justashotaway | (no subject)

(no subject)

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"What?"

Most of it.

Why did you have no money?

Mages were not typically paid wages. What are you saving it for?

Mhavos told me I should have money that belongs to me.

[ Neither a lie nor the truth. ]

Before Riftwatch, I had no coin, either.

[ 'how literal' can wait — ]

What do you think of it?

Money is [ reassuring, full of promise, a little infuriating, the means by which she acquires fish stew and oranges ] convenient.

What do you think of it?

It is certainly more convenient than having none. [ agreed. ] But truthfully, it doesn't feel very real.

You can hold it. That is real.

You can. But there is another, invisible side to every coin. The expectation of future money, of what it might be exchanged for, of how much it is allowed to be worth. There's a great deal of the mind wrapped up in it.

You cannot expect future money. You might not be paid. So you must only think about the coin you have.

A sensible approach, however frequently impractical.

What is impractical about it?

A merchant buys silk in one city, and intends to sell it in another. To do so, he must also contract a ship. He spends a great deal of money upfront, with the expectation that he will make more.

Let us say that he does. He has taken a lot of risk, and has made a lot of money. Only a few men may do that, those who are already rich. And if the silk-weaver, or the ship's captain find out how much he has made, they may grow jealous. Perhaps they will try to cut him out.

So if our merchant does not have enough money for the silks, and for the ship, he can tell the captain and the weaver that he will cut them in later. If they help him to fund this now, he will give them more money once he has sold the silks.

...This sounds complicated.

It is. Complicated gambling that half the world relies upon.

I was unaware markets were so complicated.

I do not think I will buy and sell things to others.

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