The Church of Coins

The Church of Coins is one of the most powerful religious institutions of Megatropolis, possessing a vast wealth and ruling a large number of businesses with an iron fist, including the city's banking. They believe that riches and righteousness are linked, that possession of the former means you have an equal amount of the later. Their richest members are regarded as saints to emulate and learn from, forming the powerful Board of Cardinals who rule the church.
Despite the open scorn they often show for the poor, whose poverty they consider a sign of moral dysfunction, their philosophy still attract many who hope that by ridding themselves of fault and impurities, they too can become worthy of wealth. Most never rise above their station and often the result is dying the debt to the Church.

Structure

Agent: Lower ranking but trusted enforcers of the Church's business. They also do clandestine, undercover work when needed.
Cardinal: The highest ranking members sit on the Board of Cardinals, where they decide policy, discuss market trends, exchange stocks and other activities to ensure the continued operation of the Church.
Castigator: Assassins sent by the Church to eliminate those obstacles who cannot be bought.
Magus: Wizards in the Church's service, who uses a mixture of light and dark magic to assist in Coin business.
Pontiff: Clerics granted leadership of a Church of Coins congregation, business or other part.

Culture

The Church of Coins believe in wealth as a sign of holiness. The most worthy are awarded money as a reward, while the unworthy labor in poverty. The richer you are, the more the deities has favored you. Anything that earns them money therefore comes with a stamp of approval from the divine as far as they are concerned. Naturally, they are against all kinds of regulations, seeing it as interfering with the divine plan that governs the market.

Public Agenda

The Church is very open that it exists to make money, but it also promises people that through following them, the worthy will be granted great riches and ascend in ranks. They also promise that the divine market will create opportunity, jobs, progress, all while giving the common man the dignity of earnest work with divine approval.

Assets

The Church of Coins is rich. Most senior members have millions of Coins to their name and they are not afraid to spend it if they seek to protect their assets or make more profit.  Furthermore, their claims of holiness are not untrue, as they worship an array of deities that either approve or at the very least do not disapprove of their methods. Most established members therefore has genuine divine backing to call on. They also have plenty of backing. They run the banks of Megatropolis and that means a lot of people have vested interest in keeping them around, even if they otherwise hate their guts. In times of need, they can call on unlikely allies. Lastly, they have thousands of people in debt that they may call upon. As these debts are magically enforced, most have no choice but to aid, up to and including being called back from the afterlife to fulfill their obligations. The Church of Coins can therefore raise an army of the dead to serve them at a moment's notice by calling on their archives of unsquared debts.

History

As the cities that would eventually become Megatropolis grew and fused, its markets evolved. Many industrial and mercantile people saw the writing on the wall and began investing, quickly becoming rivals to the old nobles in the amount of power they wielded through the new economy. This also lead to a boom of outside trading, with people from spheres near and far coming to the growing markets, each in turn attracting more as exotic and strange goods made their way to the markets.
The traders of the kingdom of Suqara were among them and they brought along with them their blend of religion and economic prowess. The idea that richness was a divine reward and proof of virtue quickly took root among the rich merchants of Megatropolis. But where Suqara was a very equal society, Megatropolis remain very stratified. As the merchants began forming their congregations around the gods of wealth, they began seeing the poor as sinners, people who lacked the virtue or will to become rich. And they began to see the new government of Megatropolis, which was floundering under the weight of responsibility that came with the quickly enlargening city, as a hindrance to the divine plan for the market and the proper distribution of its riches. They united around these ideals and in 2672, the Church of Coins rose.
In 2713, they took notice as the struggling government began selling parts of the infrastructure to other organisations, like Neotech or Parasol Initiative, weakening the people's faith in them in return. The Board of Cardinals convened to discuss how they could use the situation to finally rid the city of it government and with it its regulations and rules. A plan was formed and they began using their contacts within the Megatropolis government to plant the seed of an idea. That if all government departments were set loose to make their own money rather than requiring redistribution of taxes, then the leaders could keep a much bigger share of the profit. Greed won out over reason and in 2731, the government officially informed most of its departs, including the Megatropolis Police, the Ranger Corp, the Bureau of Administration and Department 76, that they would no longer receive funding from the government and would instead have to charge for their services. As the Coins had predicted, this completely destroyed any faith left in the government. People just stopped paying taxes and following edicts, without which the remaining governors quickly lost everything and the Megatropolis government collapsed. More than a few ended up in debt to the Chruch of Coins as they sought to avoid becoming destitute.
With the government out of the way, the Church of Coins quickly moved in to take over most of the city's bank infrastructure. Possession of this service gave them a degree of immunity in the city's tangled politics.

Military

For it's military, the Church of Coins relies upon hired mercenaries and indebted for most situations, backed up by the church's own people. More serious threat can necessitate them calling in favors oved from other groups to bolster their forces. 
Their forces are not numerous, but their wealth ensures they are equipped with the best of what the market has to fofer.

