Meet the Landers: The Bankers

It's been a long time coming, but Prophylaxis is finally getting around to learning how money is made.

...Not that he /doesn't/ already know, you know, how... to make money. He can run a decent business! He in fact runs several, especially if you count 'the entire Scale Emblem Alliance' these days! But there are a number of mysteries about this world, such as how it is that everyone seems to use the same currency. That's not just something that /happens./ You don't just have entire nations agreeing on a singular coinage that everybody agrees with-- even the ones across the sea. The ones on /different hostile continents./ But there you have the adventurer's guild handing out bags of generic gold coins on the regular, and it's treated as nothing partiularly special.

But Prophylaxis wants to know more.

And so he has come back to Dun Loireag to do some invetigating. He's scoped out the bank before in the search for the Language of the Alvs, but this time he's actually entering the building for a reason. The magus strides into the lobby with its gilded pillars and the massive dire bull pelt hanging above everyone like some kind of totem of commercial success. "Excuse me," he says, moving towards one of the clerks, "I'd like to speak to your manager."

Beat.

"Oh, I just want to know more about the history of banking, currency and commerce. Sorry! I don't mean to cause any anxiety, ahaha~"

Stepping into the stone halls of Dun Loireag official Root Town bank, it's notable that it's large. They tend to all be similar in size in each Root Town - no doubt because they are the central bank for everyone and everything in each region. As he steps in, he can see a few Adventurers giving some items to the bankers along with coins, and the bankers carry them off to the back for storage. With how many Adventurers that joined the world, it's perhaps surprising they've not needed to add more storage.

Approaching to one of the open areas of the large counterspace that separates the customers from the workers, he approaches a green haired Cait Sith working there. It may be notable that the bankers he is approaching is actually an Adventurer of all things. Though they're not of Prophylaxis' guild. "Good morning." She offers with a sweet smile. She's a bit short looking, and her smile seems naive. Based on a quick Inspect, they appear to be significantly lower level than Prophylaxis.

At the inquiry of her manager, she is quick to ask; "Did I do something wrong, sir?" Her face going a bit pale. But he's quick to assuage her worries. "One moment." She bows in that typical Japanese way, and steps away to a few other bankers working the place. Talking amongst eachother, some pointing at Prophylaxis. Then the young woman returns and notes; "One of the Merchant Princesses is present right now, but please wait a moment." She answers.

Oh no, he spooked the poor kid. Prophylaxis looks terribly sheepish at the banker's response, but fortunately it clears up quickly! Things progress. Words are exchanged. News is brought!

"One of the Merchant Princesses?" Prophylaxis repeats like he were being scripted by Hideo Kojima, but nods in understanding. "No problem at all. I wonder if it's Lelia...?" Would she be doing banking things? She really doesn't seem the type! He's pretty sure she'd just get... really bored. So if it's not her or Litka, then maybe Mia, Alicia or Jun...?

Well, whatever the case, the doctor is understanding. "Shall I just wait here, then? Pardon again for the misunderstanding. I am Prophylaxis of the Divine Dragons. Please let me know if there's aught that we might be of assistance with in the future." Although their reputation really /isn't/ the best, he'll admit. Even WITH all of his hard work! Harrumph!

In the meantime, he can always ask questions: "So, do you prefer day-to-day work over the adventuring life, young miss? It's not every day I see an Adventurer working at an establishment like this one."

The young woman sheepishly shakes his head when he asks about Lelia. "Lelia would just steal our lunch or something. I don't think she's up to talking to anyone about money." She answers him. She then motions to the side of the counter, suggesting he stand and wait for the time being.

At the suggestion he doesn't see Adventurers working in establishments very often, she tilts her head a bit. "I guess someone from Scale Emblem wouldn't really notice. But there's a lot of us out in the Root Towns." She answers him. "I joined Elder Tale Online to have fun with my friends. But fun for me isn't fighting every day." She points out. She's clearly about to say more when suddenly, a hand is put on her shoulder.

