Mercenary Bank
The Mercenary Bank stands as a formidable supranational financial institution that plays a pivotal role in the global economic landscape. Established through a collaborative effort among powerful nations and influential entities, the Mercenary Bank has emerged as the primary internationally recognised bank, wielding significant influence over the world's financial systems.
History
The History of the Mercenary Bank
Origins in the Ashes of War
The Mercenary Bank traces its origins to the aftermath of the Great Grief, a cataclysmic conflict that shattered the old world and brought ruin to the three great kingdoms: Helmsia, Kythira, and Redstonia. Among the many who fled the destruction, the Redstonian people, under King Von Roterstein, sought refuge in the west. However, not all Redstonians followed their king into exile.
One such dissenter was Johann König, an officer in the Redstonian army. As the refugees passed the ruins of Helmsia, König saw an opportunity amid the devastation. Rather than venture into an uncertain future, he and a band of loyal Redstonian soldiers deserted and established themselves within the ruins of the Helmsian royal palace. Armed with superior weapons and military discipline, they secured the palace and, in doing so, discovered its greatest secret—the Helmsian Treasury, a hidden vault containing the immense wealth that had once made Helmsia the richest of the three fallen kingdoms.
With this newfound fortune, the König family became the wealthiest in the world during the Minecraftian Dark Ages, a period marked by lawlessness, warlords, and the collapse of centralized governance. But rather than hoard their wealth, the Königs devised a bold new strategy: financing warfare itself.
The Institution for Financing Mercenary Protection
Recognizing that power in this new world belonged to those who could afford to hire soldiers, the Königs established the Institution for Financing Mercenary Protection. The concept was simple yet revolutionary—warlords, city-states, and aspiring rulers could borrow gold to fund their private armies, securing their rule in exchange for interest payments.
This model allowed the Königs to remain neutral in the endless conflicts of the Dark Ages. Rather than take sides, they funded all factions willing to pay, ensuring that wars raged indefinitely while their fortune multiplied. As the Institution’s influence expanded, it became known simply as the Mercenary Bank—a name that struck both fear and admiration into the hearts of Minecraftia’s warlords.
The Rise of the Bank and the Return of Empire
The Mercenary Bank’s reach continued to grow, but a turning point came with the return of Richard I the Great Viromaro, a descendant of the Kings of Kythira. Emerging from Attica, Richard assembled an army and reclaimed Kythira, restoring the kingdom to its former glory. But war required financing, and so Richard turned to the Mercenary Bank.
The Bank’s Director saw an opportunity in the ambitious young ruler and extended millions in gold to fund his campaigns. With this financial backing, Richard waged a series of conquests that culminated in his coronation as Emperor of Kythira.
Not long after, a new power emerged in the east—the Imperius Reich, founded by Kaiser Borous Von Dragestein. As the first Imperians sought to expand their domain, they too relied on the wealth and connections of the Mercenary Bank to finance their wars and establish vital trade routes. The Bank, ever pragmatic, ensured that it profited from both imperial expansion and the resistance against it.
The Creation of the Florynt
As Kythira solidified its rule, its government sought to establish a universal currency—the Green Dragon Emerald. However, the attempt failed due to regional resistance and instability. Realizing the need for a more stable alternative, the Kythiran rulers turned once again to the Mercenary Bank, which proposed a solution:
The Bank introduced the Florynt, an international currency backed by its vast gold reserves. Unlike previous attempts at a state-controlled currency, the Florynt was trusted by merchants, warlords, and rulers alike, as it was directly tied to the financial power of the Bank rather than any single kingdom.
In time, the Florynt became the dominant currency of Minecraftia, recognized across the known world. This cemented the Mercenary Bank’s status not just as a financial institution, but as the true power behind nations, shaping the course of history from the shadows.
Legacy and Influence
From its origins in the ruins of Helmsia to its role in financing wars, empires, and economies, the Mercenary Bank has remained a pillar of power throughout the ages. While kings and emperors rise and fall, the Bank endures—silent, neutral, and ever-profitable.
