Although Steel and Stone doesn't make use of an economy system, each City or Town (and House associated with it) has a 'Wealth' value assigned to it. This value is simply there for informational and RP purposes and represents the House's total wealth, before any expenses are paid out. It's important to note that this is not how much currency the House has on hand.
Below is a table that details each City, their ruling House, their current Wealth value and their population size.
City/Town | Ruling House | Wealth | Population |
---|---|---|---|
The Twins | Frey | Very Rich+ | 3,500 |
Hollyholt | Charlton | Rich= | 3,000 |
Seagard | Mallister | Rich- | 3,000 |
Broadmoor | Haigh | Moderate+ | 2,000 |
Heronhurst | Erenford | Moderate= | 2,000 |
Kingsgrove | Groves | Moderate- | 500 |
Stonebridge | Nayland | Poor+ | 800 |
Highfield | Ashwood | Poor+ | 500 |
Terrick's Roost | Terrick | Poor= | 1,500 |
Hag's Mire | Nayland | Poor- | 1,500 |
Oldstones | Valentin | Very Poor- | 100 |
Darant Hall | Darant | Very Poor= | 50 |
Tavin's Rest | Fenster | Very Poor- | 50 |
Each level has 3 values.
+ means they are at the top of the bracket
= means they are in the middle (Average) of the bracket
- means they are at the bottom of the bracket
Now, each of the 5 Wealth Levels are associated with a number of Golden Dragons, the highest form of currency in the setting and used by Houses to settle their expenses and affairs. The table below details the Wealth Levels and their association with the Golden Dragon.
Wealth Level | # of Golden Dragons |
---|---|
Very Rich | 30,000-45,000 |
Rich | 15,000-30,000 |
Moderate | 7,500-15,000 |
Poor | 3,500-7,500 |
Very Poor | 500-3,500 |
Any house that falls below 500 gold dragons ceases to have the proper funds to manage the upkeep of their lands and finds themselves merely biding time until they are taken over by a more profitable house.
Note: The values above represent total House Wealth. This is /before/ any annual expenses are factored in for the payment of servants, regular supplies etc.. etc.. - At any given time, a total of 85% of a Houses Wealth is tied up in expenses, leaving them only 15% to cover other affairs.
Money
Robert's Rebellion overthrew many aspects of Targaryen rule, but coinage was not one of these.
The most common coins are of copper, copper pennies, and copper stars. 8 pennies make up a copper star, which is exactly 8 times larger than a penny. For the player's benefit, consider a copper penny to be worth about $1.
Larger denominations are done is silver. The most commonly traded coin is the silver stag (about the size of a modern half-dollar), worth just over 50 copper pennies. There are other silver coins, such as the 'moon', but the stag is the standard. These are the most valuable coins any PC should routinely carry around.
Only nobles are ever likely to even see a golden coin, called a 'gold dragon', which is worth over 200 silver stags (over 11,000 pennies). These are the coins used to settle the great expenses of noble families.
Income Sources
Most of the holdings in the Riverlands have a variety of resources utilized to generate income. While this list is not exhaustive by any measure, it does list some of the primary trades/good/sources of income used to generate the wealth of the houses above.
