Gems and gold used to be transported secretly inside common trade goods like wine barrels, preserved foods and anything guards would not look into.(your prison purse)
In more modern times diamonds were moved inside living sheep, goats, and working dogs.
Large amounts of money was moved by simple 'letters of credit' between trusted merchants, traders. and bankers. If you were not trusted you could not issue a letter of credit. But you could trade in them. Or be hired to secretly transfer them from one place to another.
To become trusted you had to know a lot of the business and be known in the business. You also had to be able to cover the full value of notes issued by you.
Anyone who travels a lot could get into the business or transporting secret things. Anyone from a simple solder to a high noble.
When I was in the military even I was a designated courier a few times. I was just going in the right direction at the right time.
I have a ranger that started in 1e where as a ranger he could only keep the wealth he could carry. So he would convert all but a small amount of gold and silver to gems and carry them converting back as needed. Even if he lost some in each exchange he gained as the weight/value of the gems let him keep far mor more wealth than even carrying around pounds of platinum. As an adventurer it’s simply the easiest and lightest way to carry wealth across country. The problem with letters of credit is how easily they can be forged. Of corse in a magic world there are some possible protections - in FR wizards have a unique similar and anyone other than the Wizard using their similar was struck by Mystra for abuse of the similar so having even a bunch of low level Wizards as the scribes all of whom know each other’s signals and used them on the letters of credit would be one way to slow counterfeiting.
A bit late to this post, but a wizard is someone who gained their magical abilities through study and practice right? What about a magic item vendor of scrolls and spell books that learned there magical abilities by reading and examining their merchandise over time, unlocking their magical abilities and thus becoming a wizard?
However they become a wizards they are entitled ( in FR) to a sigil that is unique to them and protected from counterfeiting by Mystra. That is the lore. Outside of FR you’re on your own. ( of course counterfeiting an archmage’s sigil strikes me as fairly stupid- they will discover it and come to have a “small chat” with you about it.
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Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
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Gems and gold used to be transported secretly inside common trade goods like wine barrels, preserved foods and anything guards would not look into.(your prison purse)
In more modern times diamonds were moved inside living sheep, goats, and working dogs.
Large amounts of money was moved by simple 'letters of credit' between trusted merchants, traders. and bankers.
If you were not trusted you could not issue a letter of credit. But you could trade in them. Or be hired to secretly transfer them from one place to another.
To become trusted you had to know a lot of the business and be known in the business. You also had to be able to cover the full value of notes issued by you.
Anyone who travels a lot could get into the business or transporting secret things. Anyone from a simple solder to a high noble.
When I was in the military even I was a designated courier a few times. I was just going in the right direction at the right time.
I have a ranger that started in 1e where as a ranger he could only keep the wealth he could carry. So he would convert all but a small amount of gold and silver to gems and carry them converting back as needed. Even if he lost some in each exchange he gained as the weight/value of the gems let him keep far mor more wealth than even carrying around pounds of platinum. As an adventurer it’s simply the easiest and lightest way to carry wealth across country. The problem with letters of credit is how easily they can be forged. Of corse in a magic world there are some possible protections - in FR wizards have a unique similar and anyone other than the Wizard using their similar was struck by Mystra for abuse of the similar so having even a bunch of low level Wizards as the scribes all of whom know each other’s signals and used them on the letters of credit would be one way to slow counterfeiting.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
A bit late to this post, but a wizard is someone who gained their magical abilities through study and practice right? What about a magic item vendor of scrolls and spell books that learned there magical abilities by reading and examining their merchandise over time, unlocking their magical abilities and thus becoming a wizard?
However they become a wizards they are entitled ( in FR) to a sigil that is unique to them and protected from counterfeiting by Mystra. That is the lore. Outside of FR you’re on your own. ( of course counterfeiting an archmage’s sigil strikes me as fairly stupid- they will discover it and come to have a “small chat” with you about it.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.