Historical Overview
Founding
In 222 AM,
House Melac - the treasurers of the
Thewisy family - founded
the Moneychanger, one of the first coffeehouses in
Somae. The Melac family had made much of their money, and their reputation, from partnerships formed to bring and sell goods on one-off voyages to the East. This new business of theirs formalized that, becoming a base for merchants, insurers, and sailors.
The crowd there traded news about weather, pirates, travel, and most importantly currency and commodity rates. The Melacs began taking note of numismatic data in ledgers, compiling a professional accounting of the value of various currencies, near and far, old and new. This allowed them to easily bypass Anharan currency exchange laws, which at the time vested a monopoly in the
Bank of Anhara. Instead, they took currencies and issued certificates for their present value, redeemable at their coffeehouse.
The strictness with which House Melac treated all currencies, even to the detriment of Anharan traders, endeared them to the Tahati. By the time the Bank of Anhara's monopoly ended, the Melac family sought to capitalize on this trust by journeying to Sarenbar themselves, with the intent of further easing trade restrictions.
Commercial Revolution
The economy of Anhara had always been overwhelmingly credit-based, from tiny loans between farmers to
Bank of Anhara branches in major cities. In the 300s, Eastmarch Bank & Trust (soon to formally have that name) began innovating new methods to deal with the booming trade between
Somae and
al-Tahat. The long, dangerous, ocean-going route between Somae and Far-
Serenbar required a highly impersonal and decentralized means of transferring money.
In the early 300s, Lord
Gaerith Melac's storied voyage to Far-Serenbar took place. His meetings with, and surety given to, various Tahati leaders established enough credit to allow Tahati and Anharan merchants to use promissory notes. These documents opened up trade by reducing the risk of losing goods or hard currency on long journeys, leading to a commercial boom.
Quickly, the Eastmarch Bank & Trust began issuing insurance policies, negotiable instruments, loans to merchants and traders, and dealing in securities. These various components of the Anharan commercial boom led to an explosion, and increased complexity, in trade with the East.
Architectural Overview
Location
The Eastmarch Bank & Trust was built near the site of the original
Moneychanger. At that point, the coffeehouse was on the corner of the Learned Path and High Street, a major intersection in the city. After House Melac decided to construct the current bank, they purchased a strip of houses and leveled them to create Tatirlae (Exchange Street) - displacing some of the last lower middle-class homes in Highgrove.
The bank was now at the corner of three streets, with the Tatirlae soon to become a valuable piece of property. House Melac sold off parcels there to various new companies, from insurance brokers to
Sirs Brodie, Fane, & Hamlyn, reaping even more benefits from the commercial revolution they began.
Structure
Exterior
The Eastmarch Bank & Trust was constructed as a direct slight to the
Bank of Anhara. The most prominent feature of the building is its dome of imported
bluestone, rare for an Age of Men structure, rising just slightly higher than
Meridia's Bank of Anhara branch.
The dome sits atop two-tiered layers of stone. The highest contains windows, hidden from the sight of those below due to their setback beyond the lower tier. The lower tier contains recessed arches adding depth, similar to how a domed structure would be supported in Meridia, but merely decorative carvings rather than allowing air through.
The structure itself is on a forty-five-degree angle, at the intersections of the Tatirlae, Learned Path, and High Street. The half-hexagonal red sandstone steps lead up to grand bronze doors, decorated with depictions of House Melac's history, especially their journey east.
Interior
The interior of the structure features smooth tiled floors, with its grouting speckled with silver dust. The tiles have depictions in their center of the scales of Cothrum, used for establishing uniform weights and measurements, and the needle of House Melac, an old method of checking the metal content of coins.
Most notable however is the ceiling. While the dome evokes Meridian architecture, the
Galaan style's penchant for grand murals and painted ceilings takes over. A smaller interior dome sits beneath the exterior one, creating a space in between used for offices. The dome's four pendentives depict the four key aspects of the Golden Age of Somae.
Wisdom
There is a depiction of Wisdom, with the word itself in a scroll held by a figure of
Ealaine, the goddess of art and academics, and
Galaad II Thewisy, the second of the great builder-lords. Within the rest of the pendentive are depictions of the
Library,
Academy, and various
Crimson Quills.
Commerce
Another pendentive depicts Commerce, the word's scroll being held by
Cothrum, god of commerce, and
Gaerith Melac. Within the remainder is a depiction of Somae at the smallest, bottom-most point, and around the top, various depictions of Tahati cities. Ships with exaggerated cargos of goods such as coffee, dyes, and gold flow south towards their inevitable destination of Somae at the bottom - showing the city's status as the foremost eastern trade port.
Power
The pendentive depicting power has its scroll held by
Enech, the god of chivalry, and by
Galindaan IV Thewisy, the first rural
Rhetorlord and the Thewisy who received the surrender of
House Caersea. The top of the remainder depicts the castles and watchtowers of the
Stonewebs in an arch to fit all of them,
Oeisryn on the left,
Caerseat on the right. Within the center are the various islands battled for with
Tahat, and at the bottom, depictions of the lost castles on the
Julfar coast.
Justice
The last pendentive's scroll says Justice, held by
Vestria, the Ruling Goddess of Anhara, and
Gaerith II Thewisy, who rebuilt Somae and reorganized the region's legal and administrative systems after
the Threshing. Around the middle of the pendentive are the traveling courts, going between the various administrative units created by Gaerith II in the Trifling Fields, including some of the southern
Blossom Fields - at the time contested territory.
Dome Zodiac
The interior of the actual dome features nine panels, depicting each of the signs of the zodiac, backed by the blue of the bluestone, lending it a rather ethereal appearance. In order: the Guardian, represented by a stone tower; the Augur, represented by an open eye; the Ascetic, represented by a mountain peak; the Swordsman, represented by a longsword; the Tempest, represented by a swirl; the Sage, represented by a scroll; the Shade, represented by a cloaked figure; the Scholar, represented by a torch; and the Cleric, represented by the sun.
Comments