Gamemasters who want to work the Tualan legal system into their scenarios should use the following
einach amounts as guidelines for cases. The amounts
indicate the number of healthy milk cows the person’s life is worth. Adjust the amounts up or down depend- ing upon the reprehensibility of the offense, whether it involves dishonor or insult, and so forth.
Einach Amount Person
75-100 High King
50-74 King; member of the Aise Tathra; member of the Ard Fion 30-49 Nobles of the Tuatha Darthaira
(dukes, earls, barons) 20-29 Lesser nobles (thanes) 10-19 Boryas, betags, some Fiontara
6-9 Peasants, most Fiontara
5 Female slave (cuwal)
T
uala Morn possesses a rich and vibrant economy. From one end of the land to another, merchants, dressed in half- cloaks of dusky yellow, carry goods and supplies of a hundred different sorts from market to market, earning a valuable profit on each trans- action. Craftsmen, farmers, and fishermen all con- tribute their share, keeping the coffers of the kings well-filled.EXCHANGE
The Tualans use two basic units of exchange. The first, found mostly in cities and towns, con- sists of a system of coinage. The king of each realm mints coins in copper, silver, and gold, with all coins throughout the land having roughly the same size and thickness, and thus roughly the same value. In most places, people refer to copper coins as pennies, silver ones as nobles, and gold ones as royals. A single copper penny buys a mug of beer at a tavern; a single silver noble a room for the night at a city inn, or a generous meal at that inn; one gold royal can usually support a typical family for about a month. The second, recognized every- where throughout Tuala Morn, is the cuwal, or the value of one female slave — ten gold royals (which equates to five healthy milk cows). Most large trades, including those between merchants, use this unit of value.
In a few places, particularly Mar Cormac and Parlas Rosleigh, freemen and traders sometimes deal in iarclavs, or short iron bars suitable for work- ing into swords. A single iarclav is worth about half a cuwal, or approximately two and a half cows.
Tualan warriors often scorn to concern them- selves with matters of exact value, regarding that sort of thing as the province of women, merchants, and freemen. When they make exchanges, they do so on a barter system, trading like for like (in their estimate), or “buying” what they want with items of jewelry, such as silver armbands or torcs (neck-rings). If necessary, they chop a piece of jew- elry in two to get the right amount to trade with, giving rise to the term “hacksilver” to describe that medium of exchange.
INDUSTRIES
Tuala Morn is mostly an agricultural soci- ety. Peasant clansmen grow wheat, barley, millet, and other staple crops; maintain apple and pear orchards; and raise cabbages, turnips, and other vegetables in large gardens. Typically a clan’s tashac and his advisors keep a close eye on who’s growing what to ensure that the clan as a whole has enough food, and enough varieties of food, to last through the winter and meet other needs.
Herding is also an important part of the Tualan economy. Listed in rough order of prestige and value, Tualans raise pigs, cattle, horses, sheep, bees, and some fowl. Occasionally a lucky herds- man receives a faerie animal from the Good Folk that improves his stock.
Fishing and hunting supplement many a Tua- lan’s diet and add to his purse on occasion. Rivers and lakes throughout the land teem with salmon, trout, pike, and many other species; the seas offer cod and herring, though Tualan fishermen rarely venture far from shore. Clan chieftains and noble- men control many of the most valuable hunting lands, restricting access to them and punishing poachers harshly.
In the mountains and hills, the Tualans mine iron, copper, tin, silver, gold, and sometimes gem- stones. Most miners are peasants working on behalf of some lord or king, but sometimes clans or freemen own mines and work them for their own profit. Since most mining regions aren’t well-suited for farming or herding, the miners trade ore to the lowlands for foodstuffs.
Many Tualans, particularly those who dwell in towns and cities, work as craftsmen — paint- ers, woodcarvers, basketweavers, potters, carpen- ters, and many other types. Greatest of all is the blacksmith, who ranks with the Aise Tathra and is regarded as much as a wizard as a simple craftsman.
TRADE
HOSTELS
As an expression of their devotion to the Tualan laws of hospitality, most Tualan kings maintain a few hostels (bruiden) in their realms. Hostels are places where travelers can spend the night and eat and drink for free from the king’s larder. While this may seem like a tremendous gift — and it is — the same laws governing conduct in the king’s hall apply to his hostels. Thus, visitors may not bring weapons inside (save to turn them over to the hosteler), and may not fight within the hostel. Subjects of the king operate the hostel, receiving pay from him for their work, and often gifts from those who pass through their establishments. Because they meet so many merchants, adventurers, and trav- eling nobles, hostelers often become a prime source of information for bards and spies. Many also become prosperous. For exam- ple, Lavras MacFerla, who runs MacFerla’s hostel in Conhaile, is as wealthy as most mer- chants. He has made a lot of his money challenging visitors to arm-wrestling con- tests and other feats of strength, for there are few men of Tuala Morn as strong as he.
36 pTualan Society And Culture Hero System 5th Edition Revised