The Resources of Andoran

While much of Andoran’s wealth can be attributed to House Vaylen’s efforts to acquire rare and precious antiquities abroad, the land itself is quite bountiful, and merchant vessels—their bulky hulls weighed down with goods— constantly set out from the ports of Augustana and Almas to the various nations of the Inner Sea and beyond. The three greatest exporters in Andoran happen to also be the three greatest banks: House Vaylen, House Goldfield, and House Naran.

House Goldfield deals primarily in gold, silver that it acquires from dwarven miners in Darkmoon Vale, and alum. More so than the precious metals, alum generates much wealth for the Goldfields, as it is used all throughout the Inner Sea nations for the textile industries, glassworks, tanning, the removal of grease and other impurities from wool, and as a mordant for various dyes. Mined along the windswept shores of the Cape of Hope, alum is perhaps Andoran’s most important and lucrative export next to antiquities. Coastal raids from pirates for the precious commodity has led to increased offshore patrolling by the Gray Corsairs.

House Naran, while dealing almost exclusively with timber, is also the number one exporter of the dyes that are created from various types of bark: deep blue and black dyes from willow, brown dyes from red oak; slate dyes from pine, and purple dyes from maple, just to name a few. They also export wax and bales upon bales of almonds.

House Vaylen’s main branch, found in Augustana near the People’s Market, houses one of the largest catacombs in all of Andoran. Stretching beneath the bank in a vast, labyrinthine network, the catacombs’ primary vaults are used to store the countless relics that constantly filter in from across Golarion. There they are kept briefly in one of the many well-protected rooms before being catalogued and shipped to the docks for export. The Depthless Vaults, as some have taken to calling the catacombs, have captured the imaginations of many, with wild speculations and rumors passing over the lips of the citizens who claim that there are all manner of ingenious traps, magical constructs, and dangerous critters standing sentinel within its shadowed halls. When the infamous Chelish rogue known as the Twilight Bandit was captured attempting to break in, the vaults became a symbol of national pride, and many patriots liken its impenetrability to Andoran’s spirit. But relics are not the only trade item of House Vaylen; in addition to priceless artifacts, it exports luxury items such as exotic furniture, ceramics, perfumes, and spices.

Other Andoren exports include coal, cotton, fish, fruit, furs, glassware, iron, limestone, olive oil, salt, silverware, wine, and worked stone (both from quarries and polished riverstone).