Temple to Chamadarst
Nel started off inconspicuously enough. International trade was extremely limited at the time for Yaralon, for they'd not yet spread across the globe, and hardly anyone knew they existed. Precious metals like gold and silver were rare, but weren't desired in a city always on the brink of starvation and built upon a hardened, practical mindset. Nel began a little game of his own crafting, one that only he knew was being played. He had two coins, made of gold, with a series of overlapping circles on one side on both of the coins. However, the difference was the other side, for on one there was a visage of Raskalarn, a face known to those who had marched on her capital with the First Company. On the other coin, her rival, Ethelynda, who had visited Yaralon shortly after its official founding.
And so, the game began. Nel sought to see which coin could change hands the most, and which coin could be traded for an object of the most perceived value. Nel traded the Raskalarn coin away for a particularly dense loaf of bread, made from a grass seed in the region. The Ethelynda coin was given to a woman who in thanks for helping Nel load his cart of goods. For ten arcs, Nel tracked these coins finding pleasure each time a surprising transaction popped up. On the final trial of the tenth arc, Nel could only smile, as the results were both surprising, and yet not. The Raskalarn coin had been exchanged by a Yari man, to a woman from the Eternal Empire. She'd held the sword of the man's father, taken by her own father after he slew the other. The Ethelynda coin, on the other hand, had exchanged hands far beyond the Raskalarn coin, used a lot more often for services than goods. And so, the game ended with a tie, a suitable finish for the immortal disguised as a man.
And so, amused by his game, Nel proceeded to slowly add more of the coins, some with Raskalarn's face, others with Ethelynda's into the local economy. He kept this up for many arcs, always adding more when he came back to Yaralon from his travels. Eventually, the man became synonymous with the coins, and soon, they were simply called Nels.
The temple was constructed in Arc 183 by a priest of Chamadarst. The priest had come from a nearby city known as Nashaki, and upon arriving in Yaralon, seeing the coins, the man knew Chamadarst had been here before him. And so, using the fortune he'd amassed as a merchant in the desert town, he built the massive temple that has been improved upon and kept pristine to the modern age.
The temple is large enough to practically be its own, smaller city, and is the first thing that travelers coming through the Gold Gate see. Many of the priests live within its walls, and other acolytes and disciples can be seen busy at work, all carrying a Nelstaff, the weapon of choice for those of the temple. The temple serves many important functions for the city, and employs a wide range of people. The temple serves as a place of honor for conducting large or important trade agreements. Every single foreign contract is signed in the temple under the watch of one of the many priests, and stored in the archives. It also serves as a bank in Yaralon, storing people's nels for them, though they do not conduct loan within the temple.
The temple also mints the local nels, with either Raskalarn's or Ethelynda's visage upon them. This process is only conducted by the priests of Chamadarst, overseen by the High Priestess, an Exalted follower. Chamadarst communicates with this woman to determine how many of each type of nel should be minted and put into circulation via the wages paid to their employees. The final service the temple offers is to upgrade a person to full citizenship through the ritual of upgrading the Silver Circle to the Gold Circle. Prior to this ritual, typically there is some proof of employment or business ownership. This is most often corroborated by having people join you to the temple to serve as a reference person. This might be a coworker, a neighbor, a boss. The only requirement for these references is that they must already be a Gold Circle marked individual.
High Priestess
If you wish to seek employment here as a member of the priesthood or their disciples, as a banker, as a copier, or other jobs, apply for them in the Jobs and Wages thread.
Developed by: Aegis