The World Born Dead
Acquiring Slaves in the Nerathi Empire
Multiple factors go into the value of a slave, and the interest shown by the potential buyer is not the least. The basic method for determining the value of a slave is based on the creature’s CR, using the following formula:
Cost = s(CR) × 8 silver pieces.
Where s = 1/2 the slave’s highest marketable skill rank.
Unusual or marketable qualities in a slave, such as great strength, great beauty, valuable skill, or exotic origin, can multiply the price by two, three, or four. A skilled miner dwarf might bring 16 sp if sold at a mine. If that same dwarf were exceptionally strong, he could cost 32 sp. If that dwarf was an 8th-level rogue and the buyer was the head of a thieves’ guild, the slave could cost between 704 sp and 2,816 sp.
Mundane Currency
10 copper = 1 silver
10 silver = 1 gold
10 gold = 1 platinum
10 platinum = 1 mithril
Magical Currency
Astral Diamonds: Exceedingly rare these gems can only be mined from the corpses of dead gods
floating adrift in the Astral Sea. They are intrinsically valuable to planar creatures and
are used as the basis for planar currency in such places as the City of Brass, the Bright
City of Hestavar, and Sigil the City of Doors. Astral diamonds are considered to be worth
10,000 gp per 1/500th of a pound.
Concentration: Ideas take form on the outer planes, and really pernicious or stellar ideas
can be so powerful that they take a while to form. They can be found as an amber-like
substance that is extremely valued on Mechanus, and by extension every single other outer
plane as well. Concentration is actually made out of ideas, and while it looks
like a solid object it is actually a liquid that flows so slowly that you could watch it for
a year and only a Modron could tell you have far the flow had taken it. A pound of
concentration goes for 50,000 gp to an interested party, and can be used in magical crafting
by those with the patience to learn its secrets.
Hope: Hope is funny stuff, it has lots of inertia, but those who carry it are not weighed
down in the least. It has mass, but not weight. Even the smallest piece of Hope sheds light
like a daylight spell (the effective spell level for this effect is 7, and Hope can overcome
almost any darkness). Hope is measured in kilograms rather than pounds, and a kilo of Hope
goes for 100,000 gp to those who want it, and it can be used in magical crafting.
Raw Chaos: The plane of Limbo is filled with possibility and change. Usually this manifests
as a continuous creation and destruction that is awe inspiring and terrifying at the same
time. Sometimes, for whatever reason this possibility doesn't become anything, and just
stays as Raw Chaos. Raw Chaos can have any dimensions and any amount of mass, but from a
practical standpoint you either have it or you don't. If you have Raw Chaos and someone else
doesn't, you can give it to them, and it is generally considered good form for them to give
you magical items or planar currency worth 200,000 gp in exchange. Raw Chaos can be
transformed into magical items by those with the correct skills.
Souls: The souls of powerful creatures are trapped in gems and the trade in them is brisk on
the outer planes, especially in the planar metropolis of Finality on Acheron. Once a soul is
in a gem, the gem itself is of little or no value, but the soul goes for 100 gp times the
square of the CR of the creature whose soul is trapped. The empire of Bael Turath was
a minor player in the soul trade and soul gems can still be found sealed away in the ruins
of Turathi cities.