Wealth Mountain is an ancient structure in the far away, uninhabitable northeast. It's taller than any other peak, protected by an unfathomable monster, and apparently filled to the brim with precious goldatinum metal.
Four goblins, all of which ha...
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As the crew set sail northwards aboard their new pirate ship, Drek returned from below deck with a small but substantial treasure chest. "Ayerrghegh, aye found some plunder in the captain's quarters," Drek announced in his best attempt at a scratchy pirate voice. The goblin proudly dropped his chest on the ground near the rest of the crew, making a loud THUMP! as it hit the wooden deck.
"Rrghegh, and there's no more pirates below deck," Drek added. "The ship is ours, and this plunder is mine! It'll be the perfect start to my fortune as king of Ratter."
"Royalty is a dumb concept..." Kashmir muttered in Elvish. "Being rich doesn't make you a good leader..."
Drek rubbed his hands together with excitement, unable to hear or understand what the elf said. "Rrghegh, time to crack this open," he cheered. The young goblin reached for his belt, only to draw nothing. "...Oh yeah. I left knife in pirate kneecap," he remembered.
Kashmir rolled her eyes, and walked up to the chest. "Here," she said, flicking the lock with her bare finger. The metal lock made a sharp sizzling sound as a thin layer of frost began to form over it. She flicked it a second time, and it shattered as if made of glass.
"Rrghegh... that's more like it," Drek cheered. The young goblin quickly swiped away a few frigid bits of lock that were still in the way, then flipped the chest open.
The moonlight illuminated the contents of the chest like a spotlight to a stage. The crew of five looked with awe at the small fortune before them. Around a thousand goldatinum and iridhodium coins were scattered within the chest, with some reddish-blue rubiamonds and bluish-green sappheralds sprinkled into the pile as well.
"Hmmm, that's a lot of money, yes?" Colb exclaimed.
"AaAaaaaahhhh, that is more than even I currently have, yes it is," 27 noted. "These coins are interesting, too, yes they are. Quite different from the silvopper standard that we've seen elsewhere in the Human Empire."
Colb squinted at the coins in the moonlight. They were similar in shape and size to the basic silvopper coins from Cantia, but had a bearded pirate etched into them instead of that stern-looking Empress Cognemi woman.
"Rrghegh... that's how you know it's criminally-acquired wealth," Drek said with a grin. "You think Ratter goblins keep our currency in carefully portioned nuggets like the other tribes? Sure, sometimes – but we also trade in raw ore, and jewelry, and polished gemstones. A criminal takes whatever they can get their hands on, and doesn't follow the rules. Silvopper must've been too cheap for these guys, so they invented their own, better currency. Rrghegh, these pirates aren't so bad – it's almost a shame we had to fight them off and steal all their stuff. Almost."
Colb winced at the reminder of what this crew had done. Hmmm, stealing? Fighting? Killing? he thought. We're not being a very good influence on Kashmir...
