Story Recap:
The battle with the Und’kal left the city of Candahar
utterly destroyed. But from its ruins came the union of unlikely parties:
Lion’s Gate (a city of The Whitelands), The Dragon Empire and Kathman (a city
of Indus).
Ren, Queen to the fallen kingdom of Torst, mediated the
conflicts between the different parties in an attempt to restore stability in
the region and begin rallying forces against the alien threat. She called for a
meeting of nations to discuss the new threats.
Soon after meeting Aythyl, Tristan allowed the young Und to
“mindshare” with him. This ability allowed the alien to live through Tristan’s
life as a young man in The Dragon Peak mountain range. The two, close friends
now, promised to work towards peace between their races. To facilitate this,
Aythyl trusted Tristan with his heartstone - a rock that would allow the two,
now connected in mind, to communicate across great distances.
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Ren rubbed her eyes and massaged her temple tiredly before
picking up a cron. The golden coin from The Whitelands was lustrous and
weighty. She sighed, put it back on the makeshift table she was seated at and
scrutinized the other currencies laid out in front of her. The Dragon Empire
had moon shaped coins, aptly named crescents. The marked pieces of papyrus
paper from The Blacklands were called ran, and wooden chips marked intricately
made the currency of Indus. Neither was used extensively; both nations ran
primarily on an internal bartering system.
Ren was wearing the yak skin clothes she had been given at
Tristan’s village, and it really was too hot for them. Her skin itched along
the seams, and the tough leather scratched and rubbed against her body. She
bore the discomfort without complaint. Her hand reached down to a pouch on her
belt and she played with one of the Torstian coins inside. She didn’t add it to
the collection in front of her.
“It’s not possible, surely.” Takahito stuttered. The man
from The Dragon Empire, wearing enviously thin red robes, seemed to never to
stop trembling.
“The Whitelands has never traded currency with either The
Blacklands or Indus. There is no way of converting it.” General Brigadier
Anderson added, his voice as impassive as ever. Over the past two weeks his
impartiality had sparked much trepidation in Ren. Now she felt almost apathetic
to it, and she knew that was dangerous.
“We need to make it happen to build the economy here.” Ren
replied.
“Queen Ansari, I’ve already said that we should not think
about the economy at all, there are more important matters. In Candahar we’ve
always taken care of one another. This is a hard time, and though my people
have set out to rebuild the city, we still do.” Abejide said.
“Chief Abejide, your people aren’t the only ones here
anymore. This camp is growing large, and will grow larger. I don’t mean to
intrude on your hospitality for too long, and I promise that we will move to
found a new city. But for now, we need to stick together, and we need to set up
an economy. The current system isn’t working; there is so much to be done yet
most do nothing.
“Traditionally, all trade between the nations went through
Torst. The moneychangers of the city had the knowledge to convert the
currencies into the local Torstian coin.” Zammar said.
“There is no way to mint more of that money,” Anderson said,
“now that the city is gone.” He looked at Ren with his piercing blue eyes.
“Another problem, Queen Ansari. Most of the people coming
here have lost everything, they have no money to exchange anyway.” Abejide
said.
Ren looked down at the currencies. Ideally, she would be rid
of all of them; there was no point in so much tedious bookkeeping when the
world could function with just one coin. Unfortunately, things like this were
tied to tradition; it would take years for her to discontinue use of the currencies
altogether.
