The Economy

Gold & the Ledger

Gold is the server's single global currency. Every movement of gold is recorded on an append-only ledger — the source of truth that makes balances safe to display anywhere and duplication exploits impossible.

Banking

Deposit gold into your virtual bank account to keep it safe and to participate in the automatic side of the economy — rent, for example, is pulled from bank accounts on a schedule.

The Market

Essences are the backbone of trade. Every essence drop is a decision: use it, consume it as a duplicate, or sell it. Because deep-zone essences are rare and dangerous to farm, the market is how their power eventually reaches everyone — at a price set by risk. Towns and above host local marketplaces where residents buy and sell.

Settlement Economics

Each settlement keeps its own books — a sub-ledger under the global ledger, with its own treasury.

• Sales tax (City+): set by the owner within a server-capped range. The cap protects residents; the rate within it is politics.
• Rent: pulled automatically from tenants' bank accounts into the treasury.
• Upkeep: drawn automatically from the treasury, scaling superlinearly with claim size — big empty claims bleed out, populated cities pay for themselves.

Where Gold Goes to Die

Deliberate gold sinks keep the currency valuable:

• Settlement founding costs and tier upgrades
• Protection upkeep, always ticking
• Burned war-bond halves from failed sieges
• Material-consuming abilities that eat valuable items per cast