THE ECONOMICS OF AMBER

Some Thoughts

'Amber is not noted for manufacture, and agriculture has never been our forte. But our ships sail the shadows, plying between anywhere and anywhere, dealing in anything. Just about every male Amberite, noble or otherwise, spends some time in the fleet.'

Corwin, in 'The Hand of Oberon', Chapter 4

Economics in Amber is quite a complex thing.

Corwin states, in 'The Hand of Oberon', that Amber is almost entirely dependant on outside sources of goods for its survival. This implies that its main economic function is as a market or clearing house of goods from across the range of shadow paths that link out into shadow. It also implies that these shadow paths do not cross-link out in shadow (although they may branch), so that traders who want to trade across shadow paths have to come through Amber, putting it in a strategically advantageous position.

Taking all this together it could be imagined that Amber plus all the shadow linked to it by shadow paths form a closed economic system, not unlike that of the world of shadow Earth, where the rules of supply and demand apply.

However, there is an extra factor in Amber which can utterly upset the economy, and that is the Royal Family. Any one of them can, if they choose, bring back goods from shadows which are utterly inaccessible via the shadow paths that form the normal trading routes to and from Amber. And there appears to be no reason why Amberites cannot find shadows where fortunes in gold and gems (for example) are there for the taking. Or vast quantities of any kind of commodity. This would have a drastic effect on the economy of shadow Earth. So how do things work in Amber?

As I see it, there are several options:

• The Amber economy is a toy, an entirely artificial construct which bears no resemblance to the real economic ebbs and flows caused by the Royal Family, with which the Royal Family plays, and which exists on their sufferance only. It can be held static, or rebuilt every time a Royal brings in something that affects it. This implies that although Amber may be a marketplace, it will be quite volatile with fortunes made or lost at the whim of the Royals (however intentionally or unintentionally), and the Royal Family is not likely to be terribly popular with those which livelihoods depend on trade. It could imply that the entire non-Royal population of the city, and perhaps even the entire Golden Circle, is effectively indentured to the Royal Family and is paid whatever the Royals decree.

• There are rules to prevent the Royals from destroying the Amber economy. How effective they are depends on who is in charge. When Oberon was on the throne one can easily imagine him decreeing how the Royal shall not destroy the economy of Amber. However, during Gerard's regency and when Random takes the throne any such rules could easily be undermined and rendered ineffective, leading to economic chaos in Amber.

• There is someone - a hidden Amberite, perhaps - who regulates the Amber economy and keeps it on an even keel. This could lead to conflict if (for example) the player characters start doing things which could disrupt the economy.

• Over the centuries and millennia that Amber has existed some way of incorporating the disruptive actions of the Royals into the Amber economy in such a way that it is a functioning economy has been developed. Precisely how this might work would require a better economist than I, but it is the option I tend to prefer as it is easiest to GM...

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