The Church of the Coin

Domains and Subdomains:

 * Community
 * Any Subdomain


 * Law Domain
 * Judgement
 * Legislation
 * Loyalty


 * Nobility
 * Aristocaracy
 * Leadership


 * Travel (Must also take the Trade Subdomain)

Favoured Weapon: Shurkien (Known colloquially as Iron Coins) Church Alignment: Lawful Neutral (all priests must be within one step of this alignment to retain positions within the church)
 * Trickery (Must also take the Greed Subdomain)
 * Iron Coins are specially forged shuriken "minted" by the Church. The are round, and only slightly larger than regular Silver Coins, but forged of iron and bearing sharpened edges.  In addition to this, they bear stamps on the front and back, bearing the crest of the City on one side and stating that the coin is not legal tender, and the mark of the Church on the other side, announcing the coin is property of the Church of the Coin.

History:
Formed almost 7 centuries ago by a collection of various priests of wealth and community, The Collective, as they were originally called, founded the Universal Church of the Coin to provide banking, loan, and investment services to the people of the City. Since then, the Church has made itself integral to the running of the city, and financing the Houses, as every High House, and most of the Low Houses use the Church's services. It has often paired up with the Church of the First House in regards to House business profiles, and together the two put out the annual Report on the High Houses.

Structure
Grand Merchant (Callidum Aethenyr): The ruling Grand Merchant is an elf of extremely high business acumen. He is rumoured to secretly hold as much personal wealth as the entire Gallo family, but since the worth of members of the Coin is not tabulated, this has never been proven. Callidum is extremely wise, and cautious when it comes to deals. He has ruled as Grand Merchant for over seven decades, marking him as the longest serving Grand Merchant in the history of the Church. Under his rule, the church has undergone some major reforms, including a restructuring of the loan programs 40 years ago, a deal that simultaneously increased the Church's hold over the economy, while giving a much needed cash influx to the lower classes. Rumour has it that he has grown tired of Church and House Politics though, and may seek to retire soon.

High Keeper: The High Keepers oversee the four main branches of the church; loans, investments, assessments, and operations. These positions are currently filled by the following men.
 * High Keeper Anthur Teltherion (Loans)
 * High Keeper Rogo Naramas (Assessments)
 * High Keeper Saida Nezari (Operations)
 * High Keeper Kestler Benari (Investments)

Below these men are four main branches of the Church.

The Assessments Branch is responsible for managing the various assessments provided by the Church such as the annual House Report, which details the net worth of each of the High Houses, as well as the top five Low Houses. Their services are often called upon when determining the worth of a building for sale, or when creating a Statement of Worth for marriages or partnerships.

The Assessments Branch is divied as follows:
 * High Assessor (each one manages one of the Floors, with the exception of the third who manages both the 3rd and 4th Floors)
 * Asset Managers (5 for each of the High Assessors, 1 per Ring)
 * District Assessment Managers (One for each District on floors 2-4)
 * Lead Assessors (Manager for a given office)
 * Assessors (The low level staff in a given office)

The Operations Branch manages day to day financing of the various offices and branches, including salary distribution, budget reviews, and any internal investigations that need to occur. The Internal Reviews sub-branch is known to be particularly heavy-handed when dealing with clerics who are abusing their station, and an IR investigation says on a cleric's permanent record within the Church.

The Operations Branch is divided as follows:
 * Internal Reviews Director
 * Internal Reviews Assistant Directors (one each for floors 2-4)
 * Internal Reviews Managers (One per Ring per floor)
 * Internal Review Agents
 * Chief Operations Directors (one for each floor) (Together forming the Board of Operations)
 * Operations Assistant-Directors (One per Ring per floor)
 * District Directors (One per District per floor)
 * Branch Liason (Many branches on the lower floors do not have a single priest dedicated to this position, and usually it is a duty performed by a priest in another position in the branch pulling double duty.)
 * Coin Keepers (also just Keepers)(These priests perform all of the normal rituals and clerical/healing duties, in addition to managing general account activity, including deposits and withdrawals. Many Keepers, in order to advance through the ranks will transfer out of this branch into available job positions.)

The Loans Branch deals not only with managing outgoing funds, but also with collection services and ensuring that the Church receives the money it is due. The primary Loans branch often works closely with the Assessments and Investments branch to determine the principle interest on a given loan, as well as risk and collateral. The Collections sub-branch is not looked kindly upon by the rest of the church and often refers to such clerics as "goons" or "grabbers" (instead of the respected Keepers moniker)

The Loans branch is divided as follows:
 * Loan Management Directors (one per floor)
 * Loan Management Assistant Directors (one per ring per floor)
 * District Loan Managers (The Church has only a single temple on the First Floor, and employs only a single District Loan Manager per Ring there.
 * Risk Assessment Advisers (These men and women are the ones who work directly with clients to assess the risk and collateral for a given loan.  Usually there is one to two of these per office, dependent on the success of the office.)
 * District Collections Managers (These priests are responsible for issuing Collections Warrants, and organizing the various Collections Units.)
 * Collections Officer (Responsible for issuing the actual Collections Warrant and negotiating 'repayment' from errant clients)
 * Collections Enforcers (Enforcers provide protection for Collection Officers, as well as ensuring compliance when an errant client refuses to pay.  Methods vary between enforcers, but are almost universally violent.)

The Investments Branch is where most of the Houses have their money tied up. This branch oversees the various investments in businesses and construction projects, as well as allowing for easy access to investment records and property management, something much employed and enjoyed by the city elite. Often times, individual Houses will have a particular person in their employ who liaisons with the Church and manages the paper work on the behalf of the House.

The Investments Branch is divided as follows:
 * Investment Directors (one per floor)
 * Investment Assistant-Directors (1 per Ring per Floor)
 * District Investment Managers
 * Investment Advisers (This position not actually a separate rank in the church, bur rather is a title attained after a Keeper completes the requisite Investment Training Program.  Often an Temple retains a Keeper who has the added title of Investment Adviser, and while this does not usually come with a pay increase, it does offer a form of advancement within the church structure.)

Despite this heavy division of departments, many Keepers will often pick up multiple job titles at their office, looking for any extra chance to impress superiors and work their way up the ladder. It is not uncommon for Temples on the Fourth Floor to have a Branch Liaison who is also the Collections Officer, or a Risk Assessment Adviser who is also the Investment Adviser. Job overlap is common place, and often encouraged by the Church.

Beliefs and Ethics
The Church of the Coin is founded on mostly well understood concepts, primarily that if you work hard, and take care of your money, it will take care of you. To this end, the Church encourages strong work ethics, the careful appraisal of any and all deals involving the exchange of goods or services, and strong community ties.

There are some who believe that the Church of the Coin has been the primary reason the High Houses have not taken more advantage of the lower floors than they have, and in many eyes, the Church of the Coin has been a boon to The City. They fund or run many of the local orphanages, providing work-placement programs for those who are looking to get off the streets, and generally encourage the growth of criminals into participating members of the greater society at large.

The Church is governed primarily by a holy tome on ethics and good business practice entitled the Laws of Finance. Originally written by The Collective, as a part of the foundation of the Church of the Coin, the Laws of Finance has only been edited a few times since the Church's creation, and any attempt to do so requires the unanimous approval of the High Keepers and the Grand Merchant.