Lore Page: The Grand Archives of Factions (New Entry - The Third Coin)
The Sovereign
Guiding Philosophy & Origin: The Currency of a Lost Age The Sovereign is not a coin; it is a memory, an artifact of a hope that has long since turned to dust. It is the only surviving currency of the fallen Kingdom of Aeridor, the last great human kingdom that stood for diplomacy and unity before the rise of the Iron Tyranny. Each Sovereign was minted in a lost age, forged from a unique and now-unrepeatable process, and its value comes not just from its material rarity, but from the powerful, tragic symbolism it carries. It is the currency of kings, of dragons' hoards, and of a beautiful, terrible, and forgotten dream.
Appearance: A Sovereign is a large, heavy coin, significantly larger and thicker than a common Shard. It is forged from a unique alloy of pure gold infused with the dust of crushed Glimmers. This gives the coin an impossible, beautiful appearance: it is not a flat, dull yellow, but a deep, warm gold that seems to hold a faint, internal, silvery light, as if it has swallowed a piece of a star. One side bears the profile of the last king of Aeridor, his face a mask of noble, tragic sorrow. The other, and more important, side bears the kingdom's symbol: a stylized, beautiful, and unbroken sun.
The Economy of Legends (Who Uses It & Why): The Sovereign is the rarest form of tangible currency that a person can possess. Its circulation is almost exclusively among the highest echelons of power and the deepest corners of the underworld.
The Great Powers (The Hoarders): Rulers like Emperor Gaius and Queen Aeliana do not spend Sovereigns; they hoard them in their deepest vaults as the ultimate measure of their wealth, a treasure that is as much a work of art as it is a currency. High Sovereign Caspian is rumored to despise them, seeing the symbol of an old, failed kingdom as an impurity, and will often have them melted down.
Borin Stonehand (The Banker): The Merchant King of Hollowgate is one of the few who will openly trade in Sovereigns, as his vaults are the only ones trusted to test their authenticity. To make a purchase in Sovereigns is the ultimate display of "fuck you" wealth.
The Truly Desperate: A common person might find a single Sovereign in a forgotten ruin. That single coin would be enough to buy a small army, a ship, or safe passage to the farthest corners of the world. But to be seen with one is to paint a target on your own back, for it is a treasure that men would kill for without a moment's hesitation.
The Unflinching Truth (The Forging and the Rarity): The secret of the Sovereign's creation died with the forges of Aeridor. They were created in a unique, magical process where master smiths would heat the gold to a molten state and then, at the moment of striking, a master mage would shatter a Glimmer, infusing the raw, magical energy of the crystal directly into the metal. This is what gives the coin its unique, internal light and makes it impossible to perfectly counterfeit. When the kingdom of Aeridor fell, the mines that produced the gold were lost, the mages who knew the ritual were slaughtered, and the forges were turned to slag and ruin. There will never be another Sovereign minted. Every single one that exists is a beautiful, terrible, and priceless relic of a world that is gone forever.