Rosharan currency [DISCUSS]

[+Oltux72 he/him]

Will Roshar drop spheres as currency, now that you can no longer show that they are genuine gem stones by charging them with stormlight? Are soulcasters usable with warlight? Or will Fused and Regals infuse spheres with warlight?

[PanLin they/he]

4 hours ago, Oltux72 said:

Will Roshar drop spheres as currency, now that you can no longer show that they are genuine gem stones by charging them with stormlight?

From WaT:

Spoiler

A day had passed since Odium’s Ascension to Retribution. He had spoken to them, via messenger. He would be in touch. For now, the listeners were allowed his Light to fuel their powers, should they wish it. The messenger also explained that they could use it to grow crops, as Stormlight had once done.

They received this Light once a day, at midnight, by placing their spheres beneath the sky and asking him to bless them. Retribution asked for nothing in exchange, and had promised he did not see himself as their god. Only an interested party wishing to offer them help.

Presumably (granted, this is speculation), currency will be charged using Retribution's light instead now. Taravangian has shown a vested interest in keeping Roshar stable and able to sustain his future interplanetary armies and logistics, so I'd imagine he'd have no problem regularly charging spheres, whether that's done by individuals or banks and other financial institutions.

I could even see that become the new minting process for currency, where Retribution decides whose spheres get charged and only those spheres count as legal tender. Wouldn't put it past Taravangian to exert such egotistical control over the world's finances.

 

4 hours ago, Oltux72 said:

Are soulcasters usable with warlight? Or will Fused and Regals infuse spheres with warlight?

Unsure—it's likely that the Light itself would be a viable source, but if Retribution has to actively grant his Light to those who ask for it, he'll almost certainly just not give it to people who are against him.

It's the main reason I'm so interested to see what Lift does next; it's quite possible that, at least for a while, she'll be the only active Knight Radiant on Roshar that hasn't sworn allegiance to Retribution.

[Returned he/him]

It doesn't seem like the ability of gems in spheres to hold Stormlight was very important for anything, up until WoR or so. Holding Light only demonstrates that there is a real gem inside, and the light itself (as well as its amount) was not used for much. Spheres seem too small to do much for Soulcasters, based on what we saw of their use. Their ability to illuminate the dark is handy but a convenience more than a necessity, and one that many could not necessarily afford. The difference between a real sphere and a counterfeit one is meaningful for managing the money supply, but it also seems pretty rootless-- I don't recall anything like a government-backed mint producing spheres for commerce. Presumably, if you had a gem and could cut it into the right sizes and then embed the fragments in glass spheres, you could manufacture currency exactly as valid as anyone else's. That seems relevant when gemstones on Roshar appear to mostly come from ranching and hunting. Of course its totally possible that features which deal with those considerations exist but were never relevant in the stories and so we just haven't seen them.

All that is to say that, while the ability to hold Investiture is minimally useful it doesn't seem very important to currency as Rosharans have generally used it for a few millennia. The return of the Radiants might have changed that, but now that the Investiture is available only at Retribution's pleasure that consideration seems obsolete. So authenticity of currency will be as important as it ever was, economically, but I don't know that the ability to hold Light will be any more or less important now than it was before the end of WaT. It may not even be relevant at all, depending on how easily Taravangian can control infusing spheres at his preference. We did get some insight from the gemstone reserve bank in Thaylen City, namely that people are comfortable exchanging scrip that represents ownership of specific gemstones (infused or not). Maybe the new situation will be enough to shift people away spheres for their everyday needs, and towards some other symbolic currency.

Or maybe, as @PanLin suggested, Retribution will exert his control over the world by controlling the money supply in a way that only he can affect. Given what we know about his personality and situation, I'd bet that that will be what happens. It's too useful a tool for Taravangian to simply not bother with.

Edited April 15 by Returned

[Nitpicking]

Ba-Ado-Mishram could charge gems with Voidlight ...

[MrHobbes343]

As a distant puppet master by dint of having become the archenemy of the shards, T-Odium will only have a few ways to direct his control on Roshar.

 

The Fused act as his fist, but it is only with logistics and bureaucracy that can organize the millions of people that now fall under his reign. 

As an aside, I would love to see T-Odiums divine spreadsheet he uses to time and organize the distribution of void light, and keep notes on who he is annoyed at.

 

But having a monopoly on the only widely accepted currency is probably one of the first things you lock down in your tyranny. Assuming he isn't reading the Evil-Overlord list and becoming dangerously genre savvy.

[ChillPenguin]

Couldn’t the charging of spheres be linked to intent? If he’s that smart, T-Odium doesn’t need to pay attention, he just sets up a permanent filter. If you put them out and are actually against him your intent blocks the charging.

[MrHobbes343]

2 hours ago, ChillPenguin said:

Couldn’t the charging of spheres be linked to intent? If he’s that smart, T-Odium doesn’t need to pay attention, he just sets up a permanent filter. If you put them out and are actually against him your intent blocks the charging.

That works as a quick fix to keep the populous alive while you set up your government, but if you want to exert political control you will need to be able to enforce rules and punish violators. What is to stop a village from having a dedicated T-Odium follower just for the light and everyone else just tolerates them for there service?

It depends on how granular you want your control too be. If T-Odium can't see into the minds of his subjects (Preservation) and immediately dispense his wrath then he is probably going to have to use other signals of loyalty and submission. This would probably be enforced through collective punishment. ie Your village has housed rebels, therefore you will not receive light for a month to starve you into submission etc. etc.  This would have to handled on a case by case basis or risk provoking mass revolt. Thus the spreadsheet.

 

Edit: added a line about cynical villagers.

Edited April 16 by MrHobbes343