In the context of the series, toll has two meanings, one dealing with commerce, the other with the dark trades
As a fee[]
A toll may refer to a fee collected for the use of certain thoroughfares, such as certain roads. In the case of the Conduit Vermis, the cothouses Wellnigh House and Cripplebolt are former toll houses while Wightfastseigh's primary purpose is to collect tolls on the goods arriving from the Sulk, Undermeer states, and eastern Catalain.
One of the Axles.
Tolls are also levied on certain waterways. One of the purposes of rivergates is to collect taxes on trade and they have been used for centuries by those city-states located along key waterways such as the River Humour. Here the Axles, which are controlled by Boschenberg and the Spindle, which is controlled by Brandenbrass, are the two main rivergates. Because much revenue is generated from the tolls on waterways, some rivers have up to four rivergates astride them. Despite their presence, those engaged in illicit activities, in particular the dark trades, as well as those who wish to avoid the tolls have come up with means to get by the rivergates.
As a quota[]
A toll may also refer to a quota that a corser must meet to collect payment. These specify the types of corses, including gender, age, and state of decomposition that they need to find and recover. An example is the one that Bunting Faukes struggled to fill:
- 2 of the male kind, adult of young or middling years, wormed;
- 1 innards only of the female kind, adult, young or middling, decadent;
- 1 of the male kind, adult middle-yeared, tanned;
- 1 of the female kind, a child of elder years, scarce beddened.