Fiction:Valian Empire/Economy

Valian economics predate modern civilization by thousands of years- and have survived periods of war and peace that entire regimes succumbed to. In the pre-Empire era, most trade, reliant on outdated ships that took ages to travel between star systems, was simply inter-planetary, developing in small pockets that eventually became a cosmopolitan colossus. Today, the Valian imperial economy trascends every barrier from borders to consumer species to time and space- stretching from the farthest output on the northernmost tip of Lenu, Rohse's distant sister, to the southern tail end of the Rohse galaxy itself.

Throughout the entire cluster, billions of billions of ships carry goods across space at every moment in time. The current system is so big that planetary actions no longer matter- intergalactic trade cartels and galactic regions are the major players. The combination of planetary, system, sector, provincial and regional consumption, production and trade are the fuel of the Valian economic machine, which towers over any other in Rohse.

Planetary Specialization
In order to turn a profit, in the modern massive scale of economic exchange planets are forced to devote themselves to production of a single product or industry. Agriworlds, for example, exists solely for the purpose of exporting foodstuffs to the rest of the galaxy, with only a fraction of their produce destined for themselves; foundry worlds, at times surrounded by floating space stations and production facilities, focus on supplying ships and technology to feed demand. Worlds with a common economic purpose are often grouped into a region of the galaxy: the southern region of Rohse known as the Stem, for example, is almost exclusively a factory-world area.

Ores & Minerals
Two key metals endemic to the Rohse galaxy and its satellites, Lenu and Ibellyre, function as universal and interchangeable commodities:


 * Orum, the equivalent of other gigaquadrants' gold, is a precious and naturally-ocurring ore. Its pleasant coppery luster and chemical qualities have led to it being used throughout Volanti history as material for jewelry, an electric conductor, a means of currency, and in the most opulent cases, even a construction material. Orum is the main creditor for most if not all economies of the Rohse quadrant, among them the Valian Empire's; without solid orum reserves to back the digital credits used throughout the galaxy, Valian coinage would be worthless.


 * Moonsteel is a silvery, soft-glowing metal that, like orum, occurs naturally throughout the Rohse galaxy, mostly near its core, where planets oft have a hard layer of pure moonsteel alloy near their own cores. Officially called sillerim, Moonsteel owes its name to its ancient discovery by Tharysian miners on the moons of their home planet, during the dying days of the Splintered reigns era. Much lighter yet harder than common iron and steel, it is a prominent feature of both ancient and modern Valian architecture, and an important material in shipbuilding, where it is considered the ideal covering for starships. Pure moonsteel is one of the hardiest elements known to Volanti-kind, resistant to virtually all kinds of radiation, blunt force and pressure.