Once I gathered all the merchants and the guilds leaders, I told them the economic agenda. They were very skeptical that it could work but, since I was basically allowing them to do as they wanted with limited reforms, they just shrugged and put up with it. Luckily, it was easy for us to move on. There is a strong guild system in the county and the surrounding counties as well. They allowed people to become artisans and craftsmen and sell their wares to the people around them in a centralized structure. I wanted them to ensure that the barrier to entry was a little lower. I also wanted them to open more businesses and services in the villages and smaller towns. There was no downside to expanding their customer base and allowing more workers to participate. The egalitarian society that they had meant that women were just as likely to be represented in the guilds as men. The people of Gasops were able to rally together to rebuild and the extra guildsmen. They all were not really as accommodating with the Wendalian forces. They saw us as invaders and forced payment in their currency.
Eepso was the currency of the land. It was a small gold coin. There was a copper variant with a tenth of the value as well. Obviously, we did not have much of it. Most of the money in the coffers went to fixing the land. Starting the foundations of the docks took another huge chunk from the finances. There was no way I was going to start taxing them before those things were done. Having to pay taxes would be too much on the poorer natives at the moment. I still had to find a solution for the forces to get services and lodging. One way was to have them run their own businesses for money on the side. That would allow them to earn money when off duty. The downside was that it would also encourage them to do... unsavory jobs for money as well. Black markets, prostitution and killing came to my mind. Having them do all of that would undermine their authority when they were not in dire straits. It made more sense to simply give the rest of the money to the soldiers. I put it aside and told them that we would buy things for their needs. That meant that we were going to be pretty poor.
Religion was something I took really seriously. They had a religion that worshiped the sea and the sun. Some of the Drak nobles thought we should stamp down on their beliefs. I was not going to do that. The chaplains on the ships all were capable of preaching to those that wanted to listen to them. I therefore made a proclamation that anyone in the county had the freedom to worship as they say fit. One faith that was prevalent in the county was the twin gods of charity and justice. The pantheon was a wide and broad group of deities that embodied things they liked or hated. The people had their own patrons that they liked. They were also a close-knit community, and their temples were one of the first things to be rebuilt. The chaplains preached to the soldiers, sailors and engineers to keep them placated with their new lot in life. I had them really try to preach message humility and service. They did it sometimes and this kept the more religious calmer. I made sure that they were stationed more around the castle than further away. It was for efficient mobilization and keeping eyes on them.
