Mirandus Monday: Welcome to the Tavern
This is the first in a series of pieces which explore some of the potential functionality of specific NFTs in-game in the world of Mirandus. The above image shows a scene from inside a tavern filled with adventurers, all enjoying some hard-earned beverages after a long day on the road. As Michael McCarthy says of tavern-fare, “A prepared meal from a tavern is a long-lasting tummy-filling bonus — an honest opportunity to prepare for the challenges ahead.”
In previous posts, we have discussed music in Mirandus and what the in-game player economy might look like for music and performances. However, what has not been as thoroughly discussed is the item-based economy centered around consumables in-game.
In today’s modern world, people are often very far removed from the complex means of production which feed them. But when you really think about it, these means of production are relatively recent developments in human history. In previous generations, the connection between farm and table was much stronger. Supermarkets and factory foods have successfully divided countless people from the reality that their food comes from the sweat and labor of the farmers.
Next time you bite into a fresh piece of bread, the most simple of staples, consider the journey that its ancestral wheat has already taken in order to become the bread you purchased in the store and are now enjoying with your breakfast.
First it is grown in a field from seed, watered by the environment or by farmers, harvested, threshed, milled into flour, and mixed with water and yeast before being allowed to rise, then baked to perfection in an oven. Then it is let to rest before being packed off to the point of sale. Today, that means wrapping it in plastic and shipping it off to a market with thousands of other loaves, but in the past it might have been added to a basket with several other loaves and taken down the street from the baker to the tavern.
At the tavern, the bread would be served in rough chunks to be dipped in stews or eaten with meats or cheeses. Each of these would come from their own part of the economy, probably located in the same village or settlement. Everything came together in a sort of beautiful dance to the table, where it would be shared by friends and used to literally fuel their physical activities. Then after a good night’s sleep, the satisfied diner would arise full of energy, ready to work hard in order to produce the next day’s bread.
Even in simpler days of yore, the creation of each different type of food orchestrated its own unique dance. Dairy is produced by a cooperative effort between cows and the delicate hands of a milker, but even then its dance has only begun. The cream (which rises to the top) must be separated from the milk. Then the milk can be bottled and distributed to the townsfolk, but the cream proceeds to do its own dance, resulting in butter and delicious baked goods. Milk can even be carefully curdled over time and combined with certain bacteria to form products like cheese and yogurt.
While felling a deer in the woods with a bow is the end of a life, it is only the beginning of the amazing journey that will allow its prime meat to be enjoyed by townsfolk of every age and walk of life. The hunter can sell his prize to the butcher in exchange for gold that allows him to buy more arrows, a stronger bow or new boots with a softer footfall. The deer is first cleaned and butchered by one who specializes in those arts. Parts of it can be cured and made into jerky that will help survive a long mountain winter. Other parts can be used as stew meat to feed weary travelers. Exquisite steak cuts can fetch high prices at market, purchased by those wishing to celebrate with a top quality feast.
In the world of Mirandus as a simulation, as many as possible of the same rules will apply. Many NFTs have already been dropped and sold that fill some of these gaps (barns, mills, etc.) but there are still more to come. Together they will paint a much more vivid picture of the farm to table (cow to cake, arrow to stew) inspiring and cooperative processes that are forever intertwined with the fascinating creatures known as humans.
