Navlad Economy

Overview Thoughts
Trade in the empire. Much fun. Not only are there people trying to get things from one place to another, there are people trying to get IDEAS from one place to another. Guess that needs to go under communications and how computer systems work? Anyways. Trade. There are basic things. Things people need to survive. Food. Water, Air, Shelter. And then there are the things we like, but don’t really need. Or things that are related to what we need for survival, but are tangential, or extra, or flourishes. Things like wine, candy, etc. Water is good for hydration. Wine and other fermented drinks are intoxicants and diaretics. So the fruits that are fermented would be special from planet to planet. Native over imports. Nothing is introduced to a new planet in the way of crops without a plan for separating it from the local ecosystem. Growing trays of various depths for things that don’t have massively complicated roots systems, for example. Those trays will probably be made in system, possibly 3D printed. In orbit? There are a limited number of things allowed to be manufactured from non-growing organic materials. The idea is to keep as much food growing on an Ajiri planet as possible, and as much plastics, smelting, large industrial stuff off planet. Limited MINING on a planet, and only for what might be local variations of gemstones. That’s the ideal at least. In practice, there are illegal operations everywhere, and more and more systems are looking to use what they can of their Ajiri planets as they get cut off. If a planet itself is cut off from its space/manufacturing support, then there are issues there too. They slide back down the technological scale. Since most power supply is made off planet and shipped in, they don’t mine coal or oil or even have to cut much lumber. In fact, what they cut for lumber is mainly furniture, decorative, uses. Smoking meat maybe. And building in places. So yes, I guess there is a lumber industry. But they don’t NEED it for heating. And since the population is relatively low, and not at all concentrated in timber heavy locations, there’s not as much of an impact. A lot of what their forebears had as ideas about land usage has stuck a lot better than it might have. Partly because of the Ancestor worship, partly because it’s such an ingrained habit. So. Food. Exports are things that come off trees, because it’s hard to grow a large fruit bearing plants in hydroponics, along with stations being specifically designed NOT to let that work. Fruit, grain, fungus, leafy greens, etc. As much native as possible. Fermented, spices, canned, dried, etc are all relatively easy to get off world. Fresh veggies are harder. Native animals are more valued off world than domestics or import. Very much location based, which ups the uniqueness of a thing. A plant that only grows in this part of the hemisphere or continent, an animal native to that forest or a fish (like the paddlefish) that’s only found in a couple of rivers. Meat is usually dried, frozen, or otherwise processed. Locals can sell game meat, if they can get it to market. The further the seller is from a large market hub, the higher the price he can get for it, and the higher the price later people get. Market hubs were supposed to occur organically. There are four or five (Depending on land masses) tropical ports on any planet, Ajiri or not. Atmo travel isn’t an availability for all trips (launch assist? The equivalent of tugs?) Things like growing trays, power packs, synthcloth, etc, comes down on a drop ship. No point in leaving atmo empty, so they bring other good back UP. Mass produced foodstuffs, machine woven cloth(?), etc. Things that are organic in nature. Many people try to get their cut of the stuff headed for space stations BEFORE it makes it out of port. Locals at least. Or else they shun the products made for the Industrial places and use local stuff entirely. Handwoven, not mass produced clothing, etc. Synthfabric is made off world and is often seen as something for the masses/bluecollar people. Organic fabrics are a luxery, and many very rich people choose to live on an Ajiri planet. Some who are really rich or noveu rich will live on a space station and flaunt the fact that they can afford so much Ajiri product.

