Most of us are so used to modern conveniences and modern technology that it is easy to forget that mass production is pretty new to human history. For most of human history, not just medieval Europe but pretty much the entire world before the nineteenth century.
Even with the existence of magic, pretty much all manufactured goods in Scarterra have to be made by hand: cheese, beer, barrels, medicines. dresses, horseshoes, knives, bricks, loaves of bread, hats, houses, and almost everything you can name.
Because everything is made by hand, this makes items scarcer and more expensive. The cost of labor probably impacts scarcity more than a lack of material resources contributing to medieval and Scarterran taboos about waste.
Situations that are slightly different between Scarterra and historical Earth are listed below.
[col[Alchemy is sometimes viewed as a quaint ignorance of yesteryear on Earth, but while they had many ideas that were dead wrong, they did have some ideas right, and medieval alchemy did pave the way for modern chemistry.
Scarterra is a fantasy world, so Scarterran alchemy is a lot more powerful. Scarterran alchemy is basically science that uses laws of physics or metaphysics that apply to Scarterra but not Earth. In Scarterra, every living thing is suffused with the four classic elements of fire, earth, and water, at least in a The metaphysical sense and this makes alchemy more potent.
Scarterran alchemy can make all sorts of amazing materials that can do things that would astound medieval Earth humans, and admittedly because my frame of reference is modern, many alchemical products I came up with are heavily inspired by modern things.
It doesn't fundamentally change the nature of labor economics in Scarterra though. Alchemy still requires things be made by hand. Because alchemy involves both lengthy specialized training and more often than not involves rare materials, it is expensive, so it mostly the province of the upper classes. In fact, a lot of nobles encourage their non-inheriting children to study alchemy, so they can make a good living without land or a title and they can still "serve the family" in a useful way.
Construction in Scarterra
Whether you are talking about simple peasant hovels or mighty castles, buildings in Scarterra are built by hand. Not only are the buildings constructed with workers with hand tools but the hand tools used are made by hand and the very bricks, boards, and stones to make buildings are shaped by hands. If you watch a video or read about medieval construction techniques, it probably applies to Scarterra. But "the medieval era" includes a very long period of time and a very large geographic with a lot of variation. Scarterra leans towards the more advanced end.Basically the presence of dwarves alone means that the average building in Scarterra is more advanced than the average building in Medieval Earth. Dwarves have innate talent with working stone and metal that means their work is moderately better in the short-term but it has a cumulative effect over all. In human lands, most quarries and mines have a dwarf supervisor acting as foreman. Most construction projects are supervised by a dwarf engineer or by a human trained by dwarves.
Gnomes and elves do not have any innate ability to construct things beyond what humans can do but they are highly literate and have long lifespans. This makes their constructions a bit better (and some of them are trained or aided by dwarves). This means their construction is a bit better and this rubs off on humans who can certainly access this lore at least in part.
Overall, Scarterra is based on medieval Earth in many ways but the building is closer to the Earth Renaissance level. This doesn't change the fact that everything is made by hand, it just means the buildings are a bit nicer.
Weapons, tools, and other handmade items are often a smidgeon better than their medieval Earth counterparts but the difference is more dramatic with buildings.
Nuldrun Dragon by Eron12 using Hero Forge
Alchemy is Real
by Eron 12 with Hero Forge
Magic is Real
Roughly 1% of Scarterra's population has some kind of spell-casters. Roughly half are divine spell casters or theurgists or and roughly half are "arcane casters" or mages. Most Scarterran spell-casters are not especially powerful. Unless a spell-caster walks the so-called " Dragons' Path", they probably gain new magic very slowly. Most Scarterran spell-casters who are not adventurers or retired adventurers can only do two or three useful magical tricks, and that is enough to make a good living. Magic has many implications on Scarterran society, but it doesn't change the core fundamentals of labor economics. Potions, scrolls, golems, magic swords and the like all have to be made by hand just like normal items have to be made by hand. In theory, consistent and reliable magic can fill the same niches as modern technology but the limits of Scarterran magic don't have a large impact on manufacturing or constructing big or small things and has little to offer to serve as the equal of modern labor saving devices. Cleaning with Magic is certainly possible and this means magic can sort as a labor saving device domestically, but it has limits, especially when cleaning clothes. Magical cleaning is mainly the purview Purification and Purification is not very precise. When you are purifying dirt and grime away from a garment you might accidently "purify" the dye away. Dyeing is fairly expensive and time consuming, so there goes any efficiency you gained by not having to use soap and water to do your washing. Healing magic is useful because you can get away with more OSHA violations for worksite safety if you patch up the workers after mishaps and workers can't claim sick days if you magically remove their diseases, but this doesn't change the fundamental nature of labor. It just means that employers with access to magical healing have an extra perk to attract employees with.
by me with Midjourney
There is a conjuration spell that can make tools or weapons out of thin air but the spell is so expensive in terms of reagents that its only really good for adventurers who aren't sure exactly what tools they need and can't pack everything with them. Otherwise, if you know what your job will need, it's twenty times cheaper to buy the tool and pack it with you.
Scarterra has a relatively popular magical item called an Everytool which is a single tool that can shapeshift into any mundane tool that the wielder can name thus negating the need for carrying a whole slew of tools, but Everytools are so expensive to create that they are really not practical for everyday Scarterrans. Everytools are mostly used by adventurers or very wealthy craftsmen who buy an Everytool just so they can have a flex on their less well-off peers.
Windmills and water mills certainly existed centuries before the Industrial Revolution though not every place had localized wind or water to allow this so a lot of mills were powered by unlucky donkeys or unlucky humans acting as proverbial donkeys. Scarterran magic IS capable of making a magically propelled mill or use a golem to act as mill donkey.
A golem or magically animated mill does not require food or water like a mill donkey does, and thus you can look at them as a one-time expense that pays continuous dividends but the cost in reagents is so high to set something up like that it will take a century of constant use "to pay for itself" as it were. If a lord has a magically powered mill or similar magically fueled "labor saving" device they probably installed it to flex his wealth and status and not as a true investment.
There are magical means to move heavy objects from point A to point B which is very helpful, but they cannot but they cannot really build or craft things, so this does not change the basic labor economics of Scarterra much. There are enough complications and X-factors with using these magical means of transporting goods that many Scarterrans don't bother using them even if they have access to them, finding it preferable to rely on human labor and ordinary beasts of burden.
Golems are super expensive but if you move enough items, they might pay for themselves eventually. The problem is, it's relatively easy to steal a golem and chop it up for reagents so beyond the very large up front expense of building a golem, you have an ongoing expense of defending your property. Yes, horses and donkeys can also be killed stolen, but the comparative loss is much greater.
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