While technology and magik abounds in places, the common people of
Khaas still possess tools little more complicated than mills powered by
water or the sweat of effort (usually slave driven). The plow is
utilized to break the ground, and a team of horses drives them. Some
regions are more advanced than others, and Bossalia, for instance, makes
wide use of steam driven energy to power their mills, mining, and some
military applications. In the Dreaming Isles, arcane magik has fashioned
animate plows to care for the terraced farming on the steep mountain
slopes, something they jealously guard. These exceptions are limited and
generally where the Guilds have low or little power to protect the
interests of those who fill their ranks. Aside from these niche places,
all efforts are individually powered, from planting to crafting, each
handmade, handcrafted, or worked.
The staple of the continent is wheat, grown in greater or lesser
amounts everywhere. With a short growing period and high food value, it
is the best crop to grow with few resources. Maize is a close second,
and thousands of vegetables are employed for food, as are fruits.
Orchards and vineyards are found in any favorable clime.
There are a variety of alcoholic beverages produced from fruits,
grains, honey, and dozens of other substances. Many of the more famous
or well-known ones are noted in the World Book of Khaas, Potables of
Khaas section. However, there are many others used commonly and less so
by the different societies of the world. While this varies on the
culture, most drink alcoholic beverages with meals such as wine or beer.
In the Misty Isles, a tea like concoction is preferred, though
alcoholic beverages are equally consumed. The Ghandamahli enjoy a thick
sugary drink instead, and typically abstain from alcohol with meals.
Meat animals are the thick and burly buffalo, power horn, an okapi
like animal with a large backwards sweeping horn, pigs, cows, chickens,
goats, sheep, and other domesticated and wild creatures. Several forest
and mountain animals are hunted for food, such as the Zindhettis, wild
Orns, Boru, Vexureye, and wild Goxtchli. Some of the more unique of
these animals are to be covered on the Bestiary pages.
Fish and shellfish are another important food supply. There are
numerous varieties, ranging from Silver-Humps to Mudders – so many as to
be impossible to list here. Both salt water and fresh water varieties
are eaten. Insects join this as an important food supply, and there are
over nine types of insect eaten, as well as fourteen types of seaweed, a
form of floating saltwater fungi called “Slickworm”, and numerous types
of sea vegetables.
Most cloth is made from plant or animal sources, though there are
other resources such as spider silk and Injuvik hair (a porcine animal
with hair instead of spines). The commonest variety of plant resources
is the Andivancol: a long stemmed plant that grows to heights of seven
to eight feet tall, similar to Earth’s stinging nettle, and grown
everywhere on Khaas. It is an excellent source for thread, cordage, and
cloth, and can be harvested for several years before replanting. Joining
it is hemp, another common plant resource for cloth, rope, and other
fibers. Aniuattus is an herbaceous plant with a fibrous stalk easily
split into ‘hairs’ usable as thread often used in the equatorial
regions. It is cool in hot climes, and doesn’t stick to the skin, making
it a favorite of those who dwell in such regions and among adventurers.
Furs are worn in places where the climate grows chill, and leather is
common to the wear of most nations. Spider silk cloth is a favorite of
the rich and the adventurer, who both prize it for its varied abilities
and resistance to wear.
Many metals are mined such as copper, lead, zinc, tin, silver, gold,
and iron. Valuable ores are mined where they are found in all the lands
of Khaas, except by those too primitive to excavate such materials.
Coal, guano, peat, groynee (a hard, brittle substance similar to bone in
texture that burns very hotly for a long period; also called
“beardbones”) are harvested also. Alloys such as bronze, copper, and
electrum are common as well. Most other minerals and stones common to
our own world are found in Khaas, though not all are known or used. Rock
salt, flint, marble, jade, obsidian, gypsum, sulfur, chalk, quartz,
tar, lime, coal, and peat are commonly used and traded commodities. All
the ‘civilized’ areas on Khaora have access to steelwork which is common
even in lands that eschew more innovative ideas, such as Ghandamahl, or
have descended into barbarism frequently in their past, such as the
Sandara.
Other Goods and Resources
Some 27 types of trees are commonly employed for timber or building.
One example is the hardwood Siugoal, a tree that is prized on the
eastern coast of Khaora for building, structures, and edifices.
Silverspring trees are valued for bow wood, and the heavy, hard, durable
wood of the Horndroop tree is used in shields, as well as bowls and
dishes due to its ability to resist cracking or leaking.