Golden hair, brown and yellow clothing, golden accessories. A stare wide as she stares at Prophylaxis. "How much is this information worth to you?" Are the first words coming out of Alicia Rue's mouth as she joins at the side of the green haired Cait Sith.

Prophylaxis chuckles at that, "That's true. She's quite the character, isn't she?" In all honesty, the doctor is quite fond of the little Mofurs. They... kind of remind him of cute animals. But there's an aspect of... paternalism there, too? His emotions are complicated.

Speaking of.

The girl points out something Prophylaxis should have known. He looks a bit surprised for a moment, then wistful, "Ah, yes. I suppose living up in the tower makes one somewhat disconnected from things down here. I work as a doctor most of the time, you know, so I suppose I should have been less shocked to find out. I'm glad you've found something fulfilling, though--"

Someone appears.

"Ah, Lady Rue," So it /is/ Alicia Rue, and she seems... "Surprised to see me?" The cait sith says with a smile. Then: "I believe we would be able to come to a mutually beneficial arrangement. I'm not sure I can put a specific number on it off the top of my head, but... I am always willing to pay well for the knowledge I seek. This world's mysteries are quite valuable to me."

"And of course, if you want a down-payment-- I did bring some cash on hand."

"No." Alicia Rue answers Prophylaxis when he asks her if she's surprised to see him. "I know of every Sage of Mercantile. That includes you. It's inevitable that you would come to this bank." She points out to him. "As this is the most important bank in all of Yamato." She declares proudly, and with the fullest of confidence. Putting her hands at her hips as she declares this, then taps the greenhaired one to wander off for now.

"Hmmm..." She then suddenly raises her hand and opens it to show her fingers. "I will let you get off cheap. 500 Gold Pieces per answer I give." Which is still a big amount of money. He could buy months' worth of Grunty food with that kind of money. Yet somehow, he feels like he's getting a good deal here. Rue is known to be RUTHLESS when it comes to money and her time.

She then puts her hands back at her hips. "Ask your first question." She then demands.

"Makes sense," Prophylaxis nods, "You wouldn't be Alicia Rue if you weren't keeping on top of all the news flowing through the business world." Speak in statements as much as possible, Prophylaxis tells himself. Each question is 500 gold. That's absolutely not cheap, even on his budget. But when it comes to business, trade secrets are worth far, far more.

He knows he's getting a bargain. So.

The doctor leans back, his thumbs hooking into the pockets of his pant, his shoulders relaxed. "I appreciate your generosity. First question." He gestures, conjuring a bag full of exactly 500 gold coins. "These coins are accepted across the world, even in the Palace Lands. The system of commerce in this world seems to be universal. How did all of this come to be?"

Rue puts her hands at her hips. "That's a very broad question you know? How did 'all of this come to be'? What, are you trying to pull one over on me?" She asks him as she takes the back and pulls it towards herself. "These coins are accepted across the world because it is the standard that the Banking Guild established throughout the world." She then declares, giving him one broad answer to his broad question.

One of her eyes gleam. "You will have to do better if you want to capture multiple answers in one question. Come at me more precisely, Prophylaxis of Scale Emblem! I will bleed your funds dry."

"Heh, I should have known better than to try and put one past you, but I was hoping to get a story at least. Something to the effect of starting with a 'once upon a time there was a merchant' and giving me more fertile ground for further inquiry. Still, that was my fault," the doctor conjures another bag to hand. "...But you will have to try harder than that to bleed my coffers, Alicia Rue. My medicine is used throughout the world!"

"Very well, a precise question. Establishing a global network of such magnitude and so much power is incredibly difficult even with access to something like instantaneous communication which, to my knowledge, most Landers are incapable of using. Even our friends in the depths--" The Kunie. "--Seem limited in ability to travel and communication, or else we would never have had to seek them all out. The power of Oracle is likewise rare and has its own limitations besides. How did the Banking Guild coordinate the establishment of this singular currency throughout the world in unison-- that is, what means of communication was utilized to ensure uniform adherence to the standard?"

