Economics and Politics of Alquennas

Economics

Coins of the Realms of Alquennas

The many races and nations of Alquennas used different types of currency with different exchange rates. After thousands of years of war making the world Alquennas seem small with many nations sending troops to almost every continent the accountants and assistants of the human kings decided to convince their leaders to organize and make consistent the type of money used in transactions. In the winter of TK 571 disputes over the values of coins almost destroyed trade between all of the human kingdoms. This was the catalyst to create the common coins of all of the Realms. After nine years or discussing and arguing over what the coins should look like and what they were worth an agreement was struck between the human kingdoms.

On the last day of winter in TK 580 most of the human kingdoms signed the Coin of Realms Agreement. It took another five years to fully implement the agreement through the human kingdoms and forty years after the signing to get the Elves, dwarves and Centaurs to agree. In TK 620 the other races agreed to the Coin of Realms Agreement, all that is except the Horde.

The Table below describes what the coins of the Realms look like and what they are called.

Description of the Coins of the Realms of Alquennas

Coin Coin Shape Description: Image Struck on the Front Description: Image Struck on the Back
½ Farthing Pierced Lozenge Vines & Roses around the edge of the coin The words Kingdom Freedom Peace and the year minted
Farthing Lozenge Vines & Roses around the edge & a 8 pointed star in the center The words Kingdom Freedom Peace and the year minted
½ Penny Pierced Triangle Vines & Roses around the edge & a 12 pointed star in the center The words Kingdom Freedom Peace and the year minted
Penny Triangle Vines & Roses around the edge & an Eastern Dragon in the center The words Kingdom Freedom Peace and the year minted
Shilling Pierced Disk Vines & Roses around the edge & a 32 Pointed Star in the center The word FREEDOM and the year minted
Royal Crown Disk Vines & Roses around the edge & a Great Whale in the center The words Alquennas "OF WATER" and the year minted
Kingdom Crown Disk Vines & Roses around the edge & an Armored Arm holding a Lightning Bolt The words PROTECTORS of FREEDOM & the year minted
Duce Disk Vines & Roses around the edge & a Sky Cat in the Center The words Peaceful, Strength and the year minted
Mark Rectangle Vines & Roses around the edge & a Great Hawk with a Lance in its Talons Images of a Dragon and the year minted
Grand Mark Rectangle Vines & Roses around the edge & a Sword Wrapped in Silken Thread Image of a Lion and the year minted


The Horde of Alquennas has their own type of currency. The Table below describers the horde equivilant to the Coins of the Realm and their worth compared to troy oz of gold.

Coin Equivalent Weight in t oz. # per lbs. Silver Value Horde Equivalent
½ Farthing 1/8 P AG 0.00625 2422 0.00625 t oz ½ Crystal Chip (square shaped)
1 Farthing ¼ P Ag 0.0125 1211 0.0125 t oz 1 Crystal Chip (pentagon shaped)
½ Penny ½ P Ag 0.025 605 0.025 t oz 1 Crystal Flake (hexagon shaped)
1 Penny 1 P Ag. 0.05 303 0.05 t oz 1 Crystal Star (octagon shape)
N/A N/A Ag. 0.5 N/A 0.5 t oz 1 Length of Ag Chain
1 Shilling 12 P - - 0.6 t oz N/A
1 Royal Crown 120 P AU 0.5 30 6.00 t oz 1 Grand Length of Ag Chain
1 Kingdom Crown 240 P AU 1.00 15 12.0 t oz N/A
1 Duce 720 P AU 3.00 N/A 36.0 t oz 1 Coil of AG Chain
1 Mark 1440 P AU 6.00 N/A 72 t oz 1 Length of AU Chain
2 Mark 2880 P AU 12.00 N/A 144 t oz 1 Coil of AU Chain
1 Grand Mark 8640 P AU 36.00 N/A 432 t oz 3 Coil of AU Chain
20 Grand Mark 172,800 P AU 720.00 N/A 8640 t oz 1 Grand Length of AU Chain
60 Grand Mark N/A N/A N/A N/A 1 Spiral of AU Chain
120 Grand Mark N/A N/A N/A N/A 1 Grand Coil of AU Chain
720 Grand Mark N/A N/A N/A N/A 1 Grand Spool of AU Chain

The Guilds of Alquennas

Maker's Marks of Alquennas

Weight and Measures of Alquennas

In the mid 500 TK, the issues of non-consistent and difficult measuring of weight, length and volume cased many issues of trade and at least one armed conflict between nations. The Houses of Man, the Elves and Dwarves began to discuss

570 TK

The Alquennas measurement touchstone was adopted by the Elves, Human, Dwarves and many of the other races. The measurements were crafted on steel devices to insure they would be equal.

