Seat of Worth, Bastion of Trust
Walled and watchful, Denerin stands where power flows not through armies or arcane might, but through coin, contract, and calculation. Founded around an old House Coin estate, the city has since evolved into the realm’s economic stronghold, home to the Evergild’s official mint, guarded vaults, and the whispered enforcement of value and debt.
To walk Denerin’s wide stone avenues is to step into a world of order and intention. Lanterns are lit at precise intervals. Shopfronts gleam without being gaudy. And behind every door, numbers are being counted — in gold, in favours, in secrets.
The Seat of House Coin
At its centre rises Cormarn Hall, ancestral home of the Cormarn line and the administrative heart of the House of Coin. Built of pale limestone and black ironwood, the Hall is striking in its restraint — a structure of symmetry and silence, where elegance is weighed by usefulness, not excess. Beneath its foundations lie sealed vaults and whispering tunnels, said to run deeper than even the House of Steel knows.
Governance and Defence
Though House Coin governs the city, they do so not with banners but with systems. Power here is exercised through guild charters, coded ledgers, and the quiet authority of the Guildkeepers, Appraisers, and Bankers. Justice is not swift — it is deliberate. Cold. Binding.
To protect the Mint and enforce contracts of national significance, Denerin hosts a permanent battalion from the House of Steel, garrisoned within the city’s reinforced Steelspire Barracks. Their presence is tolerated not for honour, but necessity — a visible guarantee that what is made in Denerin will not be taken lightly.
Notable Landmarks
The Mintforge
The realm’s official mint — a warded complex where Evergild coinage is smelted, shaped, and magically sealed. It is one of the most secure locations in the realm. Only certified Bankers and senior Appraisers are permitted beyond its outer hall.
The Hall of Measures
A vast tribunal where merchant disputes, inheritance rulings, and high-value contracts are judged. Its ceiling is painted with a mural of scales balanced over a drifting river of coins — a reminder that value, though liquid, always finds its level.
The Ledgerdeep
A multi-tiered archive of sealed records, debt histories, and secret accounts. It is said some ledgers stored here are written not in ink, but in bound geasa. Those who descend into the lower vaults do so at a price — and sometimes do not come back the same.
Teller’s Row
A narrow, winding street home to the most powerful counting-houses, broker firms, and guild lodges in Gildraen. No one speaks too loudly here. It is said the windows are enchanted to close when they hear deceit, and that every door keeps its own tally of visitors.
Steelspire Barracks
The seat of House of Steel’s presence in the city — disciplined, walled, and unmistakably watchful. Though technically guests, the soldiers here carry more sway than many nobles. They guard not people, but infrastructure.
The Silent Toll
Set in Denerin’s central square, within a gilded cage of black-iron vines and twisted gold, hangs a single, ancient bell — modest in size, eternal in consequence.
It is called The Silent Toll.
It can only be rung by the current Head of House Coin, who alone holds the key to its lock. The bell is guarded at all times, and its toll is reserved for only the gravest of financial breaches.
In all of recorded history, it has rung just three times.
Social Structure & Reputation
Denerin’s power lies in its precision. Here, even the lowliest coin-counter can rise — if they measure well, act wisely, and know when to keep silence. Nobles may mock its austerity, but none ignore its decisions.
The people of Denerin are known as Tellers — not just for their gold, but for the weight their word carries. Every agreement, every appraisal, every signature is bound in expectation and legacy.
In Denerin, beauty is balance. Wealth is discipline. And trust is enforced by steel and silence both.