The Mines of Abbasynia

The lifeblood of the north, it is said, is its mines. Iron, gold, and silver flows from Abbasynia to the rest of Ultor. It is not of any particularly high quality, most of it, but there is a high quantity of it. Working in the mines is a dirty, dangerous affair. The labor is back breaking and intensive, and it never ends. Miners are more slaves than citizens. They are hardly paid enough to live, and some are paid in food rather than currency. It is a detestable practice that the mine owners employ -- forcing their workers to be entirely dependent on the mine for survival, thus holding them by the throat. The only friends of the miners, the saying goes, are famine and disease. The ultimate crime of the mining magnates is that they allow these horrible conditions to exist, not for ignorance, but intentionally!   Violence permeates the mining towns. The greed and savagery of the mine owners I have never observed in other men. As if beating, starving, and abusing their own workers was not enough, mine owners often hire mercenaries to "rough up" the competition and their miners. "Rough up" is quite a clever term, I should say, for outright murder. I have not witnessed, but rather heard firsthand accounts of working men, families, and even entire towns disappearing overnight -- taken away and enslaved elsewhere, or else murdered.   The toxic and violent climate surrounding the mine lords ensures that there are very few who reign for long. Poisonings and assassinations are all too common among the owners of the mines. The few mining bosses that do establish themselves permanently are among the most vile men (and women too) that inhabit the world with us. They have massive influence with the royalty of Kampura and Gorgogi (Brött has nearly none of these mines), as they hold the wealth and welfare of the nobility in the palms of their hand. Were it not so, I should hope to see them scoured from Ultor, and subjected to the same torture to which they eagerly subject their miners. Instead, they are treated as nobility.   The silver and gold output by the mines is bought all over Ultor, used for jewelry and other fanciful things to show status. Kampuran and Gorgog silver and gold jewelry can be found in all places -- from the Southern Draconic Empire to Jin El Aethis to Nörn. It is highly valued for its cheapness and quantity, and its ability to make one look rich while not actually costing too much coin. The iron is used for a much more simple, animalistic purpose. Weaponry. The constant war between Kampura, Gorgogi, and Brött has created a high demand for weapons and iron. The mine barons are eager to provide, driving their iron mine workers nearly to death to produce enough to meet demand. Much of the iron for weaponry is also sold to pirates, who use it to arm their own fleets. In any case, no matter who it is sold to, the mine owners get rich, and they get greedier. The cycle continues.