heed not anything within <this>, it is communication between me and a friend

(posting my dnd campaign lore, part six: surviving society [read description for walls of text]); Surviving Society Tired of writing descriptions. Pretty evident what should go here. Surviving society in Endimaw is sparse to say the least. The largest culmination of intelligent life still existing in Voknia lies within the royal capital, Vayrol. This is perhaps the most “lawful” area in the lands, and is the farthest away from the Rot. The royal guards of Vayrol, known as the Wickwardens, not only attempt to keep the peace in the city, but participate in constant patrols along the streets to confirm the presence of fire in its many scattered lamps. Most other cities and towns have a similar such task, while candlemakers and fire mages make a killing considering the current precious nature of light in Voknia. Most of those who attempted to rebel or generally disagreed with Vayrol’s rule were exiled, often finding themselves seeking refuge in what ramshackle small towns dot the landscape. In these less structured lands, lawlessness is far more commonplace, though not necessarily the norm. Smaller communities gather in stone and metal ruins, twisted and morphed with time. Each of these smaller communities tend to have different moral codes and laws, sometimes resorting to violence, treachery, and theft to survive. These communities are generally far closer to the Rot, and suffer its… effects on occasion. Be it wandering horrors attempting to assimilate a town’s inhabitants, or the spreading influence of the Rot itself, the edges of society are far more dismal, and require extensive knowledge by most in terms of self defense. The general look of towns and cities are quite similar, most being shrouded in darkness with fire providing pinpricks of light. In the less populated areas, old wood patches holes in stone walls, as castles are “refurbished” to meet one's protective needs. The main difference between these peoples are the inhabitants themselves, their spontaneously developing individual cultures granting a surprising amount of mirth and distinction between struggling groups. Various tales of folklore do maintain a sort of consistency among scattered towns, startlingly enough. Repeated stories are spread by word of mouth that speak of harbingers of death, hulking masses of jingling equipment and rustling briar, who will stop at nothing to take life, then leave as quickly as they arrived… These superstitions are used by the Witches to fearmonger more often than not, as one should expect of them by now. The moralities of remaining people are split between those who do and do not trust the governments forming in various places, i.e. the Witches. Matches function as the central currency in surviving society. While trading is the general flow in the exchange of goods and services, a box of matches will often bear the brunt of the value in such transactions. To clarify, individual matches probably equate to copper, with boxes of them counting as silver. More valuable and longer lasting light sources are generally considered gold and platinum, items like lanterns and torches function as such. Anything augmented to, for example, permanently emit any sort of light is considered extremely valuable, and such items can make the difference between life and death in Voknia. Considering the lack of organization in these societies, these are only guidelines and estimations, not an unchanging value. Trade is more or less abstract, prices being set by the needs of the inquiry.