Ch. 2 - Pg. 20
KimLuster on Jan. 28, 2018
Yes, Rhiaan is a bit childish, even bratty, but she has her charms, and she will grow (probably too soon for her taste)!
Okay, the Praestarii thing… back in the early nineties (yeah, I know…) we use to play the table top game Vampire: the Masquerade. Per the game world setup, Vampires (being immortal and with vast powers) find accumulating monetary wealth ridiculously easy, so much so that in their society, money and possessions really don't have a meaningful impact with trading, positions of power, etc…
No, the coin of commerce amongst the Vampires was a system of oaths, boons, favors. Basically, they kept careful, meticulous track of anything and everything they ever did for another vampire, and it was understood that the recipient of the act must pay it back at some point, in some way. Nothing was done for nothing - altruism didn't really exists. And the web of favors and boons became complex indeed, but a Vampire was really only considered rich should she be owed a lot more than she owed out…
Anyway, I found the concept utterly fascinating, and this Praestarii thing is certainly inspired by it. The main difference is the kai-pact, and a certain emergent awareness of who owes who, thus, the people in this world don't have to keep mental records of all the favors owed! It's sorta intuitive…
And the s'sorriim. Pretty much everything worn by these everyone is living material shaped by s'sorriim. If something looks like fur, it really isn't… Anyway…
And I just discovered I overwrote many of my buffer pages for this story, so I'm very ill this morning…
Sigh… Life and Good Dreams!
Peipei at 12:05AM, Jan. 30, 2018
I love their views on doing business in the world! Their economy seems much more efficient, more balanced and a lot less corrupt than our world's current system!
KimLuster at 7:19AM, Jan. 30, 2018
Ha Yeah...Very True! But humans will always find ways to be corrupt!! It's in our nature :D
Tantz_Aerine at 10:17AM, Jan. 29, 2018
I find her cute.
KimLuster at 10:30AM, Jan. 29, 2018
They are cute... unless you have to raise one Ha!!
plymayer at 10:22PM, Jan. 28, 2018
Seems like a great way to do things.
KimLuster at 4:51AM, Jan. 29, 2018
:)
El Cid at 8:26PM, Jan. 28, 2018
There must be very little fraud in this Praestarii economy. A kai pact cheater would have a hard time getting anyone to do business with them. And I thought the credit bureaus were omniscient!
KimLuster at 10:06PM, Jan. 28, 2018
Yeah, without going into too much detail, the oaths and assents creates a sort of metaphysical bond, and there's also Kai-Arbiters than can read them should when it get's too complicated, or both understood the pact to mean something different... I have a sort of comprehensive vision of it all, but not sure we'll see it all in this story. I did chunk some of it over into my glossary though...
usedbooks at 6:08PM, Jan. 28, 2018
I especially like the hairstyles.
KimLuster at 6:41PM, Jan. 28, 2018
ha, see reply to FC!
fallopiancrusader at 5:40PM, Jan. 28, 2018
Great world-building going on here! Right down to the cool hairstyles
KimLuster at 6:41PM, Jan. 28, 2018
Thank you! Feels so strange to have my fashion actually liked haha
Jason Moon at 1:07PM, Jan. 28, 2018
Love the way she described her art. The younglings have a good art teacher
Jason Moon at 4:55PM, Jan. 28, 2018
Very cool :D
KimLuster at 3:42PM, Jan. 28, 2018
Thank you! Yes, it's an art, but also a necessary craft. The s'sorriim create pretty much all the clothing, armor, tools, etc. used by the folk!
tupapayon at 10:30AM, Jan. 28, 2018
That kai-pacy could be a little unsanitary... imagine how many exchanges of bacteria are done everytime... but I guess it's a good form of... exchange...?
tupapayon at 4:16PM, Jan. 28, 2018
Microbes could not be eliminated... life would be horrible...
KimLuster at 12:59PM, Jan. 28, 2018
In our world, certainly. But this is a transformed world, and biology has changed a bit as well!
Call Me Tom at 9:19AM, Jan. 28, 2018
The childish grow into the best or worse heroes.
KimLuster at 10:16AM, Jan. 28, 2018
That's... deep! :D
Banes at 9:02AM, Jan. 28, 2018
Loving this - a fascinating world of barter! I feel like I know this character, too, or people quite a bit like her at least!
KimLuster at 10:15AM, Jan. 28, 2018
Thank you very much... and yes I know people very much like her too!
bravo1102 at 7:33AM, Jan. 28, 2018
That oaths and favors have worth than coin exists in many more places than just table-top games about vampires. Once upon a time all transactions were promises because no money existed only the promise of a future good or service. Since a kiss cannot be recorded or produced as proof in a court, people carried individual seals that could be impressed in clay. And there were people who would record transactions. Before you know it you had writing.
KimLuster at 9:06AM, Jan. 28, 2018
Very true. Gold is ore from the ground. Money is fiber from plants. Bank tranations are electrical charges on chips. None have value in themselves, but what we assign to them, which represents our values, oaths, and promises. But if there was a way to track oaths and favors without all that (as the supernatural vampires could, and these folk can) it does make for a fascinating and alien feeling economy and society... imo, anyway!