So I’ve missed the 7th day’s post and now I’ve technically missed day 8 too, which means I get to combines them, because I can.
Economy
I actually spent a good hour working that out—I have a chart of what different races of elves do and everything—and while I know most of the exchanges that take place in the Lands of Mist are still at bartering levels (where they exchange merchandises instead of using money) mostly for the sake of simplifying things for everyone while they all work out the new worth of things according to their brand new geopolitics) there’s one clear winner in this game, and it’s the Sand Elves’ people.
Contrary to the other elven species, the Sand elves of the LOM don’t produce much material that they can trade—they do produce stuff, but most of it, for now, are things they need to keep to themselves for survival purposes. Pretty much the only thing they sell to other species is the cheese they make out of their cattle’s milk, but even that is something they are partially dependent on others species for, as they use plants they get from the Earth elves to feed their cattle and help flavor the cheese.
However, what they do have is a vast habitat at the center of the continent that allows them to make contact with the other four species/kingdoms of the LOM as well as the Dragonriders and the only biology that can easily survive a hot desert environment. Because of this, they quickly became the main providers of on-land transport* for both merchandise and messages. Basically any kind of inter-kingdom commerce on the LOM transits through them, whether it’s food or furs (the Fire elves buy them, the Earth elves sell them) precious stones or metals (usually from Night Elves to Fire Elves, who then transform them into Jewelry that is sold to Earth elves or, ironically, to Water elves when possible) or processed objects like bone daggers or digging material transiting from one country to the other.
Key players
Because of the above economic situation the Council of Elders, the people who govern the Sand elves, are among the most powerful people in the LOM (the Sand elves obviously don’t travel all as a group, and the Elders are roughly a dozen women who are each at the head of one traveling group).
On a different scale, Naleesie (my princess MC) is considered a key player because she is a princess, the guardian of Earth Elves’ sacred seed and the chief of the armies of one of the most influential nations of the LOM and pretty much the only one that can and does still bother with maintaining relationships to nations on other continent (something that will no doubt boost their regrowth in the future). That being said, this is a power that she has inherited, and part of her arc through the novel is to learn not to be too snobbish about it.
There’s also the higher ups of Dragonriders, who aren’t often there but when they are people are expected to shut up and listen (partly because inherited traditions of respect/worship toward dragons, partly because woah, giant fire-breathing lizard man) which makes them difficult/complicated to deal with mostly because their experience is very removed from what goes on in the external world, particularly for those who were order-born and experienced a very different developmental phase from other elves.
Also, Myranael later grows into a major figure of his people (though a very ambivalent one as far as they’re concerned) both because his mixed ancestry gives him a fire magic that is different but also more powerful than average, and because his friendship with Yamaël and Naleesie end up having a huge influence on decisions made by Naleesie’s sister (queen of the Earth elves) and Yamaël’s father (not a king, but pretty high up in the chain of military command) and it eventually, much later, leads to a cessation of hostilities between Fire and Water elves**
*Dragonriders can and do provide transports, particularly with Stompers, but they tend to avoid traveling too far or long in the LOM because of their history with those populations.
**Yes, it was inspired by Legolas and Gimli, hush.
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