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Description
Currency in Aethos
Despite its literal monetary and material values, the use of currency in Aethos is an arbitrary and nuanced practice based around the social systems of intelligent Aethonites.
Owning money at all in Aethos is considered a social luxury. Currently, trading is still the dominant method of exchange. Sometimes trading is done in tandem with currency to "make up the difference" on a purchase. Despite money not being a new concept to Aethos, owning any pieces of Aethonite currency can be seen as a status symbol. This has lead to a dark age of money, where access to certain kinds of tender has been cut off based on social discrimination.
Conversions & Value: Compared to the modern dollar or the traditional gold piece system, Aethos' Currency is not as inflated and a single coin can be used to buy a lot of material goods. Because the coins are not used as much as trading, the currency has been hyper simplified to a coin system where two coins are equal to the level of the next.
Ex. A Full Piece is either: 2 Half Pieces, 4 Quarter Pieces, or 8 Half Quarter Pieces.
In conversion to the Traditional Gold Piece system each Aethos coin is worth 10 times a coin of the same level.
10 Copper P = 1 Half-Quarter P | 10 Silver P = 1 Quarter P | 10 Gold P = 1 Half P | 10 Platinum P = 1 Full P
The currency lacks a penny, so everything needs to add up to a cost worth at least 1 Half Quarter Coin. To make sure this happens, shop-keeps bulk cheap items together (ex. tealights) until they are worth one Half Quarter. If this is not possible, trading can occur for the cheapest items, such as offering a favor or item of equal value to the shopkeeper.
Symbols: The back of all Aethonite coins have the symbol for Affinities, while the front has one of the top four Hierarchal symbols related to Aethonite social structures, denoting the coin's value. The Full Piece has the symbol for Legendary Aethonites, the Half Piece has the symbol for Greater Aethonites, the Quarter Piece the symbol for Common Aethonites, and the Half Quarter the symbol for Lesser Aethonites.
Monetary Discrimination and Corruption
The use of money, and access to certain kinds of money, has been cut off and divided into social statuses. Its debated whether this occurred because of the Tier Symbols being present on the money, or if the symbols were added in post to the divide. Regardless, there is a monetary discrimination where Aethonites are only 'allowed' to receive, handle, or spend, money with a symbol equal or below their own social status. For example, a Legendary Aethonite can use the entire set of coins, but a Lesser Aethonite can only use Half-Quarter Pieces.
Because all the Legendary Aethonites are currently sleeping, Greater Aethonites have taken it upon themselves to be the "new handlers" for Full Piece coins until one awakens.
The impact this divide has on Aethonite society is economically and socially stunting. It creates countless hardships to Lesser and Common Aethonite communities, even down to increased physical burden, as they need to carry around 4-8x the amount of money to spend the same value. Their lower statuses also means they are paid less for work and generally need to work much harder. This makes it almost impossible for Lesser and Common Aethonites to get out of the financial hole and gain any kind of monetary wealth. As a result Half Pieces and Full Pieces are extremely sought after by lower level Aethonites, despite the fact they are not allowed to own them. A single Full Piece coin has the cultural power to pull a small Lesser Aethonite village out of monetary despair.
The demand for higher value coins distorts their value to such an extent that when Greater Aethonites use these higher currencies in lower-class shops, they are able to demand more goods than the coin's value would otherwise be able to purchase. To make the matter even worse, because lower-class Aethonites are not allowed to have the coins, a higher-class Aethonite that uses one to pay can turn around and accuse the shop-keep of theft, getting back their coin as well as the swindled goods.
Eating Money Versus Wearing Money
A popular anti-theft method among common and lesser Aethonites is to simply eat the coins they receive. The metals Misomalicate and Kirodantium are safe to ingest and extremely slow to break down from acidic corrosion in the stomach. Aethonites can use their loose biology to make a pocket in the gut to tuck away hard metals like these, preventing them from passing "out the back door" indefinitely.
