The Moneychanger

Historical Overview

Founding

For centuries, House Melac has served as the treasurers of the Thewisy family. They got their start as merchants, dealing with coffee imports from Serenbar. As Somae's coffee industry formalized, and official trade routes with the East developed, they yielded to Evelyn Imports and focused on running coffeehouses as well as their treasury duties.
House Melac opened, in 222 AM, their own coffeehouse, the Moneychanger. While coffee culture in Somae allows for much to take place in cafes - education, interactions between social class, the potential for mobility, writing and art - House Melac looked for a new angle. With the boom in trade and the solidification of Somae as an international city, they centered their coffeehouse around currency exchange, trade, and financial rumormongering.

Financial Affairs

The foremost focus of House Melac was on currency exchange. Since 104 AM, the Rostrum and Court of Mediation has vested a monopoly in exchanging the national currency in the Bank of Anhara, run by House Thewisy's rival, the Semillons. To circumvent this, the coffeehouse sold certificates allowing future purchases, which foreign traders would return for full price, given back to them in Anharan denominations.
A crowd of merchants and sailors, foreign and Anharan, were naturally attracted to this coffeehouse. From this sprang a shipbroking industry on the site, as well as maritime insurance. Eventually, the Moneychanger became the place for news on trade, prices, weather, and local troubles on shipping routes. They began organizing their own news-writers and formed the Eastern Seas Gazetteer.

Eastmarch Bank & Trust

The Moneychanger eventually grew into a more official currency exchange, with outposts along the Narrow Sea. There, established Tahati merchants and traders can receive denominations of their choice if they have bills of exchange. The coffeehouse itself was demolished in the 400s, and replaced by the Eastmarch Bank & Trust.
House Melac tore down a significant strip of residences in Highgrove, replacing them with Tatirlae - Exchange Street. Intersecting with High Street, this placed the Bank at a triangular corner with the Learned Path, creating one of the most trafficked areas of the city. Around the Bank has developed a financial district, supported by House Thewisy in the hopes it degrades House Semillon's commercial dominance.
Coffee is still served in a small cafe in the lobby of the Eastmarch Bank & Trust.

Type

Cafe / Tearoom