Ancient Coins and Klackon Cordage

(or, "of Knots and Numismatics")

Two sets of loot taken from the underworld of the Tel al Safina in recent weeks defied simple liquidation into lucre: a large collection of ancient and foreign coinage retrieved from a crypt in Colossian Temenos, and a small library of khipus--intricately knotted strands of silk, variously dyed and strung together, and thus comprising "written" records--taken from the so-called Sixth House of Attine Klackons in their Great Spire.

All credit to Torkol of the Survivors of the Tel here, for it was his efforts in the last couple weeks, on behalf of his comrades, that led to the sale of the one, and the interpretation of the other. So:

The Numismatic Nightmare

Confronted with the hoard of coins--silver, gold, electrum; dinars, guineas, thalers, drachmae and pentadrachmae; from the mints of Gadeed, of Misra, of distant Solwe--the adventurers' first thought was to seek out a moneychanger to convert the lot into something easily useable. Unfortunately, such services would come with a fee of 10% of the total value thus changed, not a small amount when the estimated value is around 8600 gold ...

Fortunately, Torkol stepped up to volunteer his time to find someone willing to buy the collection entire and at its full value, rather than going through a moneychanger. After all, Torkol has made a number of friendships throughout the city, including the proprietors of Cothon-Under-Star, the Free Klackons of whom Ix is a member, and the noble Bani al Rashid as well. Seeking out these contacts, Torkol found little immediate interest, but was directed by Zendaya al Rashid to a certain other house, where he received an offer of 8000 gold for the lot ... a little better than the 7740 that would remain after the moneychanger ...

But fortunately, he remembered one other contact--not "his" contact, exactly, but a personage known to fellow Survivor Ravna: the mysterious green-eyed Khadra al Qamari. Sending a message up to her from Under-Star, Torkol was thence collected by some of her green-and-silver-liveried servants, and led up through the streets to the old Klackon tower in which the lady makes her abode. Inside, observing a number of ancient weapons and strange artefacts, Torkol felt he had come to the right person to sell the old coins--and indeed, the Lady Khadra agreed to pay the full estimated value of 8600 gold. Her only condition was that Torkol and his compatriots in the Survivors consider it a kind of investment:

"I'll expect you and your heroic friends to venture once more into those crypts," she tells Torkol, peering at him with green eyes over a silver veil as the two sip wine over the deal. "Soon! And this time, you'll come to me first with anything interesting--especially anything to do with Dalan and the Moon."

The Cut

• 1620 gold each to Avin, Sesel, Ravna, and Durham
• 810 gold each to Vlana and Ix
• perhaps Torkol deserves a share of some kind?

The Klackon Khipus

Ever busy, Torkol thereafter embarked on the project of identifying the topics of the various khipus collected by his compatriots on their recent delve into the Sixth House. This he did mostly alone, using his personal knowledge of the Klackon language (being an interpreter by trade), wishing to avoid bruiting too publicly just what was discovered in the Spire.

A number of the works were seized merely because of their valuable appearance--fine silks, delicate dyes, elaborately decorative knots. These mostly comprise a variety of Klackon romances and epics, annals and pedigrees. Altogether, they can be sold for about 1600 gold.

More than a few, however, are of a more particular nature, covering topics of metallurgy on the one hand, and alchemy and "biochemistry" on the other hand. No doubt these could be sold to the right buyer for a tidy sum--immediately to mind are Cothon-Under-Star for the alchemical works, or the Barcidae for the metallurgical works. But taken together, and with certain notes found on a much earlier foray, as well as the Barcid-codex taken on the same delve as these khipus, the works all form a small collection that could become the core of a library. The topics would be rather narrow and obvious:

• metallurgy generally, the creation of good metals or alloys for a variety of purposes, though most especially for weapons and armor;
• alchemy, particularly involving the fungal predilections of the Klackons, paralyzants, creature-venoms, and antivenins; and
• biological studies of certain creatures within the Tel; only certain creatures are represented, but the studies could be taken as an archetype to begin a new study on a different creature

There are also two spellbooks amongst the collection:

Jabborg and the Thunderbolt
A copy and translation of a Barcid hero-song detailing the labors of Jabborg as he fashioned the legendary weapon of the storm-god. Many lines have been glossed by Klackon explanations and similar verses from Klackon epics are added by way of comparison.
II. heat metal, resist fire
III. striking

The Pale Beetle Under the Knife
This work is a detailed study of an alien creature discovered in the bowels of the Tel. It includes a number of detailed explanations of dissections, as well as chemical and biological analyses of the creature's venom sacs, reproductive organs, etc. Following are philosophical musings, noting that the creatures almost seem to have been bred or created specifically to hunt and kill Klackons. The cosmic horror of this implication--that a higher intelligence would devise new creatures specifically for such a purpose--pervades the work ...
As an original spellbook, this work really communicates the author's sense of cosmic dread, and a magic-user who has learned and memorized spells from it, and who studies the work semi-regularly, is able to impose a -1 penalty to saves against fear rolled against his or her own spells.
I. cure light wounds
III. paralyzation, fear

The Cut

• 200 gold and xp each to Sesel, Avin, Ravna, Durham, Bartholomew, and Heijo
  
• 100 gold and xp each to Vlana and Gan ad Din
• the library and spelbooks--what to do with them, whether to sell them off or divide them or whatever, is left up to the player-characters