Handelsgut Bell

Great Celeberation For the Handelsgut Bell's 200th Anniversary!

by Joachim Gerrengood

People all over Caramiza traveled from far and wide to join into the big celebration of Bealuki's famous icon for it's 200th anniversary.
"I can barely believe the bell is already this old!" says a youthful celebrator, slightly hunched over his walking stick, "I remember when I was a small kid, how it rang every day to open and close the markets! It was always impossible to sleep in after a night of celebrations!"

It has now been four years, since the Handelsgut Bell last rang to confirm a valid trade - ever since the scandal arround a supposed manipulation of the bell arose, which still remains an unsolved mystery. It is rumored that the original bell-clapper has been exchanged by a fake, taking with it the fabled magical properties of the Handelgsut Bell.

But that does not stop the people of Bealuki from celebrating their iconic symbol of fair trade in the name of Maned and with a lot of Dwarven Trader's Ale.

The Handelsgut Bell describes both the ritual symbol of every successfully closed trade deal as well as the original, ancient Handelsgut Bell in the Caramiza's capital Bealuki.
The Handelsgut Bell was forged by a group of five craftsmen in the year 1497 who claimed to have been blessed by Maned personally. Its corpus is made of Copper with a Bronze layer on top of it. The bell-clapper is from an unknown steel alloy, a combination that lends the bell a very unique sound. On the corpus are engraved the Seventyfour Litanies of Trade.

If you want to be having a fair trade, don't just trust that guy. Go with him on the market and make the trade under the Handelsgut's ringing. Nobody will break that deal and trust is no longer needed.

Ever since its first installation. the Handelsgut Bell would always be rung when a trade dispute was resolved by a Tauschwart's judgment. It was said that the bell only rang when the judgment was fair for the parties and the trade became magically binding for all parties. It became in fact almost impossible to break a contract forged during the ringing of the Handelsgut Bell.
The Handelsgut Bell is in fact magic, there is no doubt about it. Some clerics and magicians have determined the main magical power is within the bell clapper which in turn resonates with the engraved trade rules on the bell. This will spread the power of these rules with its ringing sound to all that can hear it.

A Symbol of Trade

Even though the Handelsgut Bell is unique, it became a symbol of trade deals and of the trade-related jurisdiction. Whenever a Tauschwart makes a judgment concerning trades, he will ring a bell afterward to signify the finality of the judgment. This porcess is unique to Caramiza, where a trade court under the grace of Maned exists side by side with the normal judiciary, but the symbol of a bell to signify major and irreversible decisions is spread in other nations as well.

The Scandal of the Bell

"We hereby decree that from this day on the Handelsgut Bell in Bealuki shall no longer ring. This will be true until the mysterious circumstances of the bell's dissonant sounds is solved to the satisfaction of our majesty."

In 1692, after the Bell was silent for a few weeks due to restoration efforts, the people complained afterward that the sound of the bell had become different and almost unbearable. Investigations started if the bell was exchanged with a copy. Rumor has it, that a politician wanted to make a lucrative trade deal under false pretense and needed to have the bell not force him into magically upholding that deal. These allegations could never be proven but forced several appointed ministers to step down in disgrace. To this day the bell is silent.

Other Details

There has been a famous instance, where a trade made under the Handelsgut Bell was actually broken. The process is difficult to repeat, as it involved the destruction of several barrels of high-quality rum, a crocodile, the manipulation of a mago-mechanical clocktower, and the eruption of a volcano.

The effects of the bell being auditory and some single instances of treachery led to an unfortunate and shameful period of time, where people in Caramiza did not trust in the contracts made with people of bad hearing. Being unable to properly hear or at all became a sign of untrustworthiness.

A group of teenagers is daring people to climb the market tower and ring the bell. The locals will warn reckless adventurers that being too close to the ringing bell could place upon you a curse of truth-telling.

A shady merchant claims he has knowledge of the bell's true location. He also claims that there is more to the bell then just the trade binding ringing and he is searching for people that would accompany him in his quest to retrieve it.

Item type

Unique Artifact

Rarity

Unique

Dimensions

3m diameter, 5m high

Central Symbol of Trade in Caramiza
Careful: Spoilers

The bell clapper inside the original Handelsgut Bell is in fact one of the Manedir, the hammer's head. And yes, it was exchanged during the renovations and is now hidden at an unknown location.