The measurement for distance is based off the size of a heart stone. A heart stone is a quartz crystal. These stones are all the same size and are found near the White Mountains. It is not understood how these stones were created or created the same size. Many of the pantheon faiths believe that the gods sent them to help the races of Alquennas


Unit of Distance (Linear measurement)
Distance Abbreviation Description Equivalent
1 Inch in. or " The size of heart tone 1/12 foot
1 Foot ft. or ' 12 heart stones 1 ft =12 inches
1 Yard yd 36 heat stones 1 yd =3 ft =36 inches
Pace pa 60 heart stones 1 pa =5 ft =60 inches
1 Rod rd 198 heart stones 1 rd =5 ½ yd =3 1/3 pa =16 ½ ft =198 inches
1 Furlong fg 7920 heart stones 1 fg =40 rd =220 yd =132 pa =660 ft =7920 inches
1 Mile mi 63360 heart stones 1 mi =8 fg =320 rd =1760 yd =1056 pa =5280 ft =63360 inches
League L 190080 heart stones 1 L =3 mi =24 fg =960 rd =5280 yd =3168 pa =15840 ft =190080 inches
Grand League GL 1900800 heart stones 1 GL =10 L =30 mi =240 fg =9600 rd =5280 yd =31680 pa =158400 ft =1900800 inches


Apothecaries' Weight Measurements
20 Grains = 1 Scruple
3 Scruple = 1 Dram
8 Drams = 1 Ounce
12 Ounces = 1 Pound
Apothecaries' Fluid Measurements
60 minims = 1 Fluid Dram
8 Fluid Drams = 1 Fluid Ounce
16 Fluid Ounces = 1 Pint
2 Pints = 1 Quart
4 Quarts = 1 Gallon
31 ½ Gallons = 1 Barrel
2 Barrels = 1 Hogshead
Troy Weight Measurements
24 Grains = 1 Penny weight
20 Pennyweights = 1 Ounce
12 Ounces = 1 Pound
Avoirdupois Weight Measurements
27 11/32 Grains = 1 Dram
16 Drams = 1 Ounce
16 Ounces = 1 Pound
100 Pounds = 1 Short Hundredweight
20 short hundredweight = 1 short ton
Wood Measurements
16 Cubic Feet = 1 Cord foot
1 Cord foot = 1 Cord
Dry Measurement
2 Pints = 1 Quart
8 Quarts = 1 Peck
4 Pecks = 1 Bushel
Cubic Measurements
1728 Cubic Inches = 1 Cubit Foot
27 Cubic Feet = 1 Cubic Yard
Marine Measurement
6 Feet = 1 Fathom
1000 Fathoms = 1 Nautical Mile
3 Nautical Mile = 1 League

Politics of Alquennas

The Coalitions of the World (brief overview) of Alquennas


As in many non-unified worlds, several countries of Alquennas have formed agreements and or alliances between and with other countries on the planet. There are currently four coalitions, which broker most of the power on Alquennas. These coalitions are:

The Alliance of Nations:
The Alliance of Nations was formed 01 TK when the Houses of Man began to take a greater role in world affairs. Soon after the elven, country of Bryagel entered into the Alliance of Nations. Each nation within the Alliance has agreed to work with each other and to defend one another if attacked.
Confederation of Trista:
In TK 1047 what was once the Talis Alliance was destroyed by the Alliance of Nations. Some of the former members of the Talis Alliance formed the Confederation of Trista with Trista holding absolute rule over the member nations of the Confederation.
The Horde Union:
Since the dawn of the Goblinoid races the Horde Union has existed. Even the Ogres are part of the Horde Union and are the only members that do not have absolute loyalty to the Horde itself.
The Alquennas Trade Alliance:
There are many nations that believe that trade is the source of peace and prosperity. In the Summer of TK 1010 a majority of these nations formed the Alquennas Trade Alliance or ATA. They govern what each nation within the ATA can trade in and regulate the world prices on a great number of items.


Slaves and Serfs

Slaves

Slavery does exist in the Living World of Alquennas. War slaves are taken by most victorious armies and the number of slaves to be taken is usually one of the key discussions during the bargaining of the terms of surrender. Treatment of these slaves differs from country to country as well as from owner to owner.

The major exception to the existence of slavery in the Living world of Alquennas is the country of Azin.

Azin specifically outlawed all forms of slavery. This decision was not due to an acknowledgement that slavery in any form is wrong; it was made for purely economic reasons.

In TK 200, the nobles of the country of Azin convinced the crown to reduce taxes on slave owners due to the cost of keeping slaves. The Crown reviewed the arguments and agreed to a plan to reduce the taxes. The Crown ordered that for every certain number of slaves that a noble had their taxes would get reduced. This prorated scale allowed several nobles to greatly reduce their taxes to their overlord and to the Crown of Azin itself.

In TK 205, the Crammer house sent a bill to the Crown of Azin. The bill stated that since they had a greater number of slaves, the credits they were due would not only completely negate any taxes they owed TO the Crown, but in fact amounted to such a sum that they believed that they were owed money FROM the Crown to help support them due to the additional number of slaves that they owned! The King of Azin was outraged. They were outraged by the bill, by its amount, and finally, by the effrontery of the Crammers in presenting it.

Therefore, on the 120th day of TK 205, the King of Azin outlawed slavery in any form in Azin and all of her settlements and territories. The nobles were not too happy with the King’s solution. They now claimed that not only were they not getting the tax exemptions they had been promised but that they now had to incur additional expenses to convert the slaves to serfs.

Therefore the King also began to phase out the practice of serfdom, thus creating a new class of freeman peasant farmers that would owe taxes to their lord. He did this stating that it would provide the cash strapped nobles of Azin with additional revenue.

Serfs

The majority of the countries in the Living World of Alquennas practice either a feudalistic style of government or a dictatorship style of government. At the heart of many of these countries is the person who is bound to the land that a lord owns, known as a serf.

There are two notable exceptions to this - the country of Azin and the country of Gregoria. In both cases it was discovered that freeman fight harder for the land than serfs do.

In Azin, once slavery had been outlawed and the newly freed slaves had become freeman peasants rather than serfs, they fought with greater fervor, both to uphold the King who had freed them as well as to protect the lands that they had earned.