsleTown.  That would be the equivalent of buying a brownstone today in an up and coming area.  Understand that a Mansion on the Upper Hill in Steel Isle Town, with the 6 acres,on Benevolunti Street just sold for 269k Horn.

Adventuring may be profitable, but surviving it costs a ton. Magic and artificed items cost a fortune, since they are rare, and are normally handles in Gold Horn. It is all based on the cost of the spell. Buying a casting only scroll costs normally 25 gold horn(50 electrum Goodwives) a spell point, and a learning scroll will cost approximately 35 gold horn (70 electrum Goodwives) per spell point. Cantrips have 5-10 total spell points, so that should give some idea why magic is where the cast is at. Brother's cure (cures 2-7, can be used once per hawaak) has a total cost of 15 spell points, which means 400 gold horn for a casting scroll, or 525 gold horn for a learning scroll, or more than most succesful shopkeepers make in a hawaak.  

 

The casting scroll cost is also normally equivalent to the cost of having a spell cost, so you can see how expensive spells might be for the population at large to purchase.

 

Potions have the same effect as scrolls, only since anyone can use them, they cost 50 gold horn per spellpoint cost. A potion of Brother's Cure would cost 750 gold Horn, if there is anyplace selling.  And this is the most common type of potion.  Please notate that the cost is comparable to an acre of farmland...

[LordVreeg]

Hmm.  Lack of interest in the economy?

Do I have to create a minor deity of cardsharping and willful ignoring named Twistsparkle?

[Nomadic]

Well here's a question for you. How does magic affect your economy? I know you have a variety of spells that can be used to make a great deal of money and I imagine celtricia has no lack of clever magicians who are aware of this. Furthermore how does the economy regarding scrolls, potions, and items work? These are obviously rare and expensive things and something that can be made is probably made on an item by item basis (starting with a quote for the cost of the commissioned item). Is there a black market for such things? I imagine they're sought after heavily and a thief who can loot even a single magic scroll would probably feel like a king. And imagine if he stole something like a magic staff, he wouldn't just feel like a king he could probably live like a king (for awhile at least).

Anyhow that's just me talking from past experience regarding the value of such things.

[CoyoteCamouflage]

On a lesser basis from Nom's points, I have a few quick queries. Now, finance is pretty bloody far from being one of my strengths, so I'm mostly pulling from what I've encountered in other settings.

1. Is barter used with any degree of prominence? I've run into more than a few situations where it has not appeared, even though it seemed a natural fit. Personally, I find settings where there is a lesser quantity of physical money to go around tends to demonstrate it the best. Something of a silly question, I know, but if merchants are fined for taking payment in other coinage, then what about bartering for goods or services? One step further-- why can't they simply take foreign coinage and melt it down? What does the coinage represent that would differ from its physical worth to prevent something like this?

2. Other forms of money. Does everyone, everywhere use metal-based coinage? What about paper money? Cowry Shells? Pretty stone like Jade or other common earth minerals? Teef? What's stopped such implementations from appearing?

3. I also think you need to define the poverty level a bit more. I mean, is the economy ever in flux? Is there any time when 1 Goodwife/day is NOT below the poverty line? What is the standard of living in various places like? Has there been inflation or otherwise any kind of devaluing of currency? Does the coin represent an established stock-- such as a gold/electrum/platinum reserve, or is everything simply managing a base, unchanging value for the metal present in the coins? You mention that 1 Electrum is worth about 50 USD. Is that current time? What would that worth be in, say, 1950s America? The same? Less? More?

[LordVreeg]

Well here's a question for you. How does magic affect your economy? I know you have a variety of spells that can be used to make a great deal of money and I imagine celtricia has no lack of clever magicians who are aware of this. Furthermore how does the economy regarding scrolls, potions, and items work? These are obviously rare and expensive things and something that can be made is probably made on an item by item basis (starting with a quote for the cost of the commissioned item). Is there a black market for such things? I imagine they're sought after heavily and a thief who can loot even a single magic scroll would probably feel like a king. And imagine if he stole something like a magic staff, he wouldn't just feel like a king he could probably live like a king (for awhile at least).

Anyhow that's just me talking from past experience regarding the value of such things.

Such things do happen, but the person who can readily steal from a person powerful enough to create even scrolls is rare, indeed.
Scrolls do carry the tag of their maker, and a maker can track his or her artifices items of any sort.  Few thieves have a patron strong enough to hide from this that would need to steal said items.

On the other hand, this also defines the reason folks adventure and search out objects of worth, especially magic.  A potion of Borther's Cure may cost 2k to buy, and may sell on the grey market for 700 Horn.  But that is still the amount of money made by a wealthy merchant in a hawaak...

