Overview

The cornerstone of Shra's economy are the oases. They are sources of water and food, the most basic goods in the desert. The smaller ones have just enough to sustain themselves; the larger ones have surpluses and have been able to develop a more advanced economy. The latter seek salt, raw materials, shwu and camels. Salt pans and salt rocks, mines, shwu fields and ifssiy pastures provide them. In return the oases produce not only water and food but also pottery, glassware, tapestries, other refined goods and slaves. A few rare types of goods are confined to specific locations, making those very valuable.

Energy

Shra has a low-energy economy. There is plenty of wind to power wind mills, but insufficient water to drive the more efficient water mills. The only fuels available for burning are dung, which is rare, and wood, which is very rare and much more valuable as construction material. There is no peat, coal, oil or natural gas. The scarcity of energy-dense fuels makes even primitive smithing expensive.
Most power comes from humans, surre and animals, especially camels. The economy produces grand works, as is attested for example by the great ziggurats, but does so at a slow pace. Buildings and tools are produced by hand, travel is done at walking speed.

Metallurgy

Like the Pre-Columbian American civilizations, the people of Shra have never developed iron working. They do work metals with lower melting points, sometimes by smelting and sometimes by cold hammering. The hardest alloys produced in Shra are bronze and brass. The bronze requires tin, all of which is obtained from the Tarr' mine in the southeast. The brass requires zinc, which comes from the Talakh mine in the south. Both need copper, mined in and to the south of the Ighrb Tim in the center.
The demand for metals is not high, as agricultural fields are not plowed, carts and wagons are almost non-existent and warriors mostly use stone age weapons. Stone, cloth, leather and other materials are more abundant and cheaper. Metal utensils, weapons and ornaments are mostly prestige objects produced for the elite. Gold and silver are found in Shra. Though even more rare than on Earth, neither is used as money. Instead the metals are used in artworks, just like other ornamental materials.

Industry and trade

Thanks to several salt lakes, the northwestern quarter is a major center of salt production. Copper from the center region is combined with tin from the southeast to make bronze and with zinc from the south to make brass. Most glass is produced in and exported from Gma Azgzaw. In return, it attracts an inflow of oxides from all over Shra, which are used to color the products. People make knives and other sharp objects from flint, which is found in many places in Shra, and chert. But the stone cutters prefer obsidian, which is produced only in the Yedd mine in the Tawija Khigh.
Besides various types of utility and building materials, there is a lively trade in gemstones and minerals, driven by the elite. Most gemstones and precious metals prized on Earth are not found in Shra, but some of them are, often just in one place. These include lapis lazuli, found at Azrquya and Azrquyi in the north; ruby and sapphire at Ghaze in the far northwest; azurite and malachite at Khalh; gold and silver, both from Dhabnq; jade, mined at Uian, all latter three in the center. The soil of the Tuiga oasis produces blackwood; Ssardh and Karghat are the sources of zade, Shra's favorite spice. Mixzn, a popular fungal hallucinogen, is grown underground in three places: Bokkilit and Habdaf, in the mountains east; Ikari in the southwest. Finally, the most desired thing in Shra, shwu, comes primarily from Agllid. Shwu is produced in other places too, but nowhere is the stuff as concentrated and pure as in the volcanic region.

Money

There is silver and gold in Shra, but it is not used as money like on Earth, only for ornaments and other artworks. Much trade is handled through barter, though traveling merchants use currency as means of exchange and portable wealth. Yusam resin beads are accepted as money in many places, as are the ivory horns of narsk animals. The most common form of currency are cacao beans. Shra cacao, unlike the Earth variant, thrives in dry conditions. The beans are more bitter, yet tasty, and can be used as food as well as money.

Slavery

Using slaves for labor is common practice in Shra. Most slaves are prisoners of war, or victims of raids. Humans prefer to enslave surre and the other way around. When the tide of wars changes, master and slave often reverse roles.
Another way of becoming a slave is to go bankrupt. Having nothing left, a destitute person can be forced to become a slave. Others, poor but not yet penniless, may sell themselves for a certain time. In Shra, the lines between worker, serf and slave are quite blurred. They are treated more as different levels of social standing than as truly separate stations. Nonetheless life at the bottom of the scale is hard. Slaves often suffer malnourishment, physical and sexual abuse.