Treasure and Valuables

Although some think poorly of robbing the dead, the war with Eldersire had come upon us suddenly, and it was only through judicious plunder – arms and armour, sure, but also boots that would see most of our forces through the winter – that we were able to hold our own. ‘Tis true that Harodom has the finest iron mines in the known world, and I’d be just as happy to have a home-forged sword as soon as they finish digging it up and sharpening it.

• Quartermaster Aleia Vendt, Thoughts on the Early Days of the Eldersire War (2020 A.T.)

Treasure to the errant adventurer can take many forms. Although coins, gems, and jewellery are the most obviously negotiable forms of wealth, those plunging into ruins and tombs, as well as cleaning up the battlefield, may find that there are other, less immediately obvious forms of wealth. Weapons, armour, equipment, and even sundry items like cloth, coal, leather, wood and unworked steel, are all of value to someone: the adventurer who knows how to spot them can line their pockets with gold!

Appraising Items

Most items have some measure of value, associated with the materials required to make them, the ease or difficulty of their manufacture, and their utility to a theoretical user. In general, the requirements for an item’s construction will carry the lion’s share of this assessed value (not to be mistaken for worth, which is as always considerably more ephemeral). Those trained to Appraise items will usually be able to determine what price the market will bear.

Although some may buy or sell items at this price, this appraised value is not absolute. Merchants are likely to purchase items for less than their full appraised price, and may sell items for more than their appraised price, as a way of making money. It may be reasonably assumed that an appraised price represents a sort of anchor, which gives the general neighbourhood of value for an item or items.

Merchants and Selling

Although recovered items may be sold to other people in an area, accessing broader markets requires the experience and know-how of a skilled Merchant, who has built up the contacts and the know-how to make sales to larger outside markets. Even the most skilled merchants may not be able to get a hundred copper to the gold of assessed values, as the costs of caravan guards, transport, drayage, and shop fees eat into the hopeful profit margin.

While merchants can handle even very rare or niche goods, truly unique items, including most items made from special materials, and many magic items, may require dedicated, specialized work to sell – such items are often sold by appointment only, and often require contacts within the nobility or specialized collectors, for who else would have the money to buy such wonders?

Gems, Coins, and Precious Metals

One place where trade occurs almost at par is in the case of gems, trade ingots of precious metals, and coin. Often serving as a form of ‘reserve currency’, gems are also a way in which trades can occur between nations which do not share a currency, as a way of avoiding money changing fees. Useful in the crafting of vessels, gems have a value staked to the amount of magical energy they can hold, leading to a stabilizing effect on their price. For this reason – and others – gems are a preferred currency for those who would rather the question of who is paying for what go unasked.

Within the Lakes Region, coins can be traded nearly at parity no matter what nation minted them, as the Continental Trade Agreement substantially standardized the size of coins and their comparative value among nations signatory to the agreement. Coins minted before that date, or which were minted in adversarial or sufficiently distant nations may have different values, often calculated relative to the dross weight of the precious metals from which they were coined, or in some rare cases, their value to collectors.

Harvested Resources

Adventurers can find value in just about anything, but sometimes it takes some considerable work to extract it. Herbalists and Physicians can extract glands from venomous or other valuable monsters, sometimes allowing them to gain valuable crafting components, or useful materials and tools. Hunters can sometimes skin defeated animals, providing hides for tanning and leatherworking.

Some rare creatures can also be sources for magical components, although collecting such components will often require specialized skills or tools to extract these components in such a way that the magic remains intact and useful.

Authored by: Andrew Dunlop
Fantasy Alive Lore Team 2026
Copyright © Endless Adventures Ontario