Who'd have thunk it? A House Rule to
adjudicate Condiments. But it's true . . . at least for those of us who like
just a little "reality" thrown into our game. For me, that old
chestnut – "but it's a fantasy game" – only goes so far. For me, a
little "reality" makes it more believable. Of course, I'm talking
about . . . Salt.
Yep, that's right, salt!
According to the publication,
"Arms and Equipment Guide," page 31, salt sells for 1 copper piece
per ounce, or 16 copper pieces per pound. By comparison, coffee sells for 5
gold pieces per pound. I'll be generous and call that a "typo."
Man, not only is that not
"right," it's not even close. Google salt and you'll find statements
like these:
"Salt may have been used for
barter in connection with the obsidian trade in Anatolia in the Neolithic Era.
Herodotus described salt trading routes across Libya back in the 5th century
BC. In the early years of the Roman Empire, roads such as the Via Salaria were
built for the transportation of salt from the salt pans of Ostia to the
capital."
Roads were built for the express
purpose of transporting salt. And there are even more telling statements about
salt, such as this one:
"In Africa, salt was used as
currency south of the Sahara, and slabs of rock salt were used as coins in
Abyssinia. Moorish merchants in the 6th century traded salt for gold, weight
for weight."
Yes, salt was money, literally. Salt
was traded "weight for weight." In other words, an ounce of salt cost
an ounce of gold . . . not a single copper piece. And how about this statement:
"Wars have been fought over
salt. Venice fought and won a war with Genoa over the product, and it played an
important part in the American Revolution. Cities on overland trade routes grew
rich by levying duties, and towns like Liverpool flourished on the export of
salt extracted from the salt mines of Cheshire. Various governments have at
different times imposed salt taxes on their peoples. The voyages of Christopher
Columbus are said to have been financed from salt production in southern Spain,
and the oppressive salt tax in France was one of the causes of the French
Revolution."
Salt, the mineral "that launched a thousand ships." Sound familiar?
No such history exists for the
Coffee bean. In fact, in the time frame we're dealing with – game wise – the only
"expense" associated with coffee is transportation. Unfortunately for "coffee supporters"
that exact same expense exists for salt as well. We've already mentioned the building of roads for the
express purpose of shipping salt.
Otherwise, coffee is cheap; one man,
his wife, teenaged son & daughter can grow 100 acres of the stuff easily.
On the other hand, even today, there are three or four hundred workers at the
Salt Plant outside of Salt Lake City – as a Truck Driver, I used to pick up
salt there – coupled with tons of modern machinery. "Back in the day,"
there was no machinery, so just how many hundreds of men were needed to mine
the salt?
Coffee was once grown only in certain
locations – that's true – but no longer. Coffee is now grown in many parts of
the earth, despite the fact that "quality" can be argued. The point
is that salt is still only found in certain locations and not everywhere.
Unlike a plant, mineral deposits cannot be relocated and/or grown in nearly any
climate.
My Greyhawk works in the same way:
Coffee from the Amedio – or wherever – can be transplanted to the appropriate
climatic area. Salt mines – on the other hand – are located where they are
located, nothing you can do about it.
No, salt is more expensive than
coffee by far. So, a House Rule, because I absolutely hate "but the book
says." The writers of the "Arms and Equipment Guide" obviously
had/have no idea what they're talking about.
