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Foreign Imports 2

Posted by Apostate on 11/10/19
Q: Some goods are verly clearly marked as foreign imports (steelsilk, pyreweave, cardian snake). Some of the expensive tradegoods are not marked so clearly. Does the Compact import, or mine on its own, the majority of the Diamondplate and Alaricite in use in Arvum? What about the steel alloy of Rubicund?

Also, PCs tend to skew demographics by their very nature. What percentage of overall trade revenue is brought in by foreign imported goods? PC population aside, how widespread are things like pyreweave and steelsilk?

A:Generally speaking, diamondplate is found in the Compact but veins of it are exceedingly rare, and Alaricite even more so. It's thought that the majority comes from the outside, but these are very fungible, and the origins through markets is almost never clear. A great deal of sold alaricite, diamondplate, fireweave and steelsilk may have been in Arvum for centuries and is just being sold and reworked dozens of times.

Arx represents an enormous concentration of wealth, and it's very uncommon to see fireweave, steelsilk, alaricite or diamondplate outside of the capital. Someone being in a fireweave or steelsilk dress at a regional event is very noteworthy, and the influx of the materials in the past decade in Arx is seen as a sign by most of the peerage of increasing obscene wealth (and by a minority opinion of potential foreign influence).

There is some evidence, however, that such things were extremely common around the second or third century AR, around the time of Queen Triscali the Blackrose. It may have been a peak of Compact wealth before the collapse of Elven War a couple centuries later.

Trade with Eurus is extremely rare, Cardian is virtually non-existant, and there's none at all with Jadairal.