Blade Maidens: Shorts – Silver – 1

“With dozens of kingdoms across Telosian history, past and present, the matter of currency is occasionally a messy one. With a few exceptions–some druidic enclaves operate solely on a barter system, for instance–the general realities of trade across the lands remain similar. The names vary: a coin referred to as a gild in Valfald would be better known as a holder in Kilzea, but the metallurgy remains the same. A gold coin will go furthest, more than enough for most essentials. Silver follows next, the most commonly utilized and circulated, a fistful matching the value of a gold coin. And lastly, copper or bronze depending on your locale. While far from valueless, copper is most often utilized as change or to purchase goods or services of…decidedly lesser quality. It would take a rather large coin purse full-to-bursting to match the value of a single gold coin.

It wasn’t always this way. For a time, the Kingdom of Verdanna produced tokens made of the core of a heartwood tree, valued even higher than gold in Verdannian markets. I am told that it’s considered a point of pride amongst Verdannian nobles to sport a collection of these relics, making them possibly more valuable now than they were in circulation. In days long past, the fallen Kaldavan Empire utilized small coldiron spheres, each said to be the compacted end result of the melted slag piles of conquered armies’ arms and armor, equal parts commerce and intimidation all in one fell swoop. Amusingly, Freehold has begun dabbling in a bizarre form of paper currency, based on writs from the most prominent coinhouses on the island and backed by their deposits. This would, effectively, make the former seat of Imperial power the birthplace of a new publicly financed form of trade. The gods have their own sense of humor, I suppose.”

– A passage from  A Basic Guide to Telosian History, 4th Edition, written by Professor Wyman Flitterhold