Economy of Iryna


Iryna's economy is diverse and robust, mainly defined by its healthcare and technology sectors. It is the Corvidan Archipelago's largest economy by most metrics.

Industries


Iryna's densely-populated urban environment creates a variety of employment opportunities for its citizens. The city's biggest employers include the Port of Iryna, Iryna General, and the SmartStone Company, as well as the city government. Irynians in need of temporary or part-time work often find employment through the Adventurer's Guild. Iryna boasts a relatively low percentage of unemployment, but the city's high cost of living still makes it challenging for many Irynians to support themselves financially.

Currency


Like the rest of the Corvidan Archipelago, Iryna uses coin-gold, or CG, as its standard unit of currency. Older, less valuable denominations of copper and silver coins have been phased out of circulation, although they can still be found in numismatic collections. Coin-gold is not actually made of pure gold for two reasons; firstly, gold is too soft to be practical for day-to-day use, and secondly, pure metals are easy to counterfeit using magic. Each coin is also stamped with the Irynian national symbol, the truss, to indicate its island of origin. 60 coins weigh approximately 1 pound; typically, Irynians only carry 10-20 coins on their person. Coins worth 6 CG, 12 CG, and 24 CG are used for larger transactions, but most people in most situations use single-CG coins.

Employment


Most Irynians work during 1 of the 4 quarter-days, with businesses typically open for 2 or 3 consecutive quarter-days, depending on their intended customer base. However, many essential services remain operational 24 hours a day. Irynians typically work for four of the five weekdays, with the final weekend day being a work holiday. This means that an Irynian working a full-time schedule will work 24 out of the 30 days of the month, with 6 days off per month, for a total of 144 hours of work per month. Any hourly employee whose daily work exceeds a 6-hour period is paid overtime; freelancers, who set their own hours, instead receive a fixed per-day or per-job pay rate. 48 CG per day or 8 CG per hour is considered a competitive entry-level rate. For certain professions such as customer service and freelance adventuring, tipping is encouraged for exceptional performance but never expected.

Fees


In Oxana, one of the defining privileges of nobility is exemption from and collection of taxes. Wishing to distance themselves from the trappings of the noble class, Iryna abolished taxation in its early years. However, Irynian citizens are subject to many "fees" which are functionally identical to taxes in most cases. The amount of fees that each Irynian is obligated to pay is determined by their place of residence; as such, these fees are often referred to as "residency fees" or "residence fees". Employees of each district's Housing Authority visit residences to collect the necessary fees in person. The money collected through fees is allocated towards maintenance of the building in which the resident lives, as well as district-wide and city-wide public infrastructure such as the subway system, roads, schools, healthcare, and more. Those who are too poor to afford residence fees are forced to live without a residence, becoming homeless.