Finchbearer
Istar
I mean this is an old-ass thread…but on the prices of things, it surely just needs to be in line with whatever world system you’ve created in your story -
When you talk about the cost of things you are also talking about value - nutmeg, for arguments sake could be the most expensive or coveted spice because it could have some special property that other spices don’t have. It depends on your world building, geographical location, culture etc.
Things like sugar in England during the late Middle Ages would have been a real luxury, but now it can be obtained super cheaply. But sugar in itself has a complicated and dark past, how it was obtained in the first place to its place in culture and society today. Plus it really doesn’t do us any good health wise.
During the Victorian era pineapples were so converted as a status symbol that people could hire just the outer shell of one to display on their dining table so they could show off to their guests. Entire greenhouses would be set aside for the growing of this exotic fruit to fuel a growing industry. I can now go to the supermarket and buy a pineapple for relatively cheaply now. It’s lost its value.
Another example where this principle is reversed, is oysters, what were once the food of the poor are now an expensive luxury item on any restaurant menu.
So worth thinking about.
When you talk about the cost of things you are also talking about value - nutmeg, for arguments sake could be the most expensive or coveted spice because it could have some special property that other spices don’t have. It depends on your world building, geographical location, culture etc.
Things like sugar in England during the late Middle Ages would have been a real luxury, but now it can be obtained super cheaply. But sugar in itself has a complicated and dark past, how it was obtained in the first place to its place in culture and society today. Plus it really doesn’t do us any good health wise.
During the Victorian era pineapples were so converted as a status symbol that people could hire just the outer shell of one to display on their dining table so they could show off to their guests. Entire greenhouses would be set aside for the growing of this exotic fruit to fuel a growing industry. I can now go to the supermarket and buy a pineapple for relatively cheaply now. It’s lost its value.
Another example where this principle is reversed, is oysters, what were once the food of the poor are now an expensive luxury item on any restaurant menu.
So worth thinking about.
Myth Weaver
