Tidbits
LIFE AROUND THE LAKE (In no particular order.)
1. There are green-beaked, green-legged chickens with brown or pea-green plumage. These fowl are bigger and meaner by far than your average poultry. Villagers keep one (and only one) because they frighten other animals away from their chicken coops. It's widely known that you can pacify one of these birds by giving them a pretty stone.
2. Human waste is a commodity. Called "night soil," it is traded to vendors who specialize in this unsavory substance and who prepare it for resale to farmers and gardeners to enrich their soil. Because waste has a place to go, cities in the province tend to be cleaner and less odorous than cities in places that don't have this practice.
3. Similarly, old rags, rusty nails and other used-up goods can also be traded. The rag-and-bone man (or woman) collects these things in a wagon and either trades them to where they're useful or makes them into something else.
4. Each village tends one large farm communally. Farms are not privately owned, and any profits from selling their harvest in Starkov are reinvested in the community as a whole. A successful village farm doesn't mean individual wealth, but it does mean well-supported community services, such as a church and a healer.
5. Travel along the Imperial Toll Road is brisk and easy now that the political chaos is over. The Legion and the Viceroy's troops patrol it, and the bandits that once plagued the highway have retreated. The authorities have reinstituted the old 2 cp toll.
6. Basic literacy is fairly common in the Lake Province. This is a cultural holdover from when education and knowledge were considered valuable commodities, before the Old Emperor rose to power. Most young citizens are taught to read religious texts and merchants' ledgers. More affluent citizens also read historical and philosophical works.
7. Lake Region cuisine often features freshwater fish, farm staples and subtle elven spice blends. Perhaps the most famous dish is trout-and-waffles, made famous by the Northam tavern of the same name. Pear-caper cider comes from farms around Starkov and is exported around the world.
8. Taxes are levied on each settlement rather than each individual. The community decides for itself how to split up the taxes among the populace. For towns with a communal farm, the tax is usually paid out of the farm's profits. Other communities divided up the tax in different ways.
1. There are green-beaked, green-legged chickens with brown or pea-green plumage. These fowl are bigger and meaner by far than your average poultry. Villagers keep one (and only one) because they frighten other animals away from their chicken coops. It's widely known that you can pacify one of these birds by giving them a pretty stone.
2. Human waste is a commodity. Called "night soil," it is traded to vendors who specialize in this unsavory substance and who prepare it for resale to farmers and gardeners to enrich their soil. Because waste has a place to go, cities in the province tend to be cleaner and less odorous than cities in places that don't have this practice.
3. Similarly, old rags, rusty nails and other used-up goods can also be traded. The rag-and-bone man (or woman) collects these things in a wagon and either trades them to where they're useful or makes them into something else.
4. Each village tends one large farm communally. Farms are not privately owned, and any profits from selling their harvest in Starkov are reinvested in the community as a whole. A successful village farm doesn't mean individual wealth, but it does mean well-supported community services, such as a church and a healer.
5. Travel along the Imperial Toll Road is brisk and easy now that the political chaos is over. The Legion and the Viceroy's troops patrol it, and the bandits that once plagued the highway have retreated. The authorities have reinstituted the old 2 cp toll.
6. Basic literacy is fairly common in the Lake Province. This is a cultural holdover from when education and knowledge were considered valuable commodities, before the Old Emperor rose to power. Most young citizens are taught to read religious texts and merchants' ledgers. More affluent citizens also read historical and philosophical works.
7. Lake Region cuisine often features freshwater fish, farm staples and subtle elven spice blends. Perhaps the most famous dish is trout-and-waffles, made famous by the Northam tavern of the same name. Pear-caper cider comes from farms around Starkov and is exported around the world.
8. Taxes are levied on each settlement rather than each individual. The community decides for itself how to split up the taxes among the populace. For towns with a communal farm, the tax is usually paid out of the farm's profits. Other communities divided up the tax in different ways.
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