Whence

The Free People's Commonwealth of Whence is one of the more unusual among the 333 planets.

Economy

The local government has passed a series of bylaws which mean currency is virtually unused on the planet's surface.

Within a village, the farmers usually provide their crops to anyone who wants them. Once a villager is seen to have understood this principle, they can expect to get everything they need without paying.

A barter sytem is used between villages who have a surplus of different produce. However, neighbouring villages often adopt an informal system of supplying whatever the other is short of. Once the members of a village generally believe the other village's leaders to be good and honest it is common to not track what goods they have been given, an expansion of the local gift-trade system.

External Trade

Trade with the outside world is usually negotiated by station chiefs. These people live on the Line Stations and trade with offworld visitors in a more conventional manner. As the chiefs receive crops from the villages free (as any other villager can), and provide imported appliances on the same terms, those living on the surface don't even need to understand the concept of money.

Main Imports

• Manufactured goods
• Metals
• Meat and Game

Main Exports

• Herbal extracts
• Rare spices
• Fish and fish oil