Ian describes yet another advantage for the state derived from the presence of a stable universal and untamperable currency. Of course many authorities in Glorantha (City Councels, Tribal Kings, Province Administrations) have tried to create this desirable state of currency affairs (sorry for the pun) with edicts and beheadings, but with less than total success.
In our world, states have ended up throwing great big technological efforts on the problem. We now have coins, bills, bank notes (and soon electronical currencies) that are so hard to duplicate or modify, that it is mostly cheaper to go out and actually buy the money.
In Glorantha, of course, magic replaces technology. That is one the things I find
so cool about the place. The success of everyones everyday activities depend on
their magical sophistication. And as we learned in King of Dragon Pass, the
success of a tribe to prosper, to become wealthy and powerful and command the
respect of its neighbors, is determined by all kinds of societal magic. (And how
good your personal combat magics are, is just a tiny little fragment.) Lately I
have come to appreciate the Solar/Lunar incredible battery of "nifty thing to have
if you're gonna be an empire"
That's what I believe is the significance of the Wheel.
(Tangent: I still found the Imperial Lunar Handbook 2 slightly disappointing, because it contained too little else.)
And as for the detailed tracking of every little piece of metal - its size, shape,
purity, history, and current value on the market - of course that is too much for
anyone! Let me tell you a story...
Actually, I have played a merchant for quite a while in RQ. And for the first
months I kept careful track of every bolg and penny, and of every tradable item
in his large beetle saddlebags. Then the Earth temple said that they hadn't the
cash to equal this one really nice item, and paid him in IOUs, redrawable bit by
bit. A while later he had IOU accounts in the Issaries and Argan temples as well.
And still a page full of various items that he hadn't sold yet, as well as running
expenses (trollkin damage not the least) and...
I ended up leaving almost all of it "on automatic" with my GM. If I did a
particularly significant deal, or needed to make a very large withdrawal, we
handled that in play. But mostly, his wealth just sat there on its own pages and
fermented by itself.
Kinda like HQ "wealth", but with more work for my GM. Especially since my
merchant tediously insisted on keeping his books in bolg equivalents. (For they
were untamperable and holy to him, and had the right taste.)
Dan Guillou
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