"Your medicine is used throughout the world, but remember who helped set the price for your medicine." Alicia Rue answers Prophylaxis with a wild grin on her face. "I remember what happened when Adventurers started taking too many medicinal herbs. You solved that issue, and then used that to keep potions at the previous price." In other words, she has ways to alter that arrangement.

It's not a threat, just a counter-angle against him proudly proclaiming that his medicine is used throughout the world.

"Two bags." She then declares, when he's finished asking his question. "You asked how the Banking Guild coordinated the establishment of the currency. And you asked what means of communication is being used." She points out to him. Showing that the answer to that question is not one and the same. She taps the table.

So far, he's already down 1500 gold.

That's a large farm's worth of Grunty Food for a year almost.

"One. The Alv coordinated the establishment of this singular currency with the help of those very same friends within the depths. They then established the Banking Guild as an extension there-of." She begins. "And two, the Banking Guilds communicates through paper slips that we send to other locations." She keeps that second one vague, to not give him more than he's asking for.

Two bags? The reason becomes clear, and the doctor acquiesces.

It looks to him that Alicia is enjoying this very one-sided duel of the pocketbooks. But given her wealth, he's sure that even 1500 gold is a drop in the bucket. This is not just a means for her to get money, though he's sure that's playing a role as well. This is a test-- to see how much bang he can get for his buck.

Perhaps also a perverse sort of punishment, he considers as he conjures a second bag to the table.

"That was not a threat, Alicia Rue. That was just a statement that I have sufficient resources to pay for the knowledge I ask for," the doctor clarifies with an impenetrable smile. At this point, he's in for the long haul. Even though it seems as if the young Merchant Princess has the better of him for the time being.

The Doctor taps his chin.

"...Slips of paper. Objects, cointaining written messages, which can then be stored at any bank..." He doesn't say the rest, but the look on his face seems to suggest he understands something. Any object deposited at any bank may subsequently be withdrawn at any other bank, which presumably uses the same instantaneous transportation system that the Kunie can access via the Chaos Gates, established by the Alvs. "I see, that is an elegant way to do it. It also explains why there are no banks that operate like this one in any settlement but the Root Towns, aside from small regional offices that grease the wheels of commerce with small loans and the like."

"Conveniently, since only goods and information can be transported in this manner, it sidesteps many of the security concerns that would normally be associated with, say, transporting large numbers of Adventurers and Landers from one Kingdom to another. Convenient, indeed." Oh no, this has turned into a Log Horizon episode. They're all just talking about the awful underhand of commerce!

"So... Why did the Alvs see fit to establish this system? With all their power, I can't imagine /they/ had much reason to spend money."

Alicia brings her hands back behind her body and smirks at the Doctor as he speaks on theories and how the banking systems work throughout the Root Towns. Why there appears to be a 'World Economy'. It also explains why there was such a wide and prevalent problem when the Adventurers got stuck. The Banks suddenly had to deal with a sudden influx of People that caused significant chaos for them as well.

She doesn't however, show him any hint of whether or not his theorizing may be true or not. She just shows him that sly grin, looking for but one thing from him. Money. Currency. Cash. The hard sense of coin that he can place into her hands and can be put back into the economy and tha bank itself. Where MMORPGs have a moneysink by means of repairs and teleportation cost, this world has Alicia Rue! Well, that and an actual living and breathing economy firmly controlled not by government, but by the banks and the people.

"The Alv established the rule of coin." She answers him, starting with a statement of fact first. "The 'Lesser Races' could use this to trade amongst themselves... and with the Alv, who controlled the coin and could create as much as they wanted." In other words, Alv gave them coins that also had no value to them, in order to get something back from the 'lesser races'.

Alicia Rue is not the sole money sink in all the world, she's just the most avaricious and the most likely to have a giant bin full of gold coins that she regularly goes swimming in.

She seems like the type.