Mats, baskets, rugs, and some blankets are woven from grasses, reeds,
and a form of silken thread flax. The red coated flax is used primarily
in the common paper Khaasian scribes use to copy volumes. The few
printing presses in the land use specially pressed paper for their
purposes, though the few in existence are looked upon poorly by the
Guild of Scribes and the various Colleges, who see their existence as a
detriment to their livelihoods. Glassblower Guilds make hundreds of
types of glass, and the fracture cut glassware of the Dreaming Isles is
prized everywhere, along with the clear translucent wares of
Viruelandia. Clay is universally used for pottery and storage vessels,
and traders use great jars to transport oils, olives, wheat, wine, and
other perishables at sea.
Khaora is a land constantly in flux, and many of her people are less
tied to the land than most. While many of the continent’s inhabitants
are indeed bound to the land, harvest, or family, great numbers travel
the mountains, plains, and waterways of the continent. The bulk of these
people are the traders found so often traveling the lands, seeking to
ply their goods or services as they move from one place to another.
A multitude of roads exist across Khaora: some old and ancient,
harkening back to Kthoi times; others more recent, the engineering of
more modern builders. The older roads, with few exceptions, are
generally in poor state or cover only short distances, their reasons for
construction and destinations long gone. The two types of regular roads
seen across the continent are royal highways or secondary roads, both
usually built and maintained by the local government or nobility. These
roads are the primary means of travel across Khaora. The royal highways
are the primary roads in most lands, typically entirely paved with
cobblestones, slightly convex in shape, approximately twenty or so feet
in width, and mostly have drainage ditches. Bridges on these roads are
constructed with arched stone, if possible, wood trestle, or similar
construction if not. These structures vary somewhat due to local flavor,
but are the consistent standard. The roads are well maintained and kept
in excellent repair by local peasantry, convict work crews, or whatever
is acceptable to the local culture. Military patrols by regular troops
are frequent, and local militia units occasionally spot check sections
of the roads as well. All foliage is kept cleared back from the road by
at least 10 to 20 feet, and the terrain is graded where possible. The
various Guilds, ranging from the Porters to the Traders Guild, have a
vested interest in these roads especially, and are not above exerting a
little pressure on nobility and governments alike to ensure their
upkeep. Large cities tend to have the same type of internal road
surfaces, in whole or part in their treks. These tend to be thick with
traffic even at goods times.
Where these royal highways do not ply the land are secondary roads,
which bridge the gaps between towns, cities, and villages outside the
needs or desires of the local government. These roads are hard packed
dirt or gravel topped, typically 15 to 20 feet in width, and may or may
not have adequate drainage. Usually stretching into rural regions and
away from the primary urban centers, these roads are maintained almost
exclusively by the local nobility or similar social class. Any bridging
necessary varies widely in construction, though rarely of stone; wood
trestle bridges are the norm for such roads. Local troops and militia do
patrol these roads but not with the frequency of the royal highways.
Foliage is cleared away from the roads approximately three to five feet
and only cut back once per year. These roads, unlike the royal highways,
always confine their stretches to the terrain, going around hills or
low-lying areas.
Also worth mentioning are the tracks and paths crisscrossing all the
nations; they are used by locals, hunters, foresters, brigands, and the
occasional military patrols. These are not maintained by anyone, and
grow or die based on the needs of the region.
Most of the travel on Khaora is by foot. There are a variety of
steeds available to the traveler with coin, and Khaora hosts a plethora
of equines and like beasts, ranging the nearly never seen Orn to the
more common donkey. Traders across the land commonly employ ponies,
donkeys, and the like to move their goods; wagons are drawn by sturdy
oxen, horses, or other domesticated beasts. Travel by barge or boat on
the inland waterways is another easy and often traveled route – usually
by drifting with the waterway’s current. Air travel is much less common,
though griffon, Vord, pegasai, or other aerial steeds are available.
This mode of travel, as well as movement by magik, is quite hazardous,
and the perils greatly limit the use of such means or devices.
Business in Khaora is founded on capitalism. Commodities are produced
and sold directly to consumers or to merchants who would factor these
goods by shipping them to cities or to foreign shores. Trade requires
great skill in bargaining, and has led rise to a class of people in
Khaora who specialize in nothing more than journeying to far shores or
known paths to factor goods to those without.