Pieces which are ingested will eventually need to be brought back up through regurgitation. This is considered to be a shameful, degenerate, and lower-class behavior. By swallowing the money, other Aethonites will see a display of social weakness, as it demonstrates "inability to protect oneself and their possessions from outside forces."
Some shopkeepers will forbid money regurgitation in their store, or outright refuse to sell to individuals who they see using this method. This is especially true in the Summit or other high-class locations.
By comparison, powerful Aethonites will flaunt their status by wearing their money as a form of jewelry. Aethonite money can be turned into jewelry easily by threading the coins through a gold / Misomalicate chain or luxurious ropes like silk.
This jewelry can be worn in plain view, or in a way which makes it look easily accessible for extra emphasis. This method commands a lot of social respect, but -due to rampant theft- only works as well as it can be enforced. This means an Aethonite which wears its savings out in the open needs to be willing to put the bite behind their bark and protect what's theirs.
Shop-keeps will usually bundle money using a standard fine rope to make coin rolls for their customers. They will also usually keep a silk rope to use in case a powerful individual visits the shop.
Misomalicate & Kirodantium
Misomalicate and Kirodantium are both non-ferrous, precious metals found natively in Aethos. While not completely non-reactive, they both have an extremely sluggish responses to corrosion and a high melting point. This makes them ideal metals to use even in Aethos' harshest biomes, along side gold.
↦ Misomalicate is a silver colored metal, but when allowed to oxidize, it will get a purple patina. This is desired to prove the metal is actually misomalicate and not other less expensive metals like silver or tin. This means it is heavily frowned upon to polish Misomalicate.
Comes from an ore with various shades of grey-purple ribboning. Mined primarily in the Summit and Barrier.
AC: 20 | Cost per LB: 1,000 gp
↦ Kirodantium can be described as a semi-soft silverish metal with a green tint. Its generally more common than Misomalicate and denser by the pound.
Comes from a pitted black ore with a green sparkle. Mined primarily between the volcanic region and Common Grounds.
AC: 15 | Cost per LB: 500 gp
Kirodantium Poisoning
It’s worth noting Kirodantium is only a safe metal to Aethonites. Similar to lead, non-Aethonites can experience a variety of health complications when in prolonged contact. This is especially true in mines where Kirodantium dust can get into the lungs and considerably shorten workers life expectancy. Kirodantium is a slow killer, and it may take months or even years to show serious negative effects caused by repeated exposure to the metal via ingestion or inhalation. Side effects of Kirodantium Poisoning include: nausea, shortness of breath, dizziness, drowsiness, and sickly-green discoloration of the skin. In severe cases Kirodantium poisoning causes kidney, liver, or lung failure depending on the method of bodily entry.
If caught early enough, before damage to organs occurs, Kirodantium Poisoning is easy to reverse by discontinuing exposure and allowing the body to naturally dispose of any remaining toxins.
Copper-plated Kirodantium is not known to have nearly the same negative effects and is by extension a much safer coin to handle as long as the outer plating is not penetrated.
Coin Production
Coins are made and produced in Misomalicate or Kirodantium Mines. Slaves are brought in to mine the ores and can come from the SW or Aethos. A Common Level Aethonite supervises the mining of Kirodantium, while Greater Aethonites supervise the mining of Misomalicate. The spoils are then taken to factories in the Volcanic Layer to be melted down and cast into molds.
Coins which need to be plated are then taken to craftsmans after smelting, which in the case of Copper Plated Kirodantium Quarter Pieces is usually done by more slaves at the smelting site. However, for the production of Gold-Plated Misomalicate Pieces a highly specialized craftsman of a Greater Aethonite Status makes, inspects, and holds the coins in a vault to limit their distribution to only other Greater Aethonites and above. Every Full Piece is crafted to be as perfect and beautiful as possible and the craftsman may even carve a beautiful lattice pattern around the circumference/edge of the coin.

