☠ SHARD CURRENCY SYSTEM:
1. Ash Shards (as)
→ Small, rough-cut glass or alloy fragments, blackened and dull, often salvaged from ruins.
→ Used for daily trade: food, supplies, low-grade weapons, transport.
→ They're chipped, common, and hold little glow—but enough value for survival.
Conversion:
100 Ash Shards = 1 Ember Shard
2. Ember Shards (es)
→ Smooth, hexagonal shards with faint inner glow, forged from higher-grade neural glass or alloy core.
→ Used for most trade—gear, relic parts, mercenary fees, bribes, tavern tabs.
→ The glow signifies authenticity—fakers often get executed, publicly.
Conversion:
25 Ember Shards = 1 Crown Shard
3. Crown Shards (cs)
→ Pristine, razor-edged relic fragments—cut from royal neural glass, often etched with faint, ancient runes.
→ Glows softly, sometimes hums under certain light—near impossible to fake convincingly.
→ Used for high-level deals: rare relics, assassinations, ship charters, noble bribes.
→ Some believe Crown Shards carry echoes of the empire's buried memories—but no one's dumb enough to test that in daylight.
☠ CURRENCY NOTES:
Runebound Shards — Ultra-rare variants that pulse stronger, sometimes affecting nearby relics. Highly prized by collectors and sorcerers.
Ghost Shards — Counterfeits made with cursed glass or unstable alloys—dangerous, often illegal, but still traded in black markets.
Burnweight — Slang for crushing debt measured in Shards; the higher the Burnweight, the more likely someone comes collecting… violently.
☠ EXAMPLES OF VALUE:
Bread, water, and basic supplies: 5–10 Ash Shards
Basic short sword or armor repairs: 20 Ember Shards
Skilled mercenary hire: 1–3 Crown Shards
Black market relic purchase: 5+ Crown Shards
Passage across dangerous borders: 2–4 Crown Shards
Contract for assassination or sabotage: 10+ Crown Shards