The numbers below are baselines. Prices vary by district, season, and how clearly the buyer needs what they are buying. A Crown is ten Bits. Most transactions in the outer districts are measured in Bits. Most transactions in the inner districts are measured in how little the buyer had to think about the price.
See Wages to understand what these numbers mean against actual income.
The fishing docks keep the outer districts alive. A bowl of fish stew at two Bits costs a dockworker less than a minute of wages. A bottle of Upper Caste vintage costs a relay station channeler two months of them. Neither party finds this arrangement unusual.
| Item | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bowl of fish stew (docks) | 2 Bits | The staple of the outer districts. Hot, filling, available every morning the boats return. Not available when they don’t. |
| Bread loaf | 1 Bit | Grain is imported by caravan. The price holds steady until a convoy is lost, at which point it does not. |
| Meat skewer (market) | 3 Bits | Ask no questions about the meat. This is not a warning — it is advice about having a pleasant afternoon. |
| Full tavern meal | 5–7 Bits | Soup, bread, something that was recently an animal. A reasonable dinner for anyone who can afford one. |
| Cup of ale (tavern) | 2 Bits | Brewed locally. The outer-district variety is functional. Nobody has ever called it a pleasure. |
| Bottle of wine (cheap) | 1 Crown | Imported. The label is aspirational. |
| Bottle of wine (good) | 5–10 Crowns | Middle Caste dinner tables. Guests are expected to notice. |
| Bottle of wine (Upper Caste vintage) | 40–100 Crowns | At these prices, the wine is not being purchased for the wine. It is being purchased to demonstrate that price is not a concern. |
A Casteless person earning four Crowns in a good month pays three of them for a shared room — assuming a room is available, the landlord accepts them, and no one with more money wants it first. The alternative is the slum squat: free, structurally uncertain, and defended by nothing except the fact that nobody else wants it either.
These are monthly costs.
| Accommodation | Price (monthly) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Slum squat (no landlord, no security) | Free | Free in the sense that no one is collecting rent. Not free in any other sense. What you gain in Crowns you spend in sleep. |
| Shared room, outer districts | 2–3 Crowns | Three to six occupants. Rotating shifts mean the bed is rarely empty. You will not always be the one in it. |
| Private room, outer districts | 5–8 Crowns | A door that locks. A modest aspiration. Represents the outer edge of what a dockworker can afford while still eating. |
| Modest apartment, middle districts | 15–25 Crowns | Two rooms, reliable walls, neighbors who are also paying rent. The floor that separates the Lower Caste from the Middle is largely a rent floor. |
| Comfortable apartment, inner districts | 50–80 Crowns | Upper Middle Caste territory. Channeler-artisans, established enchanters. The kind of address that gets you through certain doors without explaining yourself first. |
| Fine residence, inner districts | 150–300 Crowns | Upper Caste and those who aspire to it. The rent is not the expensive part. |
Soltherra runs on channeling. The magitech keeping the city functional — the whisper-stones, the light-bearers, the memory vessels — requires people to maintain it, and those people charge accordingly. A street healer with a poultice charges five Bits. A licensed channeler-healer charges fifteen Crowns for the same outcome, with paperwork and a waiting room. Both are, in their way, a bargain compared to getting sick in the first place.
| Service | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Street healer visit | 3–5 Bits | Herbs, wrappings, practical knowledge accumulated by necessity. No license, no credentials. Effective for minor wounds. Gets the job done without the paperwork. |
| Licensed physician visit | 2–5 Crowns | Middle Caste, properly certified. The paperwork exists. Preferred by employers who need to be seen as having done something. |
| Channeler-healer session | 8–15 Crowns | Restoration-Crystal pairing. Faster recovery, reduced scarring, available to those who can afford it. The Casteless cannot. |
| Whisper-stone message (relay station) | 3 Bits | Voice carried across the city through the relay network. Standard business communication. A Casteless worker spends as much on a message as on a bowl of stew. They usually choose the stew. |
| Hired muscle (per day) | 1–2 Crowns | Day rate, no questions. Abundant supply in the outer districts. The rate reflects this. |
| Pace-runner delivery (within city) | 5 Bits | A runner, a package, a destination. Faster than the relay for physical items. No record kept. Preferred by people who prefer no records. |
| Memory vessel (sealed contract) | 5–10 Crowns | A magitech record of an agreement or transaction. Cannot be altered after sealing without detection. Used in formal commerce. The outer districts manage without them. |
| Magitech item maintenance | 2–8 Crowns | Depends on the item. A personal light-stone needs occasional recalibration. A memory vessel array needs considerably more. Neglected maintenance is cheaper until it isn’t. |
See also: Economy Overview — currency, context, and links to all economy sub-pages.
See also: Wages — what different castes earn, and what these prices cost them.
© Soltherra RPG System