Navarr economic interests

A common Navarr philosophy is that wealth is measured in the number of allies you have, not the coins in your pocket. The Navarr expect everyone to work in the best interest of their steading or striding and many have little interest in personal wealth. Trade is a means of making allies and ensuring that people have the things they need rather than a means for merchants to enrich themselves. The Navarr are well aware of the value of money and don't avoid its acquisition, it's just that most of them count allies as considerably more valuable than possessions.

Navarr stridings are usually small so the Navarr tend to specialize in moving individual items around the Empire. They try to make a habit of bringing specific items that people need. A Navarr who notes that a person in an isolated settlement needs a new plough blade will try to ensure they bring one with them when they returns, even though that may be a year later. If the person does not want the item it goes in to stock, but as often as not the need is still there by the time the striding returns. In this way the Navarr have developed an almost magical reputation for turning up in isolated areas with exactly what a community most needs. This has served the Navarr incredibly well, making them welcome wherever they travel inside or outside the Empire.

In addition to this the Navarr are skilled at moving information and people around the land. From the earliest days of the Empire they acted as couriers, carrying important messages to far-flung places. They also act as guides, escorting individuals on a difficult trek between Nations. Over time most stridings have become adept at conveying information and people, they strive to be discreet about what they are told, treating information and people like any other commodity – something to be moved to where it can do the most good. The latest word on the progress of a border war is every bit as important as replacement seed or a new hoe to a woman whose son has joined the Imperial army.

The Navarr also look to invest in the Empire. Sometimes this takes the form of arranging vital supplies to each the place where they will do the most good, but occasionally a Navarr trader will find a valuable resource that she is not in a position to exploit herself, or that is already being run by someone in an isolated position. When this happens, the Navarr trader may invest in that resource, helping to maintain and improve it, in return for a cut of the profits. This leads to some Navarr being responsible for resources in far-flung, isolated parts of other Nations rather than for resources in their own territories.

Part-way between a steading and a striding are the Wayhouses. Built along the Trods outside the Navarr heartland, the wayhouses are generally small - often no more than an inn and perhaps a few cottages - and are maintained as places for travellers to rest and recuperate before continuing on their journeys. Wayhouses also serve as places of sanctuary - when someone "runs away to join the Navarr" they often run to a Wayhouse near their home, and are generally welcomed by the Navarr there. These places can also operate quite effectively as businesses - Freeborn caravans find welcome respite here, for example.

Like the Freeborn, the Navarr sometimes travel beyond the borders bringing back rare goods not found inside the Empire. The trade of dyes and pigments, spices and rare herbs is the what the Navarr are most commonly known for, but they also bring to the Empire unique flora from the deep forests that are especially prized by physicians and mages alike. However, for those rich enough, a ship or house built of Navarr hewn timber from the great trees of the heartwoods is a prize beyond reckoning. Across the Empire, Navarr-carved lintels and door frames are widely known for their properties of warding and defence. From dinner plates to spear-hafts, where timber is concerned the Navarr trade in the best.