More goods are transported over land than by sea. Sets of mule driven
carts or wagons are a common sight on the roads, and Traders ply the
known and secret ways in contest to see who can reach the buyer first.
Carriages are common on the roads, not to carry cargo, but are
extensively employed for passenger transport. Most nations have laws
allowing carriages right of way on roads, though often many will not
yield the road to a racing carriage out of spite or irritation during
the muddy seasons.
Sea travel is primarily of the coastal variety, though some, like the
Cirthian League and the Dreaming and Misty Isles, have sent ships far
out on the dangerous seas. The Rainbow Isles, Vargalla, and a few other
countries are equally as daring, sending transported goods to distant
ports.
Powerful affiliations of Traders banded together for mutual defense
and greater market penetration. The company will buy raw goods,
manufacture them, and send them to the best markets for the most
advantageous price. Companies tend towards either the private or open,
and those open allow any person or organization to invest funds in their
commercial enterprise without actually owning it. If a Trader factors
wares bought in Arduin and sold in Tharkhala, the investor makes money
based on the amount invested on the return of the Trader’s caravan. If
the venture loses money or does not return, the investor suffers the
loss of money. Many trading companies are ruthless, enforcing what is
best for them on their suppliers or buyers to the most extent possible.
All trading companies have a few things in common such as they have
hundreds of people working for them, including guards and spies. They
also tend to have offices in many countries and some influence on local
and regional politics, though more than one nation’s rulers view this as
an unwelcome influence. Lastly, they trade in all goods, but specialize
in certain, always needed, items such as food (fish, certain herbs,
etc), ships, milled goods, and so forth.
Nations impose a tariff on goods imported for sale. Once across the
border to a country, inspectors scrutinize goods and impress anything
from a half percent to over fifteen percent surtax on goods. The process
is always lengthy and costly, though with the proper ‘squeeze’, it
amazingly speeds up tremendously. Those nations who do not have an
organized customs scheme typically levy gate tolls, market fees, or some
other charge when a Trader sets up shop. These can include ‘squeeze’ to
local officials, the Guilds, gangs, and many other organizations or
officials.
Generally, people can engage in whatever endeavor they desire, as
long as it does not infringe on the Guilds’ areas of influence.
Entrepreneurialship is viewed favorably in most lands as long as
obeisance is given to the laws of the land and proper fees paid to the
Guilds that govern the industry. Small-scale ventures are frequently
overlooked, such as a good bow maker but better adventurer who
occasionally sells his bows in town, but should the same set up shop to
sell bows, then a visit from the Bowyers Guild is in order.
Lending money at fixed rates of interest is possible, though only
rarely in rural regions as it is the province of more urban areas. The
Multiversal Trading Post (MTP) is the largest progenitor of such, and
provides such services along with a modicum of banking and securities.
What banking is available is solely at a low early stage, and there is
no concept of modern banking or security. Aside from the MTP,
moneylenders also provide this surface for those who are in need of
quick funds or a short-term loan, usually for outrageous rates and the
promise of legal or physical difficulty should the person default or run
late in repayment.
Khaora has a bewildering number of monetary systems. While the barter
system is used and works for some areas, this method of transaction
does not work for trade in the larger expanse of Khaora. Hard currency
provides a stable method of exchange between cultures of differing views
or temperaments, and is the everyday medium of exchange for trade. The
most prominent of the monetary systems are presented at the back of the
World Book of Khaas in the appendixes. A majority of these pecuniary
systems are based on the gold standard. Some use silver, and others use
less common metals or gems, such as platinum, Silveel, or copper. Coins
come in a baffling collection of shapes, sizes, complexities, and
materials. The Arduinian gold sovereign is the standard, and is a small
gold heptagonal coin weighing but a few ounces. Due to the commercial
power Arduin exerts on trade, it has assumed prominence as the medium to
base other coinage against. More often than not, regardless of the
currency involved, it is the value of the metal, gem, or material the
coin is minted from which determines its value.
Nearly every moneychanger charges a fee to exchange foreign currency
into something more suitable to the local populace, and while the amount
can vary greatly depending on an area, one percent is the minimum.
Countries that restrict the usage of foreign currency tend to charge
more generous amounts, usually amounts of 7% to 15% of the value of the
base coinage. Local politics, racial bias, and a multitude of factors
influence these rates; a Deodanth will quickly find his coin is much
less valuable than the more accepted Hobbitt to his left.
