The League economic interests

The League is rich, and the cities has always been a centre of trade within the Empire. Anyone prepared to work hard who has any level of moxie or chutzpah can amass a respectable pile of coin. There is a poor underclass in all the cities of the League, but there is a widespread perception among many that people are poor because they “choose” to be. If they had any get-up-and-go they would join a guild and make something of themselves.

The League is entrusted with the Imperial Mint, which produces all Imperial coins. At the Empire’s birth, every nation used different coinage, and trying to consolidate exchange rates and manage investment across the Empire was an economic nightmare. The League's resources alone were sufficient that it could have come to effectively dominate several of the other Nations. Issuing a new counage was a way to support both economic growth and ensure a level of stability, and making that coin out of steel allowed the Empire to define its value based on things other than the value of the materials involved. The mint is run by the Civil Service, but defended by League troops and control of the Mint and its guards is a powerful political position.

The League is also ultimately responsible for the creation of the Imperial Bourse, which oversees and controls the distribution of bulk goods throughout the Empire. While they do not have a monopoly or control over this institution, more than perhaps any Nation save the Brass Coast they appreciate the opportunities for influence that the Bourse represents. Many Merchant Princes make a fortune in steel playing the Bourse, while others gain great influence within the Empire through clever manipulation of the markets.

The underside of the vast wealth of the League is that it breeds schemes to redistribute it and not everyone is prepared to play by the rules. There is always some up and coming gang prepared to risk hiring a few Bravos to extort a little money and there are always rumours of people who will do more for money than just threats and a beating. Those that want to be accepted into society make an effort to move beyond such means as quickly as possible - any Carta worth the name will come down hard on petty crooks such as these, partly because they know that if they don't the Imperial Magistrates will become involved, but also because criminals prepared to kill for money are operating outside the rules that everyone else chooses to abide by. Tolerating lawbreaking undermines the fabric of League society.

If the League has no truck with violent crime they do have a love affair with confidence tricksters. Imperial law contains no protections for merchants or those who buy from them and in the League the art of the swindler is much admired. The best are called Mountebanks, after the traditional theatrical character and they are part of League folk lore, selling the fish from an empty net to a wealthy priest or persuading a Merchant Prince to part with a fortune for a worthless glass bauble. Surprisingly, such deeds are perfectly acceptable within the rules of Dead Reckoning – with one very important caveat - be careful who you tell. A Merchant Princess may applaud your ingenuity, provided her reputation is intact, but a Mountebank who makes a fool of her in public had better have some very powerful friends.

League explorers have expanded the Empire’s knowledge of foreign lands and even gone so far as to establish embassies and trade delegations outside the borders of the Empire. The Synod has expressed concerns about these embassies on more than one occasion, but the benefits they bring to the Empire have so far outweighed any danger peaceful relations with foreigners might represent.