The Vault of the First Princeps

Lodia ate a spoonful of parfait, then frowned. "So before you all used paper money, you used colored metal?"
Rathnait smiled at that, though the other cafe patrons gave the two aside glances. "Gold and silver, yes. After the First Princeps unified Etoile, all gold and silver in the form of currency was required to be exchanged for paper Florins, under penalty of treason."
The younger girl leaned back in her chair. "I suppose that transition must have been pretty difficult - people who grew up all their lives thinking something was valuable, when it suddenly becomes not valuable."
"Gold and silver are still valuable. They're just not currency anymore." The trader sipped her tea. "Florins are a lot easier to keep track of."
"So what happened to all the gold and silver the First Princeps took in? The physical material, I mean. I assume the coins were melted down." Lodia pursed her lips.
"Nobody knows for certain. What is certain is that there's far less gold and silver in circulation than there used to be, and treasure hunters have been guessing at this for years upon years. The most common drinking story is that he put it all in a big vault somewhere for his own use, in case Etoilean unification didn't work out and he had to go back to being the leader of Nasse." Rathnait poured another cup of tea. "Others say that he dumped it all in the ocean, or he made a gigantic statue of himself hidden somewhere in Saibh."
"Now that would be a sight. And I assume anyone telling that story will mention how he gave his statue a massive golden member as well?" Lodia giggled.

Summary

Though there are several myths about the fate of the gold and silver of the First Princeps, the most prominent is that of the Vault. Somewhere in Saibh, there exists an underground chamber holding all the wealth of pre-Etoile Saibh. The First Princeps, in an effort to break the old world and invent the new, took all of the wealth of the old - precious metals, valuable art, cultural emblems, all of it - and locked it away so that the world could start afresh. The vault was built solely by the First Princeps with the assistance of gigantic Power machine prototypes that could move mountains, so that none other than he and Nairie Solitus would know its location.

Historical Basis

Upon the issuing of the Principality Trade Florin, all gold and silver currency was to be turned in and replaced with paper. The Principality of Etoile took in massive amounts of gold and silver, and careful records indicated that the people turning in their gold received the correct Florins in kind, but no records indicate what happened to the precious metals. Various investigations over the years have turned up nothing other than that the First Princeps took a personal interest - though, with his status as leader of Etoile and with the ability to spend as many Florins as he required, it is difficult to say whether the gold and silver represented any actual wealth to him at this stage.
It remains a fact that, as gold and silver are not easily destroyed, the precious metal cache is probably still in existence, somewhere.

Spread

The story of the Vault is widespread, as the mystery of what happened to the gold is real, but it's simply one of many stories attempting to explain the disappearance of the gold.

Variations & Mutation

The other common variation of this myth is simply that the gold and silver was dumped into the Feryll Sea at some point. This makes for a much less interesting story, which explains its relative unpopularity.

Cultural Reception

Treasure hunters have sought out the Vault occasionally, but their failures and the tight-lipped response from the Principality of Etoile has made the myth more of a children's fable than a legitimate lost treasure.

Date of First Recording

~650

Date of Setting

~630