Agrula

 The Agrula is the international currency of the Kariaes Ocean. Based simply on the values of copper. silver, gold, and platinum, the Agrula is a remnant of a more unified Kariaes, with its origins dating back even before the Pillars and the Waves to the city of Thenmyr, where it was first proposed to neighboring cities in order to facilitate easier trade between them. The Agrula is considered by most scholars to be the beginning of when unified nations started to prop up around Kariaes, even under the overlordship of the dragons.  

Etymology and Origins

The name "Agrula" comes simply from the Laecen word "argulos," meaning money. The original inventors of the currency, the Thenmyri, called it the Arguloseoza, or "Money that will move (between people)." And overtime it was shortened into an easier to pronounce for most linguistic groups, and easier to remember "Agrula." Carrying the same generic meaning as it had in ages past.   The Agrula, as stated before, was the design and idea of the Thenmyri, more specifically an Elven man by the name of Saevel Shaharice, a Thenmyri diplomat and economist. Shaharice disliked the exchanging of currencies each time he ventured to a new city on business, and disliked even more how the value of goods seemingly changed on a whim. As such, he proposed a standardization of currency to the Thenmyri Clergy, the ruling council of Thenmyr at the time. The idea was staunchly opposed at first until a diplomat from another city, the city of Caquila, voiced his approval. This diplomat's name was Abelo Cakia, and he was well respected among the people of Thenmyr for his altruistic behavior and his seemingly magical ability to keep both Thenmyr and Caquila at peace with each other, despite their rivalry. To make the proposition more enticing, Cakia offered to adopt the currency as Caquila's official currency as well, which would support trade between the two cities, and may even end the rivalry between them, instead fostering a deep friendship that would allow them to dominate Southern Kariaes. With this notion, the Thenmyri Clergy was sold, and the currency was quickly adopted into both Thenmyr and Caquila and, as Cakia had suggested, forged a deep bond between the two cities, allowing them to spread and eventually form the Diarchical State of Maequi, coming from an old Elven word meaning unity.   As Maequi grew in power, its currency spread, with merchants soon refusing any other currency that wasn't the Agrula. It wasn't long before the Agrula spread all the North to the Dwarven tribes of the Cryuroz Heightth to the Dragonship Cities of the Far West in Dragon's Ridge. A truly universal currency, something ahead of its time.  

Coins and Operation

The Agrula was developed from the previous system of the Thenmyri, which used 4 different metals for a currency, which, in order of value, are: copper, silver, gold, and platinum. Each metal was valued differently, with no real standardization of values. There was no real coinage either, and all currency was weighed instead of counted, creating a highly inefficient system of bartering. Shaharice introduced a new system which he called "Coinage," creating a standard system of coins using each of the metals, and standardizing the amount of weight in each coin. To do this, Shaharice established the Gold Piece as a standard to set the value of each other coin. The following table shows the value of each coin relative to a gold piece.  

Coin/Metal	Value in GP	Brief Description of Coin
Copper Piece	1/100 gp	A solid copper coin with a design of a crescent moon on its face.
Silver Piece	1/10 gp	A solid silver coin; sized smaller than copper piece; design of a wagon on face
Gold Piece	1 gp	A gold coin with a copper interior; same size as a copper coin; face of a ruler
Platinum Piece	10 gp	A platinum coin with a copper filling; same size as a silver coin; face of a city