The northern/southern poleward market hubs are intermediary stops for some of the goods as they come in from the outlying areas. Some traders will go to those (more in Syrus’ time than Jossa’s) to get good before they get marked up. Special permits are needed to carry various goods, especially perishables or liquids. Going straight out to the villages and towns where food is grown and game is caught, or animals are killed, cuts the price even further. But then you have to factor in the time it takes, currency exchange issues (not everyone in the villages will take Imperial currency in the new era), and the chance that the locals might just try to shoot the ship down instead. In Jossa’s time, trade laws were such that the bill of lading needed a mark for all the ports, food inspections, etc. It was more economical to not go much further than the first intermediary port, and so much funneled in to the tropical ports that it wasn’t something needed for all but the most exotic of goods. Anyways. Arts are also an export. Carvings, weavings, handmade ceramics, paintings, instruments, etc. Music. So on[[. Indust planets/space stations/asteroids. Have some of their own food production. Strawberries, leafy greens, stuff that has shallow root systems and short growth times. They bring in ice from asteroids, other planets, so on and so forth, for water. And they recycle it as much as possible before it has to go into gray water tanks and so forth. And black water. There are limits to how much they can recycle the water. Mining planets will go for ores and possible gems and maybe petrol products if there are any. Smelting and productions of metals goes on out here. Mass producing 3D printed stuff on a large scale, like plant trays or the casings for power packs. Rayon, Acrylic, etc cloth are made out here. Chemical plants, pharmaceuticals, etc. Things are made and distributed around the system. There are laws that ideally (and in Jossa’s time) would ensure that X amount of product would get sent to the planets, but now that the wars are happening, more and more plants are focusing on war efforts or just surviving themselves, so Ajiri planets are getting fewer power packs (or at higher cost), fewer parts for their ships, etc. Shipyards, of course, are considered Indust, or Kovavek. Some of the stations that do the most trade sit in orbit or at a Lagrange point and funnel stuff around the system or down to the planet. Every populated system has a solar array around its sun, which collects the power (other’s scattered through system?) and puts that into power packs. A way to mine the sun for hydrogen? Look up more on perovskite) Catch it Because of the size limitations and requirements, these don’t last. Some can be recharged (many in space ships). Some burn out, crack, etc. So the packs are made on an asteroid, for example. Printed from silicon or plastic. Then they’re brought to the array or to a local one and charged, then packed up and shipped out to the Barbican or a customs base or a planet or whatever place might need them. Larger planets with things like grave shields will have supplemental solar panels of their own. If a system loses its array though, the primary power source for a Barbican will be its own solar panels, which may or may not be enough, depending on damages to the solar panels. EVERYONE will be dependent on what their panels will give them, which will usually not be enough, especially in the case of]] ships making it in and out of atmo, grav shields, plants, etc. People themselves on Ajiri planets could cope by downstepping tech, but it would be catastrophic for out-system travel, in system, and the isolated Kovavek planets and stations. So, trading posts and customs stations. Customs stations are sometimes trading posts, and post are sometimes customs stations. Or they can be separate. Right next to a Barbican, figuratively speaking, they’re usually both. The idea is that a ship comes through the Barb, stops at the station to refuel, let customs/coast guard know that they’re there, what cargo they have, get fresh water and air, make structural repairs, etc. They can offload their cargo there, take on new cargo, or keep going for a planet. Slipping past customs is frowned on, because they might be a spy, a smuggler, etc. Assuming they had all the proper codes to get THROUGH the Barb, there’s a record of that in the system. To not have a matching record in the custom’s station throws red flags. High traffic areas will have multiple Barbs and a system for in and out, so it’s easier to lose yourself in the clutter. There’s daily traffic from the solar array to the Barb, usually. And the maintenance of a Barb is usually based out of a custom’s base. Further in system, most stations are either manufacturing or trading posts. Some are in orbit around particular planets. Sometimes there’s a customs base over an Ajiri planet with a lot of export or a planet with sensitive manufacturing (military, imperial throne related), but its prime function would be more trade than law