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We're not having the coal debate again.
Sorry, I forgot we'd had it.

They definitely import fucktons of wood then. I think they'd probably buy wood rather than charcoal even though it's heavier because it travels better. No doubt they have permanent kilns that are more efficient than a clamp in the woods and let them collect byproducts like tar. Mostly built millennia ago when they had more trees of their own.
 
I'm currently imagining Grombrindal making his list, checking it twice, then heading in the general direction of greenskins to smack with a (char)coal sack.
 
The biggest issue I see with buying iron from the dwarves is that the Count is not going to be happy about a continuous flow of specie leaving the province, so you need trade to be going the other way too.
I'm assuming grain and dairy (butter/cheese) are big. Possibly charcoal, though the low density makes it a pain to transport.

This links back to discussions about the fall of Rome from before, where there are some moneterist arguments about what caused it. Basically, that part of what undermined the Roman economy and lead to its collapse was the great drain of silver towards China along the Silk Road routes because China sold silk (and spices coming from other Far Eastern destinations) in return for silver, but was very reluctant to spend silver to buy anything coming the other way, This led to the continued debasement of Roman coinage as European silver mining couldn't keep up with demand, and the amount of 'good' currency

Hence Constantine stealing the secrets of silk.

Here, the dwarves would be playing the role of China, sucking specie out of the Empire's economy.
 
It does need to be said that nations don't really 'buy' goods in the types of societies that the empire is unless they have no choice.

They want something in return otherwise they just see it as losing.

Mercantilism people, not capitalism.
 
Their designated agents being 11 Wilhemina's who they sold the taxation rights to?
I know you meant 11 people with similar business skills and mindsets to Wilhelmina, but now I'm imagining 11 identical Wilhelminas in one room complaining about their sons and arguing about who gets Eike as their heir (or would there be 22 sons and 11 Eikes?)
 
I know you meant 11 people with similar business skills and mindsets to Wilhelmina, but now I'm imagining 11 identical Wilhelminas in one room complaining about their sons and arguing about who gets Eike as their heir (or would there be 22 sons and 11 Eikes?)
I meant Wilhelmina and her ten identical siblings of course.
She's got to have picked up that nepotism trait from somewhere.
 
Sotto voce is what it's labelled on a script when a character is supposedly whispering, but the audience is supposed to hear them. It could imply quiet revelation of hidden truth, or it could mean that you're acting like you're sneaky but you're actually loud enough for even the people in the cheap seats to hear.
Going back to this accurate character assassination note, not that it's incorrect- but a theatrical performer mayhap should be aware that a character oft found demonstratively pretending to be sneaky centre-stage can sometimes also be found prowling around the background scenery, getting up to who knows what.

...albeit, that'd still be meant for an observant audience member or plant to gasp and point out the audacity, so yeah, maybe S*H*O*W*M*A*N*S*H*I*P to the core after all?

Still, I think us wearing "the name's Weber, Mathilde Weber", Battle-Mighty Weaver and The Loudest Sneak hats at times may in fact also be Doing Things for the reputation of the Grey Order as a whole, as Egrimm and Kes both noted in their disparate ways.
 
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Johann gives you a searching look. "Do you know something I don't and you're being coy about it, or do you mean the other thing?"

"The other thing."

"Oh. Okay. Let's see this forest, then."

Johann is a treasure, and not just literally. You smile and clap him o

Johann's relationship with Mathilde is really cute. Despite kinda starting of on kinda rocky grounds, they really got a ton of implicit trust for each other now.

While there are other's like Max, Belegar and so. It does often come to Johann that Matilde bugs when she needs help. It's just really great.

This does also make me wonder how much of Mathilde secrets Johann got a pulse on. He's probably beating even plant wife in terms of that, given how much more he's on the active side of Mathilde's life. I hadn't realized he at least knew that much on Ranald of it.

All of which is to say. I do think this is my favorite relationship Mathilde'a developed over this quest. They are great together
 
This links back to discussions about the fall of Rome from before, where there are some moneterist arguments about what caused it. Basically, that part of what undermined the Roman economy and lead to its collapse was the great drain of silver towards China along the Silk Road routes because China sold silk (and spices coming from other Far Eastern destinations) in return for silver, but was very reluctant to spend silver to buy anything coming the other way, This led to the continued debasement of Roman coinage as European silver mining couldn't keep up with demand, and the amount of 'good' currency

Hence Constantine stealing the secrets of silk.