Description
Currency in Aethos
Despite its literal monetary and material values, the use of currency in Aethos is an arbitrary and nuanced practice based around the social systems of intelligent Aethonites.
Owning money at all in Aethos is considered a social luxury. Currently, trading is still the dominant method of exchange. Sometimes trading is done in tandem with currency to "make up the difference" on a purchase. Despite money not being a new concept to Aethos, owning any pieces of Aethonite currency can be seen as a status symbol. This has lead to a dark age of money, where access to certain kinds of tender has been cut off based on social discrimination.
Conversions & Value: Compared to the modern dollar or the traditional gold piece system, Aethos' Currency is not as inflated and a single coin can be used to buy a lot of material goods. Because the coins are not used as much as trading, the currency has been hyper simplified to a coin system where two coins are equal to the level of the next.
Ex. A Full Piece is either: 2 Half Pieces, 4 Quarter Pieces, or 8 Half Quarter Pieces.
In conversion to the Traditional Gold Piece system each Aethos coin is worth 10 times a coin of the same level.
10 Copper P = 1 Half-Quarter P | 10 Silver P = 1 Quarter P | 10 Gold P = 1 Half P | 10 Platinum P = 1 Full P
The currency lacks a penny, so everything needs to add up to a cost worth at least 1 Half Quarter Coin. To make sure this happens, shop-keeps bulk cheap items together (ex. tealights) until they are worth one Half Quarter. If this is not possible, trading can occur for the cheapest items, such as offering a favor or item of equal value to the shopkeeper.
Symbols: The back of all Aethonite coins have the symbol for Affinities, while the front has one of the top four Hierarchal symbols related to Aethonite social structures, denoting the coin's value. The Full Piece has the symbol for Legendary Aethonites, the Half Piece has the symbol for Greater Aethonites, the Quarter Piece the symbol for Common Aethonites, and the Half Quarter the symbol for Lesser Aethonites.
Monetary Discrimination and Corruption
The use of money, and access to certain kinds of money, has been cut off and divided into social statuses. Its debated whether this occurred because of the Tier Symbols being present on the money, or if the symbols were added in post to the divide. Regardless, there is a monetary discrimination where Aethonites are only 'allowed' to receive, handle, or spend, money with a symbol equal or below their own social status. For example, a Legendary Aethonite can use the entire set of coins, but a Lesser Aethonite can only use Half-Quarter Pieces.
Because all the Legendary Aethonites are currently sleeping, Greater Aethonites have taken it upon themselves to be the "new handlers" for Full Piece coins until one awakens.
The impact this divide has on Aethonite society is economically and socially stunting. It creates countless hardships to Lesser and Common Aethonite communities, even down to increased physical burden, as they need to carry around 4-8x the amount of money to spend the same value. Their lower statuses also means they are paid less for work and generally need to work much harder. This makes it almost impossible for Lesser and Common Aethonites to get out of the financial hole and gain any kind of monetary wealth. As a result Half Pieces and Full Pieces are extremely sought after by lower level Aethonites, despite the fact they are not allowed to own them. A single Full Piece coin has the cultural power to pull a small Lesser Aethonite village out of monetary despair.
The demand for higher value coins distorts their value to such an extent that when Greater Aethonites use these higher currencies in lower-class shops, they are able to demand more goods than the coin's value would otherwise be able to purchase. To make the matter even worse, because lower-class Aethonites are not allowed to have the coins, a higher-class Aethonite that uses one to pay can turn around and accuse the shop-keep of theft, getting back their coin as well as the swindled goods.
Eating Money Versus Wearing Money
A popular anti-theft method among common and lesser Aethonites is to simply eat the coins they receive. The metals Misomalicate and Kirodantium are safe to ingest and extremely slow to break down from acidic corrosion in the stomach. Aethonites can use their loose biology to make a pocket in the gut to tuck away hard metals like these, preventing them from passing "out the back door" indefinitely.
