Trade and Economy

Though war is all too common, there is more to life in the Old World than the fury of Ulric. Men and women toil on their farms from Estalia to the eastern reaches of the Empire and as far as Kislev. Craftsmen work in the cities, taking raw goods and producing something useful for society, from soap to a fine suit of Marienburg mail. At great risk to themselves and their fortunes, merchants travel the trade routes that crisscross the lands, offering finished and raw merchandise to those with coin to spend or goods to trade.

Economic Processes
The Old World's economy relies on a distinct process. Raw goods are cultivated and sold to finishers who in turn sell to the population at large. Peasants toil in their fields to grow grains and vegetables, or they herd livestock, which they slaughter for meat and hides. When they cultivate their goods, they sell to finishers, such as leatherworkers and millers. Miners extract ore from the Middle Mountains and sell the raw stuff to metalsmiths, who in turn create weapons, armour, cutlery and jewellery. Most finishers sell their goods at the local level because few have the resources to move merchandise to different markets, and so they rely on merchants to move their finished products throughout the Old World.

Trade Routes
There are three major ways trade goods move through the Old World: the sea, the river, and land. River barges prove the most economical, as they can move goods faster than caravans, and they are safer, being mobile fortresses capable of repelling bandit attacks. All the waterways of the Old World see barges laden with goods from all over, traveling from one city to the next. The Great Ocean is treacherous because of Sartosan Pirates and Araby Corsairs who prey on fat Bretonnian Merchant Ships and Tilean barges. The waters are so dangerous, even the superior warships can do little against the fleets of pirates who make it their business to sack cargo ships for the treasures carried.

Dry caravans, usually great trains of wagons, travel the many roads in between the centres of civilisation as well. Most of these heavily-guarded wagons see some combat on their journeys, and rare is the caravan who does not spend at least a portion of its travels on a river barge.

The most famous trade route is the Silver Road. This route connects the nations of the Old World to distant Ind and Cathay. Few caravans braving the long journey survive the hordes of Hobgobla-Khan that prey upon them. But because a single trip can make a person wealthy enough to live the rest of his days as a lord, many brave the uncharted wilderness between the west and the distant east.

Trade Goods
Though Marienburg and Kislev's Erengrad are powerful trade centres in the Old World's economy, the Empire is the largest producer and consumer. The Empire overshadows the Estalian Kingdoms, Bretonnia, and even the cutthroat merchants of Tilea, and all merchant houses consider the Empire in their dealings and negotiations. The economic centres of the Old World follow.


 * Altdorf
 * Marienburg
 * Nuln

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