Here, the dwarves would be playing the role of China, sucking specie out of the Empire's economy.

Well, given that the dwarves do most of the precious metal mining as well as selling high-value crafted goods, it seems like they are setting themselves up for massive long term deflation controlled only by the fact that none of the prices they pay eachother are set by a market.

My belief is that there is a small but consistent flow of precious metals from dwarves to humans (food is needed 3x a day but a new dwarf axe is only needed every few generations) that cancels out the flow from humans to dragon hoards or other long-term sinks of value.

This would keep human prices steady, dwarf prices steady, and justify the effort dwarves put into mining precious metals that are otherwise only of value as decorations.
 
When our canals are completed the entirety of the Empire will become an island, I think it was said.

Don't we have a long-standing grudge match potentially waiting for us with Stromfels?
 
I will again say that that's a very generous idea of what an island is, but that if it makes Stromfels mad, we totally should call it that.
 
ThwockaThwockaThwockaThwocka


View: https://imgur.com/a/KFBxliV
I did Gotri in teal colours for Zhufbar but then read that they're meant to be dark blue with white highlights? I guess Zhufbar's teal now, I ain't redoing all those sub-assemblies.

Ongoing quest to do a K8P themed army continues;

That's Kazador on the shieldbearers, mostly cause that felt like something he'd do, Dreng beside him on foot and two Clan Angrund Standard bearers. Did these purely to sort out how I'd differentiate different clan and Karak colour schemes (and different beard colours), think I'm happy with how they came out. Now I just need to figure out how I'm going to actually fill in those banners.
 
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Don't discount the food, and not just grain and dairy either. Remember that Dwarfs don't value farming and much prefer to buy from humans when possible. You can sell them basically any and all foodstuffs except alcohol and alcohol accessories.
The reason I said grain is that it travels a lot better than fresh vegetables.
There's probably a small but reliable trade in various fermented pickles though.

You can sell them basically any and all foodstuffs except alcohol and alcohol accessories.
There's enough dwarves living in the Empire that I'm sure there are dwarf-run breweries using the comparatively abundant imperial barley to make proper beer to send to the mountains.
 
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I meant Wilhelmina and her ten identical siblings of course.
She's got to have picked up that nepotism trait from somewhere.
I know Wilhelmine exists, and therefore presumably Wilhelmini, Wilhelmino and Wilhelminu, but who are the other 6? Wilhelminy I guess, maybe some dipthongs? Wilhelminæ, Wilhelminie, Wilhelminoy, Wilhelminei, Wilhelminou? Or maybe one of the more ridiculous names could be replaced by the prime Wilhelmin who doesn't need any extra vowel...
 
There's enough dwarves living in the Empire that I'm sure there are dwarf-run breweries using the comparatively abundant imperial barley to make proper beer to send to the mountains.
I think for brewing alcohol at least, they grow their own grain, it's grain for food that they trade with the Empire for.
Even those from Clans dedicated to farming prefer to grow for the Brewers and only make bread from imported grains
So subsistence farming became associated with their dark age, and they prefer to trade for food and farm for brewing feedstock. They see that as the ideal, and consider turning Dwarf-grown grain into food instead of beer wasteful.
Dwarven farmers and herders specialize in ingredients that humans cannot provide that are required for traditional recipes, like mountain grains for brewing,
After all brewing is one of the spheres of Valaya and therefore important, only the best grain will do and that means grain grown from cultivars dating back millennia. Food meanwhile is not in any of the Ancestor-God's spheres and thus not as important and sacred, grain imported from the Umgi will do and it means there doesn't need to be Dwarves dedicating their lives towards producing grain that will be turned into food and thus not into something the Ancestor-Gods considered important.
 
I know Wilhelmine exists, and therefore presumably Wilhelmini, Wilhelmino and Wilhelminu, but who are the other 6? Wilhelminy I guess, maybe some dipthongs? Wilhelminæ, Wilhelminie, Wilhelminoy, Wilhelminei, Wilhelminou? Or maybe one of the more ridiculous names could be replaced by the prime Wilhelmin who doesn't need any extra vowel...
Maybe we have just misunderstood her name.
It's not Wilhelmina, but WilhelminA, and her siblings WilhelminB, WilhelminC, WilhelminD and so on.
 
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