Wintermark economic interests

Wintermark commonly exports crafted goods and imports food. Good relations exist between the Winterfolk and their southern neighbours in the Marches. The grain, barley and salted meat that flows north in exchange for beautifully crafted and enchanted goods ensures that since the foundation of the Empire the Wintermark has never suffered a great famine of the kind that was common before.

Merchants are important in Wintermark, but they are often regarded with caution. A merchant who uses trade to enrich themselves at the expense of their Thane and Hall will be given short shrift, but a merchant who uses wisdom and cunning to bring wealth and prosperity to their Hall and the warriors it supports will be held up as an example to all.

Mediator

The most prestigious role for Winterfolk merchants is to act as a mediator, negotiating weregilds. A fair weregild is considered one that matches the severity of the crime and satisfies the victim but is accepted by the perpetrator. The Winterfolk tradition of weregilds has passed into Imperial Law and they are officially set by magistrates who took over the responsibility from the thanes. However Wintermark magistrates habitually employ a mediator to negotiate with both parties to find the right weregild. Such negotiations must often be done in haste, so that all can see that justice has been done. Identifying the right weregild and convincing both parties to settle for it is considered an exceptional skill and talented mediators are in high demand and well regarded. By tradition they are expected to be paid in equal amounts by both parties.

Maggot

Those who use their skills to enrich themselves are often called maggots. Maggot is Wintermark slang for a looter on a battlefield. Before the Empire, maggots who were caught were summarily executed, as thanes expected to divide the loot from the field between their warband. That tradition is now rarely used except when Wintermark warriors are taking the field alone. Since the adoption of Imperial Law, a looter can only be convicted if they are stealing from the body of an Imperial citizen, not from an enemy. However the epithet remains a powerful Wintermark insult, applied to greedy merchants and camp followers. Ultimately anyone who makes profit from battle without taking the field themselves risks being called a maggot and will be despised.

Scop

Professional storytellers and performers, called Scops, are common in Wintermark and unlike merchants they are not expected to work for the benefit of their Thane's Hall. Scops are often travellers, moving from Hall to Hall performing and looking for new material. Many are poets using rhyming structures common throughout the Empire or else using the traditional Wintermark alliterative verse, but some Steinr scops master an instrument instead. The Suaq sagafolk prefer to give formal recitations of epic tales, having learned by rote the sagas of their people and the Winterfolk. In contrast the Kallavesi shamans prefer to work with a small audience, telling symbolic stories with complex imagery that are adapted to reflect their audience's situation; the best are designed to help their listeners make auspicious decisions and the shaman may be richly rewarded if a decision proves fortuitous.