Commerce

Rural Economy

Roughly 90% of the Continental population live in rural environments, and the rural economy relies on two pillars: agriculture and resource gathering. The former takes place in villages, some independent but mostly held in a pre-feudal arrangement wherein a local lord protects settlers in exchange for paid taxes or payments-in-kind. Resource gathering is a bit more perilous, as it requires labour to go where the resource may be found; this often means establishing (and defending) settlements along the frontier or even in the wilderness, with the added challenges of actually extracting the resource and shipping it for trade. Any settlement with a population below 1,000 is considered a village, and—adjusted for climate, terrain, and population size—is generally self-sufficient.

Urban Economy

The remaining 10% of the Continent’s population dwells in towns and cities. Having replaced farmland with construction, towns and cities feed off surrounding villages, which frees the inhabitants to engage in manufacture, essentially converting raw resources into tools, services, and luxuries. Selling these to the local population or trading them with other foreign markets is the foundation of the urban economy.

Guilds

The production of every manufactured good is managed by a guild of professional craftsmen experienced in a particular field, like weapon crafting, lapidary, innkeeping, or glassblowing for example. All guilds structure themselves similarly, with entry-level apprentices working under the tutelage of journeymen, all of whom are directed by guild masters. Beyond production, guilds engage in strict price-fixing to protect the market value of their goods, and all guild members are sworn to keep their methods and operations secret to nullify competition. For labour-intensive manufacturing, guilds hire unskilled workers who are similarly bound to secrecy, but these workers do not normally enjoy the benefits (or clout) of full guild members. Guilds subsidise merchant caravans to transport their wares, frequently pooling resources with other guilds that utilise the same trade routes. To help maintain their control over transport and commerce, guilds may hire mercenary companies to patrol trade routes, and all maintain guildhouses in towns and cities along the way, where guild members can expect food, shelter, and comradery.

Crime

Where there’s money, there’s crime. While bandits and highwaymen might prowl the trails outside the city, large criminal networks operate in the city itself. Large towns and cities, depending on size and wealth, support one or two thieves’s guilds, assassins’ guilds, or both. Urban criminals tend to be savvy, highly secretive, and well-connected to crime bosses, fixers, thugs, and (quite often) city officals and the watch.

Technical Advancement

Trid’s technology is analogous to 5th-century Earth and advances at a snail’s pace, primarily because humans spend the majority of their resources either securing their borders or advancing on someone else’s. During the Age of Fable, magic was the driving force behind such advancement, but in the Age of History, humans have only recently explored the fields of alchemy, engineering, mathematics, astronomy, and medicine through mundane means. Certain cultures, blessed with superior raw materials and sufficient social stability to invest in their technology, are known for particular advancements, as summarised below:

Territory	Known for	Notes
Sultanates	Midland steel	Export is forbidden
The Bannerlands	Alchemy	Monopolised by the Thaumaturge Guild
Sea Holds	Navigation, shipbuilding	Navigation tools usable only by licensed navigators
Austrus	Siege warfare, fortifications	Monopolised by the Makers’ Guild
Ostland	Silk, spices, engineering	Monopoly on silk