Bryce Carmony Posted March 4, 2016 Report Share Posted March 4, 2016 (edited) Is it colorful so it interacts with investiture like other cosmere currencies? Edited March 4, 2016 by Bryce Carmony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landis963 Posted March 4, 2016 Report Share Posted March 4, 2016 Hallandren currency is, I believe, coins (with an exchange rate for Breath). Much like in Kae, where it was coins. Or on the Eelakin isles, where it was coins. Or at Silence's waystop, where it was coins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natc Posted March 4, 2016 Report Share Posted March 4, 2016 The only reason Scadrial money was metal is because . . . well, other than paper what else would you make it out of? Gems have both an important cultural meaning on Roshar and have practical value as soulcasting catalysts, powering of fabrials, lighting, etc. Stormlight infusion as a phenomenon makes forgery of gem currency basically impossible. A very logical choice ny Roshar logic (because everything is already weird there ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryce Carmony Posted March 4, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2016 yeah I just did multiple searches through my e-book and it looks like the closest I can find to details is that some coins are bits... and they appear to be golden. kinda a let down Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaa Posted March 4, 2016 Report Share Posted March 4, 2016 (edited) How would you design a Nalthian currency that interacts with Awakening? You could make colored banknotes, but you'd need to make sure that draining them of color won't make them completely useless as legal tender, otherwise nobody would want to use them for Awakening. Also, Nalthian society must first undergo a paradigm shift to accept the notion of fiat money, otherwise the majority (who aren't Awakeners) won't exchange their metal coins for colored bits of paper/cloth/whatever material you decide to use for the banknotes. Anyway, I think an ideal "Awakening currency" would be small organic polymer banknotes with various modern security features and shaped like a person so that they can be easily Awakened, making them useful even after they are drained of color. This kind of currency is obviously not possible with the current level of technology on Nalthis, but future Nalthian nations might think of using something like this. Edited March 5, 2016 by skaa 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ecohansen Posted March 6, 2016 Report Share Posted March 6, 2016 On Scadrial, coins are USED by allomancers, rather than POWERING allomancers. I can imagine something like classical Chinese spade money, where coins are shaped like parts of the human body to provide a focus for Awakening. Of course, metal is a poor material for Awakening, but what would happen if you fastened finger-shaped coins to a mass of rope and told it to "grab things" ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lopen Posted March 6, 2016 Report Share Posted March 6, 2016 (edited) I imagine that the fingers would not be able to really grab things very well independently but together they could perform the same function as a hand that you could throw out and pull back. This is would be really fun to see in actual use in future books. I wonder why something like this hasn't been seen in Warbreaker. EDIT: Come to think of it I can see why this wouldn't be used. It's just impractical. They could just awaken a rope to grab things and hold on to one end, couldn't they? I don't have a good memory in regards to specific book happenings, especially in Warbreaker, as I read is this past summer. Seems like forever ago. Edited March 6, 2016 by Lopen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natc Posted March 6, 2016 Report Share Posted March 6, 2016 You could even turn drapes into an arm complete with muscles bulging as it flexed, IIRC. There's really no point to making metal objects for awakening unless it's soulcast from living matter, or you're just trying to make another shardblade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryce Carmony Posted March 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 Bank notes existed as early as the 7th century. And the existence of magic always seems to accelerate some areas of technology while oddly retarding others (no radio on scadria) so I don't think Banknotes would honestly have been out of the question especially if the notes themselves were made on something rare / difficult enough to make that they would be difficult to counterfeit. Maybe Silk or some kind of rare fabric. Warbreaker was a great book and asking for some whip cream on top of what was already a great sundae is silly but just thought since Spheres were so great at being integrated into the society on multiple levels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jondesu Posted March 8, 2016 Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 And the existence of magic always seems to accelerate some areas of technology while oddly retarding others (no radio on scadria) It actually wasn't the existence of magic holding this back. The Lord Ruler intentionally held back progress during his reign, and even with the developments since, there are things they just haven't been able to figure out again yet, due to the odd mix created by TLR designs and the culture they came from. jW 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natc Posted March 8, 2016 Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 A lot of it is also due to lack of necessity. Elendel is actually far behind the Earth analogue time period in irrigation technology and farming techniques, because the Basin is supernaturally fertile. For the same reason, there is less incentive to explore outside the Basin, as their civilization doesn't exactly have a resource shortage to warrant searching elsewhere. They have everything they need for a comfortable lifestyle, as close to comfort as a somewhat class-biased society can get. As nobody explores, there is a lack of extreme distances and undeveloped land where wired telegraphs (which I believe they do have) would become impractical over wireless communication, and for longer messages coinshot couriers and trains are serviceable enough. So no radio. Aviation is similarly pointless. Compare with the South, which was comparatively a terrible place to be and has been for over a thousand years. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryce Carmony Posted March 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 It actually wasn't the existence of magic holding this back. The Lord Ruler intentionally held back progress during his reign, and even with the developments since, there are things they just haven't been able to figure out again yet, due to the odd mix created by TLR designs and the culture they came from. jW in Shadows of Self Sazed implies that given scadrial has had electricity for so long they could very well have developed radio which they had not, likely because coinshot runners are relatively effective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryce Carmony Posted March 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 A lot of it is also due to lack of necessity. Elendel is actually far behind the Earth analogue time period in irrigation technology and farming techniques, because the Basin is supernaturally fertile. For the same reason, there is less incentive to explore outside the Basin, as their civilization doesn't exactly have a resource shortage to warrant searching elsewhere. They have everything they need for a comfortable lifestyle, as close to comfort as a somewhat class-biased society can get. As nobody explores, there is a lack of extreme distances and undeveloped land where wired telegraphs (which I believe they do have) would become impractical over wireless communication, and for longer messages coinshot couriers and trains are serviceable enough. So no radio. Aviation is similarly pointless. Compare with the South, which was comparatively a terrible place to be and has been for over a thousand years. definitly agree, Sazed might need to toughen up a bit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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