Religion

The Church of Coins worship an array of deities with monetary interests. Most notable of these is Opes, god of wealth, hoarding and precious metals. Suqaran merchants brought in his worship as an extension of mercantile business, leading him to be one of the founding faiths of the Church and its philosophy. In his honor, most Coins churches have a notable effigy of gold.

Education

Education and sermons are usually one and the same for the Coins, with pontiffs often holding a long religious presentation on a subject at least once per decacycle. People who show potential might also find themselves mentored directly, but in these cases they should be expected to be worked to the bone as their patron puts their talent to use, until they either burn out or learn enough to stand on their own.

Infrastructure

As a religious institutions, the Church of Coins have plenty of holy places to its name. These richly decorated and grandiose cathedrals dot the Megatropolis cityscape and always stand out.  Beyond this, they own several banks with everything that entails. Security is top-notch and while it can be pricey, bank robberies seldom end well for those trying to pilfer Church property. Beyond this, each subsidiary of the Church may preside over a number of smaller buisnesses of various nature.

Divine Origins

Suqaran merchants were a heavy influence. To them, faith and economy was inexorably connected. Their devoutness and good work paid off in the form of material wealth. That is, a pious person would naturally accumulate wealth as a divine reward. This idea got turned on its head among the merchants of the burgeoning Megatropolis, into that they were pious because they were rich. This further extended into the idea that the old nobles who were rapidly losing their relevance and the poor people on the street were all impious and were therefore bereft of or losing their wealth. And once that idea took hold, it was not a far leap to the idea that any action that generated profit was divinely sanctioned. As the church formed, it's faith became more codified with titles and rituals, formed under the idea that their richest and most succesful members were also their most pious. Were the original philosophy was that good deeds earn money, the Church of Coins preached that earning money was a good deed.

Tenets of Faith

The basic tenant is that wealth is righteousness. To earn money is a pious action. To accumulate wealth demonstrates holiness.
The Church also takes a dim view on the poor. After all, if they had moral integrity and character, they wouldn't be poor. To them, poor people are inherently sinful, slothful, thieving or otherwise defective. The best they offer is opportunity to confess sins and study Coins philosophy, in the hope of improving themselves.
The Church also believes that the market and economy is guided by the hand of the divine, ensuring that money flows to those that can create jobs and improve the land, rather than those that would waste it. They see government interference in this as blasphemous and the idea of taxes sends them right fuming. In fact, they would prefer a landscape of independent operators offering their services in exchange for money and they have managed to make this a reality in Megatropolis.

Ethics

In its simplest form, anything that gains money is good, anything that loses money is bad. It is more complex that that, of course. After all, investments requires an expenditure of money, but the intend is to earn more back. Improving production or services can cost in the now, but long-term profits are meant to rise. Thus, using one's money is seen as an act of faith. By investing, a Coin puts their wealth in the hands of the deities to see if they made the right choice.
The Church holds charity in contempt and believes it is a waste offering divine gifts of riches to those without the integrity to use it correctly. The closest they get to charity is handing out free samples or making promotional offers, but this is merely with the intent of luring in customers.

Worship

Worship in the Church is sharply divided between rich and poor.
For the poor, going to the Church is a miserable affair, where they must confess sins and list their faults, in the hopes that they can rid themselves of impurities and thus become worthy of wealth.
For the rich, it is a grandiose time, where they proclaim before their patron deities how their latest investments has paid off, with praise offered to the divine and thanks given for rewarding their good and pious business decisions.

Priesthood

Pontiffs lead the various congregations. Their position is determined by their wealth, with the richest person of the congregation being elected upon the previous pontiff's death or bankruptcy. They often wear voluminous robes during church functions, often in purple.

Political Influence & Intrigue

The Church's beliefs have been instrumental in shaping Megatropolis into its current form, with their manipulations leading to the final deathblow for the government. They are now one of several factions vying for power, though they have no intend to become the new government. Rather, the Church seeks to monopolize as many markets as possible to secure as much of the city's riches as possible.

Money Moves the Spheres

Founding Date

2672 AIT

Type

Religious, Organised Religion

Alternative Names

The Church of Debt, Moneygrubbers

Training Level

Trained

Veterancy Level

Trained

Demonym

Coins

Government System

Plutocracy

Economic System

Market economy

Currency

Coins. One of the most succesful currencies and one that can be used on most markets anywhere. They are very proud of this fact.

Legislative Body

The Board of Cardinals collectively decide Church policy. They mostly rule with a light hand, preferring to let the divine guide the market, but they do stipulate a lot of economic rulings and decisions to ensure that all members properly tithe to the Church and that any infighting is kept to profitable rivalries rather than destructive engagements.

Judicial Body

The various pontiffs are responsible for maintaining Church policy in their work and to ensure their respective departments live up to agreed upon standards.

Executive Body

Agents and mages are often the ones tasked with investigating and handling potential breaches in Church operations. Should the problem persist, castigators may be sent to handle it.

Neighboring Nations

• The Bureau of Administration