The Temple of Inexhaustible Charity

The Great Vault of Yre from Kill Six Billion Demons by Tom Parkinson-Morgan

 

In the Capital, there is a temple. An unassuming facade of simple limestone blocks sets it apart from the ornamented marble cornices of the Temple of the Full Moon or the ebon sleekness of the Temple of the Lost Moon, but the supplicants that walk through its gates each day dwarf the worshipers of every other temple combined. For this is the Temple of Inexhaustible Charity, hoard of the God of Mercy and repository of the world's wealth.

The Root of Evil

At the heart of the Temple of Inexhaustible Charity's mission is the simple belief that money is the root of all evil. If we follow that to its logical end, argues the temple's priests, only those of unimpeachable morality can be trusted to handle it properly. Thus, the founding of the temple, a place where the evils of money can be locked away and tended only by those who can be trusted with the onerous task.

But the temple is not just a repository of wealth, it is also the conduit by which it flows amongst the world. For while a world without evil is desirable, no one has yet found a way to conduct the business of empire or commerce (the degree of difference between the two is much debated) without filthy lucre changing hands. Bowing to this necessity, the temple's founder, Propter Rex, proposed that priests of the God of Mercy handle the actual accounting of all money stored within the vaults of the project, a way to maintain day-to-day business without sullying the soul with precious metals and gems.

The temple's mission was met with initial resistance, but early adopters discovered that conducting business under the eye of an accountant-priest was considerably easier than transporting huge quantities of gold and silver from place to place. Not only that, but once the temple began to fill its subterranean vaults with deposits and donations, it was able to extend credit and offer loans to rich and poor alike. The material itself would stay in the vaults, of course, but the money is as good as yours. Low interest rates and deadlines placed far in the future ensure that the burden isn't onerous, but rest assured: the temple will see its offer repaid in full.

Factional Conflict

Behind the sandstone walls and carefully balanced scales of the Temple of Inexhaustible Charity, tension simmers between four factions of priests:

• Incrementalists, led by the aging High Enumerator Propter Rex VI, believe that the current path is the correct one. The wealth of the world is slowly but surely coming under the temple's purview. Some precious metals yet grace the walls of the temples of other gods, but since they are also under the care of pious individuals and not being used for commerce, that is of no particular concern. It has only been 378 years since the temple's founding after all, and saving mortality's souls is not a quick or easy task.
• Tokenists, led by Dinessa, the Enumerator of Ardz (a city renowned for its artisans and craftspersons, and the site of the first satellite branch of the Temple of Inexhaustible Charity), believe that it is not enough to seal away precious metals. Rather, they argue, all objects that inspire greed in the mortal heart must be removed from public life. It is a testament to their rising power that precious gemstones have recently been added to the vaults in addition to the traditional precious metals that coinage is made from, but they are not willing to stop their. The temple in Ardz has recently begun to store artwork for 'safekeeping,' issuing tokens of ownership in return to ensure that proper records are kept. News of this has just recently reached the Capital, and many priests are waiting with bated breath to see how the High Enumerator plans to respond.
• Purifiers, led by Plated Jailer Hart, believe that the accumulation of evil in the temple's vaults threatens the souls of all who live near them. Proponents of radical action, they have seized upon the idea of completely destroying their accumulated wealth in secret while running business as usual. Those outside the priesthood, they reason, never see or touch or taste the money that they already spend on a daily basis, so why risk keeping it around in the first place? The ultimate end of this argument, however, will inevitably bring them into conflict with those who wish to use gold, silver, and gems as decoration, but Purifier priests insist that that is a problem for the future.
• Unifiers have emerged naturally within the last few decades from innovations in magical communication. Telepathic connections between the central temple and extended branches has long been utilized, but permanent connection between itinerant accountant-priests on assignment to far away lands is a recent innovation. An emergent collective consciousness has recently begun to stand on its many feet, and its members have begun to posit that even the need for locking away tainted metal would be eliminated should everyone in the world be equally pure and moving in agreement with each other. Without an identified public face, Unifiers remain a political minority within the temple, but they are increasing their numbers as they spread the telepathic connection both within the temple and beyond it.

Adventure Hooks

The Temple of Inexhaustible Charity may seem like an unwelcome dash of modernity to many vaguely medieval fantasy campaigns, but remember that banks were an innovation of the Early Renaissance and predate things like rapiers by a good 100+ years. In any case, the Temple is a great source of its own internal quests and as an issuer of classic hooks:

• A merchant caravan has gone missing, and with it High Accountant Vessina, a likely contender to replace the aging High Enumerator. The Temple of Inexhaustible Charity is willing to pay (through their own system, of course) through the nose to recover her safe and sound. Should she belong to a particular faction within the Temple, though, another one (or more) may have equal incentive to keep her lost.
• Dragon hoards are dangerous to liberate, but represent a literal treasure trove of gold and jewels that the Temple needs to complete its mission. Enterprising adventurers seeking to slay a dragon may find the Temple of Inexhaustible Charity an eager partner, willing to outfit them in armor, weapons, and information in return for a cut of the loot.
• A wandering priest bequeathed you the gift of telepathy, but your dreams are suddenly full of a cacophony of voices urging you to spread it to the rest of your party.
• The evil contained in the Temple's vaults has broken out due to a mistake from a new member of the Cupric Jailers. In an unusual breach of their own secrecy, the Temple of Inexhaustible Charity has brought you in to slay the vile creatures spontaneously manifesting in their halls. But during the job, one member of your party sees something they've been looking for their whole life suddenly within their grasp...

Sources

The idea of this was inspired in primarily by the Inexhaustible Treasury of the Three Stages School of Buddhism, which I learned of in Debt: The First 5000 Years by David Graeber. It was also, as the opening picture suggests, somewhat inspired by the webcomic Kill Six Billion Demons.