Entry tags:

irvisa, narpgwrimo

NaRPGWriMo 6: Some Miscellanea

The King's Messengers

When Irvis the Great invaded the Prenniam, his primary difficulty was in operating away from the coast. Where his ships could reach, he was supreme, so it should come as no great surprise that his base was on a river that stretched into the richest lands of the east coast, and that another was available nearby for striking into Agard.

It must be understood, however, the extent to which the Five Kingdoms were rent with feuds and war prior to the invasion from the north. Irvis' solution to his own problem was to find the riders from among the locals who were willing to throw in with him for whatever reason. Their knowledge of the byways of the peninsula was far greater than his, and they could serve as scouts and messengers with remarkable ability.

From this base the King's Messengers arose. There are usually no more than thirty of them at any one time, but their purpose is to carry news relevant to the crown across the entire kingdom. If a noble dies, or a raid occurs across the border, or a taxman is found murdered, one or more ride from the site to all the relevant locations carrying the information.

Positions in the Messengers are passed on semi-hereditarily, which is to say that they are recommended from among their extended family by any current or former rider. Since their origin is the mixed Firin and southern Rhérionese who inhabited the Prenniam prior to the founding of the kingdom, this means that there are few purely Northern riders. Those that are descend from the generation after the invasion when Irvis placed a few within what might have become a focus of native resistance to his rule. The Messengers are thus split somewhat into factions between the natives (who have, to be sure, remained as loyal as any other royal foundation) and those who were once -- to be blunt -- people who spied on them.

Money

The currency of Irvisa is based around a silver coin called a tiercet. Most medium-sized transactions are denominated in these, but smaller ones are made using the arra instead, a copper coin worth one-eighth of a tiercet. Much rarer is the noble, which is nominally a gold coin worth twelve tiercets. However, there's very little gold mining in Irvisa, so gold coins are more often from foreign countries. In practice, only the nobility and rich merchants will ever own any nobles. Instead, the nible is used as a unit of money in prices, with the understanding that the purchaser is going to offer up 12 silver coins instead.

The arra is a fairly large coin, about an inch in diameter. The tiercet is the size of an American (or Canadian) penny, while the noble is smaller still.

Besides the Irvisan currency, two other silver coins show up quite often. The haldis is a silver coin minted by the League of Eintwarr, and so appears in ports where Hollensmen trade. The regnier is the silver coin minted by many of Rhérion's former possessions in the south. There is quite a bit of variation in those coins, depending on their country of origin, so most merchants will insist on weighing them and only offering their bullion value (which may be anywhere from a 10% premium to a loss of 25%). In contrast Eintwarr's currency is considered sound, so haldises are often accepted at face value.

That said, Irvisa's own currency is in parlous shape. In order to finance the late civil war, Perin II had to debase the silver coinage with copper. With bigger problems at hand, it was also difficult for the crown to keep up with counterfeiters and other criminals who clipped coins. There are even coins that have been re-struck by the rebellious Duke with his own emblem, which are technically not legal but in circulation anyway. It's expected that the King will be announcing a mandatory re-smelting and minting of all coins in the next year or two as part of his efforts to re-establish peace and good governance.