[LordVreeg]

On a lesser basis from Nom's points, I have a few quick queries. Now, finance is pretty bloody far from being one of my strengths, so I'm mostly pulling from what I've encountered in other settings.

1. Is barter used with any degree of prominence? I've run into more than a few situations where it has not appeared, even though it seemed a natural fit. Personally, I find settings where there is a lesser quantity of physical money to go around tends to demonstrate it the best. Something of a silly question, I know, but if merchants are fined for taking payment in other coinage, then what about bartering for goods or services? One step further-- why can't they simply take foreign coinage and melt it down? What does the coinage represent that would differ from its physical worth to prevent something like this?

2. Other forms of money. Does everyone, everywhere use metal-based coinage? What about paper money? Cowry Shells? Pretty stone like Jade or other common earth minerals? Teef? What's stopped such implementations from appearing?

3. I also think you need to define the poverty level a bit more. I mean, is the economy ever in flux? Is there any time when 1 Goodwife/day is NOT below the poverty line? What is the standard of living in various places like? Has there been inflation or otherwise any kind of devaluing of currency? Does the coin represent an established stock-- such as a gold/electrum/platinum reserve, or is everything simply managing a base, unchanging value for the metal present in the coins? You mention that 1 Electrum is worth about 50 USD. Is that current time? What would that worth be in, say, 1950s America? The same? Less? More?

Celtricia and her Cradlelands closest philosophical/economic closest real-world analogue would be the Age of Reason.
"The Countries of Trabler and the Bright Lands might be best compared to the Dutch Republic as it moved towards its zenith, with the strong local governments and the plutocratic emphasis.  Gunpowder has not been created due to the availability of magic.  This availability eventually created a fairly modern approach to trade, fully backed by insurance, speculation, guilds and even corporations recently. The Grey March may feature the public wearing of togas, but their enlightened republic, complete with seperate powers of elected Consuls and the Courts of Reason and freedom of religion and emphasis on the rights and responsibilites of the individual, has nothing to do with medieval Europe. So while technology as we view it on Earth is little advanced in Celtricia, magic has advanced far enough that culture, philosophy, communication, monetary policy and political science would be more analogous to our Age of Reason and the follwing Age of Elightenment.  Even in terms of gender equality, Magic has acted as an equalizer."
1) So to the first, Barter is used regularly by traders and guilds as it cannot be taxed the same way.  Igbar, Orbi, Argus, The Grey March, and of course the Bright Lands all have transaction taxes based on the amount of money spent; and so barter is used to avoid taxation regularly (with Orbi having specific rules as to the bartering of magic and the Bright Lands having time limits and contracts also under the tranaction taxes).
The coinage systems are still based on the idea of 'Commodity Money', in that the value of the coin is based on the weight of it and the value of the base metal.  Becasue of this, it is illegal to melt down coinage and the guilds involved with mining and smithing are carefully watched and oathbound.

2) The above pretty much describes where money and the value is derived. Paper money only exists as 'writs of Worth' based on the coinage supply in a bank (the Bank of Stenron being the largest).

3) This is a good question.  I am actually hyper-sensitive to the affects of inlfation in an area; in Igbar and Miston both the prices have a multiplier often based on the adventuring, mercantlie atmoshphere, and war.  Miston's economy is totally fubar, with a 1.4 modifier (per my current notes) on all goods and the cost of building cotracting being at 2.5 the normal cost, due to the size of the town (4k people in the whole region, including 900 military) and the influx of wealth from the players in that area.
Understand also that economic theory is thousands of years old; so the bankers, the merchant guilds, and the governments work closely to try to keep prices fixed and stable...they actually are very self aware of the effects of magic and trade.

[Xathan]

I'd love to be able to have a comment to help here, but trying to understand finances makes my eyes water and gives me a headache. Just wanted to give you some major props for putting this much effort into an often ignored portion of settings that, while might not be everyone's cup of tea, is one of those things that even if the players are only vaguely aware of has the benefit of making the world feel more real and increases immersion.

Also, sorry if I overlooked this, but do you have a "for dummies cliffnotes" version of the economic stuff anywhere? For us economic morons.

[LordVreeg]

I'd love to be able to have a comment to help here, but trying to understand finances makes my eyes water and gives me a headache. Just wanted to give you some major props for putting this much effort into an often ignored portion of settings that, while might not be everyone's cup of tea, is one of those things that even if the players are only vaguely aware of has the benefit of making the world feel more real and increases immersion.

