5.a Notes on currency and the economy by Rachel Ferucci
According to Gorn1 there are many dwarven banking clans but in the east Clan Silvermount (aete Silfrfjall in Dwarvish) is preeminent. Exiled from the Dwarfmounts for unknown reasons the Second Empire gave them a monopoly on minting coins. And though the Empire fell thousands of years ago the currency they produce, known as dwarfmarks (Deorfmarkun in Low Imperial) or Marks in human lands is still commonly used. While they are only silver; the magical runes on the coins make them nearly indestructible and so they remain in circulation for centuries, or even millennia.
The coins are rare enough that they’re a relatively high denomination; so most nations mint their own coins as well. But the limited supply of new coins and strict fiscal policies of the Silfrfjall make marks an extremely reliable reserve currency. There is no risk of the coins being alloyed with base metals or being minted underweight and supply is limited to the point where inflation is nearly non-existent. As coins are lost during various disasters there is still demand for a supply of new coins to enter the economy; but the runes used to make the coins need to be hand carved so supply is limited to a few thousand every year.
The economy itself is advanced for a primitive society. Items created by master craftsmen are magical by definition. It might take months for a master smith to make a new plough. So ploughs are worth hundreds of marks. A farmer might make a dozen marks a year. But as the ploughs are magic they remain in farming families for centuries and the debt is passed on down through the generations.
Many banks exist to loan money in these situations. Though most human banks use dwarven banking clans as reserve banks due to the stability of the dwarven banking system. There are even times when a human run bank collapses a dwarven bank will act as an intermediary to exchange the debt owed to the bank to other banks in their network.
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1 Gorn isn’t an expert on trade or finance and Rachel Ferucci is interpreting our systems in terms of her birth world. There are many flaws in this treatise; but the core argument is much more elaborate than any work a scholar of our world would produce. We must look into finding scholars willing to innovate on this field Rachel Ferucci calls economics.
5.b Alchemist Aelfric’s price list found in Simon Leclerc’s notebook.
Potion of minor healing 5 marks
Potion of moderate healing 30 marks
Potion of major healing 120 marks
Potion of barkskin 15 marks
Potion of stoneskin 90 marks
Potion of ironskin 300 marks
Potion of levitation 15 marks
Potion of flight 60 marks
Potion of many tongues 60 marks
Potion of cure minor disease 10 marks
Potion of cure moderate disease 70 marks
Potion of cure major disease 300 marks
Potion of invisibility unavailable without permission from the council
Can make on request given a week’s notice
Potion of waterbreathing, potion of greater flight, potion of lesser restoration, potion of lesser regeneration and many, many more.