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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Zhure" data-source="post: 638216" data-attributes="member: 308">My favorite fantasy bank scenario:Popular church offers to sponsor a young knight as he travels across the continent on a pilgrimage or quest. As he is relatively unproven they can't afford to grant him any actual cash, but they will safeguard his valuables. They offer to hold his assorted monies at their well-guarded main temple and give him a writ that he can redeem for similar amount in value in the distant lands to which he travels.The young knight agrees, travels with his writ to the faraway lands and presents it there. Once they've spent a few days magically confirming the funds are available, they offer to keep the bulk of his money in the event he's caught by infidels and needs to be ransomed.The church makes money if:- the knight dies in transit- the writ is lost- he's killed instead of captured.Even if the knight has more wisened friends to point out the pitfalls, as long as he agrees to the deal, the church can make money loaning virtual money out with usury (much like modern banks). They offer promissory notes for more money than they actually have and gamble it all won't be called on the same day.By charging 1% interest on 100,000 gold, when they really only have 10,000 gold, they make 1,000 gold per year. As long as no more than 10,000 is withdrawn at any given time, they can quickly amass large sums of money.(This was allegedly done by the Catholic church during the Crusades.)That being said, I am not a fan of modern banking schemes in a fantasy world. I do see the use of ring gates or permanent teleport circles as being a way for magical money between two sites. It would allow for "chains" of moneylenders to exist.</blockquote>

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