sailor_tech

I recently finished reading "The Hidden Family" by Charles Stross. It is book 2 of a series. Basic background is there exists a family that has the genetic special ability to move themselves between two alternate realities. One is our reality, the other one where the US was settled by something like vikings and is still in an early Dark Ages tech level. And that Christianity never got a foothold.

For generations this family / clan has been trading stuff between the worlds. Their current stock in trade is illegal drugs to the US and bring back modern stuff like medicines. Their trade is limited by the number of people in the clan who can world walk plus how much each person can carry. Each person can make a trip about twice a day since each trip raises one's blood pressure. While drugs can help, the norm is about three trips a day.

A new member of the clan introduces the idea of bringing ideas across instead of goods. Instead of old style mercantalism, try something more modern.

My question would be how does one bring wealth back to the home time line? One could get quite rich in an alternate time line, say something like early Victorian tech level by bringing over advanced brakes for cars. But how does one then make oneself rich in our time line? Any ideas? It was left open in the book, probably for another one in the series.

I'd like to think how one would use that in a game to become rich in both worlds. Maybe lost masterpieces of art?