Also, sorry if I overlooked this, but do you have a "for dummies cliffnotes" version of the economic stuff anywhere? For us economic morons.

No 'For Dummies' version, merely a lot of historical study about money.  Much as I have tried to model many of the facets of Celtricia as the effect of her magic and the presence of some level of divinity on society, and the type of philosophical and lifestyle changes that would result, so to has the effect that it would have on money and the worth of things.
I did do a lot of study on the history of guilds, organizations and corporations, and when they started to rival countries as entities, and the effects this wealth had on the world, as well as the effects of communications.
I get a little too into this.  

[LordVreeg]

More on the Economic issues of the CradleLands, with a page on the http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/14956533/Trade%20Guilds%20of%20Igbar.

in plain text here, and without all the links.

Merchant Guilds and the Economy

The trading syndicates and old families are another power-center, in truth equal in all ways to the government and the churches, yet intertwined.

Almost all of the trade in the area is controlled by one of these groups, and they gather at the 'Grounds of Dismissal', Bannetti's Kaffee emporium in the middle of the city. As in almost any population, the Trading Families and consortiums are not separate from the other political forces; rather they are intertwined with them. The older families may sometimes decry the rise of the merchant class, but it has been a case of sink-or-swim, and the benefits to the Istar that have adapted and the city in general are plain to see. A visitor to the 'Grounds' can barely see the old coffee shop in what has become, in three human generations, almost a city block of mercantile activity. The Vissipee Family, the Winfire Consortium, and the Sceding Tree Associates are the three major speculators, with the Pen-Wiggle Bankers and The Respitar Caravan Masters right behind them, and most of the lesser syndicates and guilds fall in line behind them in some form of allegiance.




Igbar has some natural advantages that have allowed it's economy to thrive. It's geography places it in between Argus and the southern states and the Plutocracy of the Bright Lands and the northern powers, which makes it a natural portage. It is a now large population center, and has a huge farming industry due to the Tiche Fields to the immediate east of the town. On the higher end, Igbar's nearness to the fabled Herb Lands make it the absolute pinnacle of the apothecarian world.  



To really understand the groundswell of these guilds, as well as the general standard of living in Igbar, one must understand what money is actually worth. Allegiance to a guild can easily double the worth of labor through preferential contracts, access to the Istar, or partnership with a caravan guild. To put it another way; the question is not whether an Igbarian belongs to a Guild, but which ones.



More traditional businesses are present, as well. Woodworkers have 3 expert guilds, one specifically for Cabinets and dressers. This is the WoodenVenture, still without major guild affiliation. Coopers are needed, with all the beverage work, and there are no fewer than 8 ceramics shops, 3 in the Rip-Cut Crucible Ward.

The Dockside has six major ship builders, as well as dozens of vessel brokers, warehouses, grainhouses, and sailmakers. There is the Ship Raiser's Guild, as well as the Crestpath Navigators, the Bortion Mappers, and the BlueCity Steerage, as well.

Recently the Teque Guild of Travelers has allied with the Sceding Tree, and the inns and trading posts that they run are suddenly very well stocked, except the price of the Vneersberry wine is through the roof...maybe because the Vissippees have the hold on it. The Cowel Family Traders, who specialize in herbs and Medicines, Keluman Associates, who specialize in Leather goods, and the Fennarian Specialties, who traffic in rare reagents, are all examples of lesser trading guilds that owe fealty to one of the 'Big Three'. There are over three dozen major Trading Guilds of decent size in Igbar, as well as even more smaller operations trying to build themselves up, and their allegiance is only to the gold horn.

The Northern stables are being shared by "Rensalet's Mounts" (a Sceding Tree affiliate) and "the Breeding Hoof" (a Winfire subset), and though there are 6 major horse and mount breeders, this closeness has started a bit of an arms race.

Also recently, the Church of the Green Mother (Vernidale) has virtually shut down access to the Herb Lands, which is a major source of wealth for many guilds. Is this an economic move or a religious one? A power grab? This is the subject of many a debate, song, or disagreement.


The schools of magic also are a source of wealth and trade; as the major souce of same for hundreds of miles in any direction. Magic has a high price, but the lesser magics are an understood cost for farming communes, travelers, and those who make vioence their career.


The Unicorn State is also loathe to lose this large tax base. Trabler, as mentioned, taxes the sale of luxury goods at 25% when sold by individuals and 10% when sold in bulk as part of a syndicate-backed official caravan. Staples such as food are taxed at 5%.

As with most administrations, The Unicorn Court is aware of the need to promote commerce and increase the mercantile attitude, while simultaneously not giving too much power to the burgeoning merchant class.