@part(economy, root = "/mit/abstract/Characters/sheet.format")

@section(The Economy of the Realm)

@subsection(The House of Guilds)

Realm commerce is extremely centralized, administered by a series of
Guilds.  Each Guild is run by a Master Craftsman, who is responsible
for maintaining the Guild's standards for hiring new members and
keeping the secrets and traditions of the craft from entering the
hands of outsiders.  This is accomplished mostly through licensing
regulation; each craft can be practiced only by licensed merchants,
and the distribution of licenses is the province of the Master
Craftsmen.  

The individual Guilds are organized into the House of Guilds, which is
run by the Realm Guildsmaster.  This is an elected position, and
Guildsmasters are usually chosen from the group of Master Craftsmen.
The Guildsmaster mediates disputes between Guilds and has final 
responsibility for questions of Guild policy.

It should be noted that the Wizard's Conclave, which provides magical
services and artifacts to the Realm, and the College of the Seven Days
Work, which maintains all forms of scientific inquiry and education.
are independant organizations and do not fall under the province of the
House of Guilds.   

@subsection(Currency)

The standard unit of currency in the Realm is the Star, a coin minted
by the House of Guilds.  There are three common denominations, these
being copper (worth 1 Star), silver (10 Stars) and gold (25 Stars).  
There also exist mythril coins, worth 250 Stars, but these are rarely
used in normal commerce.  Barter in goods and services is also
reasonably common.