city-wide system or tradition of discrimination against changelings, but neither is there any legal or moral framework to chastise prejudice when it occurs. Economy and Trade There is no trade with outside polities; contact has been lost with all other centers of population, and it's unknown if any still exist -- or where to go looking for them. There are no natural sources of petroleum products, coal, most metals and chemicals, or even exotic foods and spices (everything from oranges to chocolate to nutmeg) known at this time. Many exotic plants grow in the Ark , but they are rarely traded to the city at large. The economy of the city is pure barter -- goods for goods, goods for services, services for goods. There is no formal money system, though there is a growing trend in using pieces of wire as an exchange medium. Not everyone accepts them, but many do. Wire lengths are generally copper, silver, or iron, with iron considered the most valuable despite also being a relatively abundant metal. There are some coins from earlier times which have value because of their metal content and (especially) their status as artifacts. Coins are not worth their historical face value, which no one now knows; like all artifacts, they are worth what the other person is willing to give you for them. In practice, small coins are more prized than large ones; the thinner, smaller disks have generally been more eroded by time and generations of hands, and