Board Thread:Speculation House/@comment-14138255-20140926004722/@comment-14909251-20140928070912

On Ironwood serving Ozpin, I would say that is more likely a reference to him being the leader of a team wherein Ironwood was a member or it points to Ozpin being part of some secret organization that keeps the peace. Maybe it is just that Ozpin pays some senior role in the broader hunter community. His name would not inherently mean that he was born before the war, though it is a possibility. Just because the custom exists does not mean it was strictly adhered to by everyone everywhere or that there are not special exceptions.

With regards to Vacuo's economy, I would say it is probably a struggling kingdom for the simple reason that it is isolated. As I noted in my little blog post, the dark areas where Grimm are likely most common surround the area of Vacuo. This suggests trade and commerce is more easily disrupted and thus sustaining the population is difficult. When you combine that with a predominant desert habitat, then it amounts to hardship for the people living in Vacuo. No doubt certain people and groups are wealthy, perhaps there is even a flourishing city, but poverty is also likely a major problem. Another strong indicator in that direction is that Sun is from Vacuo and, if Emerald is from Vacuo as well, then we can presume criminality is fairly common in that kingdom. Such a problem would be indicitative of an impoverished nation.