Its influence stretches beyond mere wealth; through loans and financial backing, it dictates the winners and losers of wars, determines the strength of nations, and controls the flow of Minecraftia’s economy. Some say that behind every great ruler, there stands not an army, but the gold of the Mercenary Bank.
fter the Treaty of the King's Keep was signed in the early Third Era, trade issues arose. Wheras before the Great Grief people generally traded with goods, such as gold bars, now a more formal currency was being issued. In the Kythiran Empire, the Green Dragon Emerald saw some adaptation, whilst in the newly founded Imperius Reich, the Reichsmark was issued. Meanwhile, in the newly added territory of Ardoragh, people used the locally minted Roters as their preferred currency.
In order to solve this, members of House Viromaro, House Von Dragestein and several important business tycoons united by the Redstonian König family, came together to form a single, universally accepted currency, and a bank that would be able to issue and regulate it. Thus, the Mercenary Bank was born.
Its headquarters has always been in the city of Helmira, in the old Sverdpalass, the former royal palace of the Kings of Helmsdeep. Since its founding the Mercenary Bank, named after King Mercenary Hurdræber, has always been led by members of the prestigious and unscrupulous König family.
It's logo is a golden circle on a white mountain, the gold representing their immense value, and the white mountain representing the location of their headquarters, high atop the white marble stairs of Helmira.
The Florynt (ƒ) and its value
The Florynt (ƒ) is the globally recognised currency in Minecraftia. It is printed exclusively by the Mercenary Bank, and most of the world's Florynts are stored safe within the Bank's secret vault, hidden somewhere in Minecraftia. In order to prevent inflation, only a finite amount of Florynts were ever pressed, exactly 7 billion.
In general, 1 Florynt is enough to buy a loaf of bread, with 5 Florynts generally being able to pay for a night in most inns. 12,500 Florynts is enough to buy an average middle class single family homes in a modest city. The average annual income of a working middle class family is 17,500 Florynts before taxes. Meanwhile, an upper middle class townhouse in a city like Helmira would cost around 95,000 Florynts. Palaces or castles are much more expensive. For instance, Radenór Castle, the summer residence for the Kings of Ardoragh, was estimated to have cost around 2,2 million Florynts to construct. House Viromaro paid around 4 million Florynts for their hunting lodge in western Ardoragh. As another example, the Mediori Fleet, with her 62 ships, cost the Kythiran crown around 18 million Florynts to construct, at around 290,000 Florynts per ship, not including the docks.
The White Gold Tower, although priceless due to its historical value, cost around 158 million Florynts to erect, and is the most expensive building ever constructed in Minecraftia. The Kythiran Invasion of Imperius, although relatively brief, still devastated the Kythiran economy, costing the crown upwards of 840 million Florynts, plunging the Empire into economic turmoil which ultimately resulted in the Reforma Carta, which effectively ended the absolute monarchy, reforming it into a constitutional one.
Bank Statements
Reserves of the Mercenary Bank:
Total: ƒ1,588,252,000
Kythiran Empire
Noble Families, Wealthy elites: ƒ347,390,000
Other individual bank accounts: ƒ489,000,000
Kythiran Crown: ƒ176,000,000
Imperial Treasury: ƒ980,000,000
Kingdom of Ardoragh Treasury: ƒ326,000,000
Kingdom of Alcanzar Treasury: ƒ290,000,000
Kingdom of Attica Treasury: ƒ319,000,000
Kingdom of the Heartlands Treasury: ƒ126,000,000
Kingdom of Camuria Treasury: ƒ23,000,000
Kingdom of Redstonia Treasury: ƒ36,000,000
TOTAL: ƒ3,112,390,000
Raggisar Republic
Wealthy elites: ƒ170,390,000
Other individual bank accounts: ƒ348,000,000
Republican Government: ƒ93,760,000
Federal Reserves: ƒ1,730,000,000
TOTAL: ƒ2,342,150,000
The Aqumis Republic
Wealthy elites: ƒ43,562,000
Other individual bank accounts: ƒ6,570,000
Republican Government: ƒ1,776,000
Reserves: ƒ5,300,000
TOTAL: ƒ57,208,000
META
For the ease of everybody involved, and to ensure a sense of realism, 5 Florynts, the price of a stay at a simple inn, would be around 160 euros in 2023, the price of a decent hotel room for a night. Most of the calculations above have been based off of this standard.
