The base of the economic system of Lusternia are commodities. Commodities are the raw resources from which players with trade skills create items, and almost everything sold in Lusternia has been created by one of these tradespeople. While individual wealth may be measured by how many gold sovereigns you may have in the bank, without commodities there would be little to spend it on.

The major cities and communes do not produce commodities, for they have no natural resources to speak of. Individuals (players) do not produce commodities, for they have devoted themselves to one of the paths of the Fates, where there is little room for farming or milling lumber. How, then, are commodities produced?

The keystone to the economy are the villages. It is here where commodities are produced and sold. Left alone, villages will produce commodities natural to the resources of the land around them. However, rarely is a village left alone. Players are able to help or hinder villages through Commodity Quests.

On their surface, Commodity Quests look no different than the average gold quests. They are generally simple quests and often require no more effort than picking up a chicken and taking it to a village's poultry farm for a small gold reward. Indeed, you may perform these quests without regard to the economic impact of your actions, and perhaps most people do.

However, if you happen to have chosen the trade skill of Cooking, you may be very much interested in the fact that by taking chickens to a village's poultry farm, you are increasing the production of the eggs commodity for that village. Perhaps you don't need eggs but have an order for 10 chicken pies--well, then, taking the chicken to the village butcher will instead increase the production of the poultry commodity.

Perhaps you are wondering how the powerful cities and communes stay powerful if all economic power rests in the villages. Ah, that is yet another dimension of the economic system. Cities in Lusternia are more than a collection of people bound by brick walls -- at the center of every city and commune is a nexus of philosophical, spiritual and magical energies which affect and influence the world around them. In this way, cities and communes may influence villages, and once a village embraces a particular city's or commune's way of life, that village will tithe approximately half of its commodities produced to that city or commune. Thus, a city that controls four villages would be a very potent economic force indeed. This may also explain why a city official may encourage you to do Commodity Quests only in certain villages.

Other Gold Quests
While the Commodity Quests grease the wheels of commerce in Lusternia, there are hundreds of other quests that generate gold. A few are listed below:

Newton Caverns
It is highly recommended that new adventurers take advantage of the microcosm of Newton Caverns, an area where only those under level 20 may venture. To start, the finks will pay for the bodies of gnomes, and the gnomes will pay for the bodies of finks. But that just scratches the surface of Newton Caverns, for this is a fully developed area with an in-depth storyline that includes portals to other lands, dozens of side quests, and two honor quests for those committed to solving their mysteries.

Vermin Control
Whether in the form of disease-ridden rats that infest cities or wood weevils that plague forest communes, vermin are the bane of the all cultures. To many, vermin are a blight that must be endured, but others see walking gold sovereigns--indeed, many a resourceful youth has taken advantage of the largesse of cities and communes who pay handsomely for the eradication of these pests.

In Serenwilde, Abeytu will buy dead weevils.
In Magnagora, Rheimos will buy rats.
In New Celest, Neran will buy rats.

Squeezing Gold From Mobiles
For those with no moral scruples, many sentient mobiles (computer-run characters) can be slain and they may drop their gold sovereigns for you to plunder.

A less severe (though questionably moral) method of getting a mobile to part from his or her hard-earned gold is to simply beg the mobile to give it to you. Begging is an ego battle with the mobile using the Influence skill, which all players receive. If your skill level in Influence is high, you may receive additional skills to help your begging, like supplication and wheedling. If you succeed in influencing the mobile, not only will you get the gold, but also experience as if you had slain it. Be warned, however, losing an ego battle with a mobile will result in the same experience loss as if you had died!