OVERVIEW OF UES

The foundation of the UES is the gathering pouch.  This pouch allows individuals to gather ingredients such as grains, roots, berries, fruit, meat, eggs, and a host
of other specialty ingredients like sulphur, eye of newt, and fairy dust.  It does NOT keep an actual object, but merely keeps track of what sorts of items and
how much of each the person has. These are then used to cook meals, brew potions, grow crops, ferment wine, and to carry those as well.  The pouch also
allows individuals to keep sim money (not real money) and to barter or trade with others for the ingredients they have or need.  Creating these requires sim
owners to place out cauldrons, grain mills, ovens and other similar objects for residents to use.  Naturally, the recipes and formulas for creating potions and
similar items are closely guarded secrets, usually available only to the most highly trained mage or master.  By vesting this knowledge in the sim packages
only, sim owners can structure very detailed role play capabilities that meet the requirements of their growing empire.  This also helps create a more rich role
play experience for all users, and sets the stage for rich and detailed character development.

This is a system that allows sims to establish entire economies for role play. It has been designed to mimic real life wherever possible, and can give sim
owners and members almost unlimited freedom to design role play scenarios with stability.

To fully construct any economy, we have to begin with raw ingredients which produce goods (and services) which produce wealth. Here are three examples:

* To sell a mug of wine, you need to start by growing grapes (which requires time, land and water), harvest them and then press out the juice. The juice
then needs to be fermented in barrels (which requires time, yeast and other raw ingredients), and when ready it can be sold to a tavern keeper. The
tavern keeper can then set his/her own price on a mug of wine, and on-sell to customers.

* To sell t-bone steaks at a market, you need to start by having cattle (which requires land). Slaughtering the cattle gives you raw beef (but means you
have to grow new cattle) which can be sold as various cuts of meat. Tavern owners or eatery owners can purchase the t-bone steaks, cook them with
other ingredients e.g. steak & eggs) and then offer those plates for sale to their customers. Naturally, individuals can purchase the meats for cooking
at home.

* To sell baked bread at a market you need to start by having flour. That means you have to water a field (land) to grow the wheat, then harvest the
wheat and take it to a grain mill. The grain mill grinds the wheat into flour, and you can then take that to an oven (mixed along with the other
ingredients you have collected) and bake bread. The finished bread can then be sold, or eaten.

While all this can be also done through a barter system (e.g. trading eggs for beef), the Empire system also allows for setting up realm coin (role play money). If done correctly, this will allow EVERYONE to have to engage in the economy, including the sim owners. Sim owners will need realm coin, and it would not work well if they simply 'print' some any time they wanted. This would cause rampant inflation, and ruin the rp potential. Sim owners need to collect 'sim taxes'
from taverns, farms, and citizens in general, in order to pay for labor. For instance, a sim needs an army for protection - and that army needs to be paid!

Naturally, some raw ingredients are scarce, and some are known only to very special professions (e.g. Mage). An economy operates not only on real goods
and services, but also upon knowledge. Protecting knowledge (recipes, formulae for potions, wine secrets, secret locations, etc.) is also part of the role play
economy. Having said all that, it is important that the game not be overwhelmed by the Unity Empire system itself. The economy is simply one 'player' in the
overall game environment. If used properly by all, it can significantly enhance role play quality.