enforcement. Cost of goods on a trading post depends on what the goods are and market issues, but unless it’s fresh meat or a win from three systems over or sugar or something, things like synthcloth, silplat, etc will be fairly affordable. But they charge you for water and air, so it’s in a Captain’s best interests to spend as little time as possible with their ship hooked into the ‘veins’ of the station. There are laws of course, about having to link in for verification, and if you don’t then there might be cops at your door, but some Captains risk it and other will stay hooked in just long enough to verify identity before disconnecting everything but the mag lock holding them on. None of this covers crime, war, etc. It’s a broad idea of how most things should work. The system is broken in many places. Part of this is crime. Part is war. Part is ongoing low grade trade wars between systems. Some is legal stuff to do with Kovavek vs. Ajiri and who wants to export what. The war has fractured the empire, making it so what was once relatively easy, getting Product A from System 4, now requires reroutings, bribes, possible loss of life to Barb that’s suddenly shut, and maybe even needing to trade four different things to get the one. Laws were originally made to keep the Ajiri and Kovavek products separate, to protect the Ajiri planets from being stripped, squeeze, and flattened like legend says the home planets were. In some cases, laws aren’t needed anymore, and custom holds out. In some, planets that are cut off are turning to the Ajiri to sustain their manufacturing folk. Some people are leaving Kovavek for Ajiri. Some are trying to abolish the idea of preservation at all. And some places are so far out of touch that the Ajiri have no contact with the Kovavek at all, and they’ve regressed in tech. Other places, strip mining and petrol extraction and chemicals are taking root.

Granular Levels
Wood, hide, instruments, very valuable. fruit, produce. S steals ship with internal Cargo & "conex” attachments for hull. Need personal License and ship rated for this to do that sort of shipping. Most high traffic shipping ports (and trade cities) are on equatorial lines ---in Jossalyn's time, things were imported across sector borders, across the empire, relatively easily. Distance added a cost yes, but if all a cargo ship was doing was exiting a Barb, flipping around and going into a different one maybe a day later, it was less of an issue. in Syrus‘ time, border lords are more selective of who they let through -need to stop at customs/trading post in alot of places before going on, - some Barbs are blocked entirely, meaning the systems with multiple Barbs have high tarrifs, -or need to go around a long way and cherry pick the keys used when in a system with just one Barb. —Clothes are often local, a lot of basic needs manufacturing has centralized into each system, getting porcelain or honey from System X when you live in System M requires MONEY. —Things like honey, with a flower only on one planet, or a certain kind of dirt/clay, or a fiber plant, that's what brings in money. —Cheap things, like silplat bowls and dining utensils, cookware, things that can be 3S printed, that's something that the patterns can be sent via data transmission and then it's just a matter of having the materials. Or false skin/fingerprints/cheap maruste fakes. Blackmarket. -The patterns themselves can be sold w/in system fairly easily. Data charges when they cross a Barb though, and restrictions on where you can send it. The ‘internet’ is no longer universal. So bringing a physical data chip with plans on it is sometimes an easier way, when you are bringing legit physical items. -Licensing is an issue for the print patterns. For any data. Wars between sectors fought as much over commercial rights as anything. Before, central Navlad court was used to deal with disputes on sector level, but Lords have paid for/bought off many of the judges and so they're not impartial. Information traded on a black level as much as actual goods —Traders deal in hard currency and don't trust digital banks. -Imperial currency in some places, local currency in others? - Some places are down to barter. Others, local currency exchange. —Used to be, no Net. Before and while Net was being built, travel still free. As argument and trade wars happened, people moved outside the Net. Then people weren't allowed back IN because Lords didn't want more people. Independents. -Some moved outside or to unclaimed systems and thought that just by disabling code in gate, they'd be safe. -Not everyone knew about Fleet coming. Some thought they'd be ignored if they lived underground. Others thought they'd be fine, too small to see. Fleet can force the gates to re-enable. Went after everyone who didn't physically dismantle their gate. Story-about someone on a world where key parts of the Barb were removed and hidden? Need to be able to leave, something wrong in system. Quest to find parts?

---Think on Crime, Military, Local Lords and how that effects this.