The Platinum Purse

Whenever a new settlement is founded, there are many obstacles it must overcome in order to last. One of the largest of these is, of course, regulating crime: when placed in a vacuum of authority, people will inevitably try to cut others down in order to get ahead themselves. This is especially true in a mining boom town, where many of the incoming settlers are seeking their chance to strike it rich. Wouldn’t it be nice if all of these defenseless miners and merchants had a safe place to store their money, somewhere out of reach of sticky-fingered thieves? This is exactly what went through Derken Thrommok when he founded the Platinum Purse, the poor man’s bank. The Platinum Purse is a small shack-like building set up within the Services & Trades Corridor within Mythrite. It was originally founded months into Mythrite’s existence, when Derken first moved from his Dwarven mountain home to set up in the start-up town, and it’s age shows in just about every aspect of the structure. The white painted wood is chipped and faded, showing just how many seasons it has endured. The red door, which usually sways ajar in it’s frame, opens to a mostly barren, unpainted interior. The floor is covered with a frayed wool rug, and at the far end of the room there sits a long wooden table with two chairs, where the tellers sit and deal with customers. Behind this lies the most jarring image in an otherwise underwhelming stall: two heavy, locked iron doors that separate the Corridor’s bustling crowd from the Vault that lies at the heart of the Platinum Purse. The Platinum Purse is far from the largest bank in Mythrite, nor is it the most profitable business venture. However, it serves a very important purpose: it provides the lower class of the settlement a (relatively) safe and, most importantly, affordable way to store their money. Derken himself isn’t especially skilled in the field of banking or accounting: he doesn’t have the experience or connections that many other professional workers in Mythrite do. What he does have, however, is friends who know their way around the battlefield and are looking for a quiet, peaceful retirement. These burly, well-trained dwarven warriors stand guard outside and within the Vault of the Platinum Purse, and usually their presence alone is enough to make the common criminals of the town wary of dipping into their stores. It may not be as pretty or professional as the Paragon Trust, those in the working class who want to keep their money safe and insured find their way to The Platinum Purse.