House | Income Source |
---|---|
The Twins | Tax revenues, and self-reliant. |
Hollyholt | Various Trade contracts/Agreements. |
Broadmoor Keep | Farming: primarily grains and vegetables. |
Heronhurst | Rivers: ferry/tolls, fishing. |
Highfield | Forest Terrain: Lumber. |
Stonebridge | Controls 90 percent of trade. Income from tariffs. |
Hag's Mire | Herbs and medicines. Exportation of herbs. |
Seagard | Tax revenues, and self-reliant, lesser quantities than Frey. |
Terrick's Roost | Leading exporter/supplier of Wines/Ales in Riverlands. |
King's Grove | Farming: primarily livestock supplier in region. |
Dowries for Noble Marriage
Marriage is a highly political practice and often used for the further advancement of a family's positioning and wealth. Most dowries will vary from house to house based upon a variety of factors such as: wealth of the bride's house, bride's lineage proximity to the seat, groom's lineage and proximity to the seat, desireability of the overall match. It is important to note that a dowry is payable by the House of the Bride to the House of the Groom - it is not payable to the groom, himself. The following chart offers a baseline for all marriages based upon the lineage, upon a sliding scale:
Lineage | # of Golden Dragons |
---|---|
Marriage to a groom from a major line | 50-100 |
Marriage to a bride from a major line | 50-100 |
Marriage to a groom from a secondary line | 25-50 |
Marriage to a bride from a secondary line | 25-50 |
The above numbers reflect the general guidelines for marriage based on lineage. While several factors do play into the overall dowry configuration, lineage as well as the overall wealth of a house are perhaps the most prominent influences. These dowries can be and frequently are enhanced by the addition of supplies, men, or parcels of land.**
For example: A daughter of Lord Hollyholt marrying a nephew to Lord Broadmoor would be expected to fetch a baseline dowry between 50-100 gold dragons as she is from the seated branch of House Charlton of Hollyholt. Were a niece of Lord Heronhurst to marry a nepher of Lord Broadmoor, the niece would carry a baseline dowry between 25-50 gold dragons - as both are from secondary lines.
Baseline dowries are not stackable, so a marriage between the daughter of Lord Hollyholt and the son of Lord Broadmoor would still only yield a baseline dowry of 50-100 gold dragons.
The weight of the house, itself, also has a bearing on the marriages. Brides and grooms from the major houses of Mallister/Frey should be expected to go for the higher half of their respective bracket. Thus a Mallister bride from a secondary line marrying into a secondary line can be expected to net around 50 gold dragons while a Haigh bride marrying a Frey groom of a primary line can expect to owe a dowry of at least 75-100 gold dragons.
In the event that a house cannot come up with the requisite funds required for a suitable dowry, they may seek to offer trade up to the equivalent levels. Horseflesh, goats, pigs, cows, grains - all of these are suitable offerings for a bride's dowry. It is entirely possible that while a marriage might be favored between two houses, the bride's house is unable to come up with a suitable enough dowry to make for a profitable match.
Though it is possible for a noblewoman from a penniless house to marry up in standing, these instances are considerably rare and not considered the norm for Roleplay purposes.
** While parcels of land may be added to baseline dowries, they are typically reserved for extremely profitable matches only: such as marriage to heirs, from wealthy houses (status rich or higher), or in a desperate measure when a lesser house cannot come up with the dowry but still really desires the match. Each house has a finite number of parcels throughout the entire course of the game. Doling out parcels of land typically does create lesser vassal houses - which should be remarkably rare.
Gear
Armor and weapons are extraordinarily expensive. Commoners who are not in direct service to a noble are unlikely to own any weapons not considered part of their trades (knives, small axes, staves, cudgels). Production of a broadsword typically costs as much as 500 silver stags, while a suit of full plate costs more than 3,000 Silver stags. To reflect this enormous expense, we have the following list of what sort of weapons and armor people of various ranks can reasonably claim to own. For more information on each type of armor and what it includes, see the Warfare page.
Lordly knight (Head of House, Heir to House): any weapons, any armor up to full plate.
Noble knight: any weapons, any armor up to brigadine.
Non-knightly Nobleman: any weapons, any armor up to breastplate.
Sworn Swords: any weapons, any armor up to full maile or breastplate.
Hedge Knights/Free Lances: any weapons, any armor up to full maile
House Retainers (Common born soldiers and guards who protect the noble family): no greatswords, armor up to leather jerkin.
Sellswords: any one handed weapon (no crossbows), armor up to leather jerkin.
Levied Soldiers: by territory, no armor. (Unless otherwise specified, Levies carry spears)
Commoners (not directly serving nobles): dagger, cudgel or hunting bow. No armor.