[Report This]Date: September 26 2014 2:32 AM Title: Spell 4.5 - Thalana's Corner: Farum
Adorable and intriguing world building chapter. Plus, great character insight of Thalana. This is seriously a great and unique chapter. I haven't seen a scene multitask like this so well ever on this site before (but I only joined in February, I think). If I wasn't so liberal with the five star rating, my rating would have more meaning. 6/5 stars. Buuuuuut...
I'm pretty sure that any settlement that can not only not yield enough crops to sustain itself, as well a rely on trade to supply themselves with meat would probably not be a sprawling center of trade. Even if they were able to profit themselves as miners to the extent of being one of the wealthiest nations, the lack of self-sufficience would create a huge amount of starving lower income citizens. Unless they also practice pastoralism (like they raise sheep and goats). Or have an extremely high demand for miners in which everyone works in a mine, along with the fewer artisans and merchants. Or this world has factories. Or the population is very small. Or this society is fairly socialist. Otherwise, I see this metropolis being pretty slummy.
Of course, magic so whatever. It's still one of the best chapters ever in terms of mixing exposition, framing and character development with very little forcing any element.
Author's Response:
Thanks for reading! I'm not very well versed in macroeconomics, and I haven't thought about how the economy would work, but I do live in a country with the exact same problems you described with Farum, so I'll give it a shot! The basis of Farum's self-sufficiency is trade, and while rare metals are a part of the driving force behind its market, the real trade comes from Farum's ability to process raw materials into crafted, higher value commodities. Wheat would become bread, wood would become pillars, and metal would become tools.
For a city to be able to do this, the citizens need to be skilled and educated, ensuring that whatever comes from Farum is of high quality and desriable to its neighbors. And the Farumers have an edge in that they're not as bothered by the presence of mages as other countries, so they're free to teach their young from an early age instead of attending to the mages. So what Farum initially traded for in gold and platinum, they convert into things of more value, and they begin selling those back to the merchants who come into the country, too. Its a mix of industry and trade that drives Farum, and as more merchants are attracted to the country, there would be a surplus of goods, allowing Farum to achieve its self-sufficiency.
As for how the citizens could afford to live in Farum, as highly-qualified craftsmen and merchants, their talents are highly regarded in the region, and earn more than the average worker does. Those who don't are sent to labor in the ivory terrace, where their service is repaid with by being taken care of.
Hope that's at least an acceptable answer :) Even without its own natural resources, Farum could still survive by making its citizens a resource, training craftsmen to convert raw materials traded into manufactured goods traded out :)