But no, much has been explained-- and what has not, he can read between the lines to build hypotheses that may or may not be entirely accurate, but if he wants to know everything that lurks within the mind of Alicia Rue, he'd need to be a very wealthy man indeed. One who might own his own money bin, for example. Prophylaxis may be wealthy, but he's not /that/ wealthy.

So conjecture and connections it is.

"I see, I think I've almost had enough to satisfy me. One more question, then." One last bag of gold. "It's strange to me that the Alvs would need anything material from the People of the Land-- or from anyone else for that matter. Furthermore, if they could give money out but never took it back, currency would rapidly lose its value. I can't imagine that they would have made exchanges often if they cared about the economy they had made, /AND/ if they did /not/ care, then they could have forced the 'lesser races' to do as they wished even without gold. The Crystal Tower is proof enough of that. So what was it that the Alvs needed but could not provide themselves, that they had to pay the 'lesser races' to supply?"

"What is most precious to a people who seem neigh-immortal, and can create anything they want?" She asks Prophylaxis. "That's three bags of gold by the way, because I am also disproving other theories you have right now. And disproving theories is the same as answering questions." She points at him firmly. "Though it's important that you understand that much of what I am telling you comes from millenia of word of mouth. We didn't have our own writ until recent, if you consider the time of this world. But the Bankers before me assume various things. Amusement, watchfulness, curiousities, and keeping us busy. Do you really think we've never gone through a regression?"

She puts her hands on her hips. "But most of all, they theorize that they simply prepared my people for war." Pause. "Make that four bags. And consider that a discount for that one."

Three-- no /four/ bags, all at once? The doctor's expression is utterly incredulous. That's money! A lot of money! Even for him! But the information is intriguing.

War.

It can't be war with the Scrapped Princesses, the Alvs were long gone by then. The second monster uprising... was when the Cait Sith were /said/ to have been created, but the way she's talking, the way she bristles, suggests that this is somehow personal. Not for her, but for... something bigger than her.

He had already known that the history of Yamato as it was told was... flawed. That things were hidden well indeed. 'My people' she said. The Cait Sith existed contemporaneously with the Alvs...?

"...Four bags," the doctor says, conjuring the requested amount, but he clutches a hand over the fourth, "...I hardly could have guessed that the history I knew was so twisted. That your people-- I suppose 'our' people, if I caught your meaning, had such a history... If it does not trouble you overmuch, war with /whom?/"

"...Of course I will pay for that as well. And if money does not suffice, then perhaps a service could be negotiated. And if you do not wish to answer, that is fine too. My scholarly curiosity has made me quite a heavy spender today, I fear."

The young woman bites her lower lip a bit when he remarks on the history of the world being so twisted. She's biting her tongue, so to say. Looking in his eyes. But he pushes the subject here in public.

"You didn't bring enough money for that question." She answers him firmly, with far more seriousness in her tone than he might expect of this woman. He has offered other ways of trade as well, but it seems she's not looking to deal in on this particular matter. "Even if you did, I don't think I can confidently say I know the answer." She then adds. "That information is held by people far more long-lived than I." She adds that last part, before grabbing the bags in one big sweep, putting them all in her arms. They're enormous, and her head almost goes 'missing' behind them.

"Good day sir!" And with that, she's off; "And if even one gold coin is missing, I'm coming for you! Tower or no tower!"

"It's that bad, huh...?" The doctor answers with genuine sympathy in his gaze. It seems they're done here. "I apologize, it seems my curiosity has also rendered me quite bereft of tact. Though I'm afraid that's something of a... recurring problem with me. Thank you for the information."

He really needs to raise that etiquette score. But she's sweeping all that gold off the table and away she goes.

"Oh dear," Prophylaxis says in full earshot, "Whatever shall I do if she discovers the foil-wrapped candy coin...?"

(There is a foil wrapped candy coin)

(It is a 501st coin)

...Someone more long-lived, huh?

...Jered Gan. The Mage Tower. Damnation.