Pieces which are ingested will eventually need to be brought back up through regurgitation. This is considered to be a shameful, degenerate, and lower-class behavior. By swallowing the money, other Aethonites will see a display of social weakness, as it demonstrates "inability to protect oneself and their possessions from outside forces."
Some shopkeepers will forbid money regurgitation in their store, or outright refuse to sell to individuals who they see using this method. This is especially true in the Summit or other high-class locations.
By comparison, powerful Aethonites will flaunt their status by wearing their money as a form of jewelry. Aethonite money can be turned into jewelry easily by threading the coins through a gold / Misomalicate chain or luxurious ropes like silk.
This jewelry can be worn in plain view, or in a way which makes it look easily accessible for extra emphasis. This method commands a lot of social respect, but -due to rampant theft- only works as well as it can be enforced. This means an Aethonite which wears its savings out in the open needs to be willing to put the bite behind their bark and protect what's theirs.
Shop-keeps will usually bundle money using a standard fine rope to make coin rolls for their customers. They will also usually keep a silk rope to use in case a powerful individual visits the shop.
Misomalicate & Kirodantium
Misomalicate and Kirodantium are both non-ferrous, precious metals found natively in Aethos. While not completely non-reactive, they both have an extremely sluggish responses to corrosion and a high melting point. This makes them ideal metals to use even in Aethos' harshest biomes, along side gold.
↦ Misomalicate is a silver colored metal, but when allowed to oxidize, it will get a purple patina. This is desired to prove the metal is actually misomalicate and not other less expensive metals like silver or tin. This means it is heavily frowned upon to polish Misomalicate.
Comes from an ore with various shades of grey-purple ribboning. Mined primarily in the Summit and Barrier.
AC: 20 | Cost per LB: 1,000 gp
↦ Kirodantium can be described as a semi-soft silverish metal with a green tint. Its generally more common than Misomalicate and denser by the pound.
Comes from a pitted black ore with a green sparkle. Mined primarily between the volcanic region and Common Grounds.
AC: 15 | Cost per LB: 500 gp
Kirodantium Poisoning
It’s worth noting Kirodantium is only a safe metal to Aethonites. Similar to lead, non-Aethonites can experience a variety of health complications when in prolonged contact. This is especially true in mines where Kirodantium dust can get into the lungs and considerably shorten workers life expectancy. Kirodantium is a slow killer, and it may take months or even years to show serious negative effects caused by repeated exposure to the metal via ingestion or inhalation. Side effects of Kirodantium Poisoning include: nausea, shortness of breath, dizziness, drowsiness, and sickly-green discoloration of the skin. In severe cases Kirodantium poisoning causes kidney, liver, or lung failure depending on the method of bodily entry.
If caught early enough, before damage to organs occurs, Kirodantium Poisoning is easy to reverse by discontinuing exposure and allowing the body to naturally dispose of any remaining toxins.
Copper-plated Kirodantium is not known to have nearly the same negative effects and is by extension a much safer coin to handle as long as the outer plating is not penetrated.
Coin Production
Coins are made and produced in Misomalicate or Kirodantium Mines. Slaves are brought in to mine the ores and can come from the SW or Aethos. A Common Level Aethonite supervises the mining of Kirodantium, while Greater Aethonites supervise the mining of Misomalicate. The spoils are then taken to factories in the Volcanic Layer to be melted down and cast into molds.
Coins which need to be plated are then taken to craftsmans after smelting, which in the case of Copper Plated Kirodantium Quarter Pieces is usually done by more slaves at the smelting site. However, for the production of Gold-Plated Misomalicate Pieces a highly specialized craftsman of a Greater Aethonite Status makes, inspects, and holds the coins in a vault to limit their distribution to only other Greater Aethonites and above. Every Full Piece is crafted to be as perfect and beautiful as possible and the craftsman may even carve a beautiful lattice pattern around the circumference/edge of the coin.