Carpals

The most commonly traded currency in the time of ashes is carpal bones found in the human wrist.
Following the Cataclysm, most survivors operated via simple, barter trades and any form of common currency was rare. The most numerous coins in circulation of the before, the "Chunks" of New Chumdunk and the "Meeds" of the Western Dynasties had low percentages of precious metals and it was common knowledge that criminal counterfeiters in Dagoth were flooding the markets with forgeries and fake coins. With soft, low melting point metals being a rarity, many of the old world's coins were melted down into tools and trinkets.
In the rebuilding of what was lost, many survivors settled on a token of trade that was numerous, easy to carry, and difficult to counterfeit. They settled on the bones of the dead. The skeletons of the lost provided carpal bones by the hundreds, a new backbone (pun intended) to a rebuilding economy of trade and commerce.
All carpal bones are alike in value, regardless of size, though utlizing the bones of children is oft regarded as crass and impolite. Survivors have learned to recognize true carpals and can distinguish them at a glance from similar bones, like tarsals, and fashioned forgeries. An unforeseen consequence of this system, all people have access to some currency innately, at the cost of one of their hands. Beggars with two hands are seen as greedy and rarely have success. The most truly destitute have arms ending in stumps below the elbow.
While the most populous settlements rely on carpal based trade, smaller or more isolated areas only recognize materially valued goods. However, even in these remote backwaters, usually a merchant or an Edger from lands beyond willing to exchange some bones can be found.

Item type

Currency & Deeds