With the advent of the Burn the financial structure of Olaxis started to break down. Currency that was once made with gems or minerals and backed by established governments became problematic as the Burn overtook the planets that produced those materials. People lost faith in traditional forms of currency and instead sought an alternative.

Argent

A semi-popular form of universal currency prior to the Burn, argent are magical microscopic life forms. They grow in special tanks designed to help them flourish and form colonies that resemble crystalline coral structures. When taken out of their tanks, argent become inactive and the structures they form break down into a fine powder. The tiny creatures are believed to be effectively immortal and become active and form colonies once returned to a suitable habitat.

Argent has a unique connection to magic in ways the sapients of Olaxis do not fully understand. They do know that these colonies help with the transfer and effective use of magic. When the Burn arrived, systems in Olaxis that did not contain any argent had issues with magic working properly or even at all. While the exact reasons are still a mystery, Olaxans understand having a balanced population of argent around the galaxy is beneficial to everyone.

This desire to have argent spread around the galaxy was why governments allowed it to be used as a universal currency. A decade after the Burn arrived in Olaxis argent became the default currency, as it was readily available, could easily be divided and traded based on weight, and had a practical purpose. In addition, argent’s ability to multiply while in colony form meant it wouldn’t be lost entirely to the Burn.

Using Argent in Play

Every purchase or sale that is done in game uses argent as the base currency. For simplicity’s sake the amount of argent needed to purchase goods or services uses numbers (e.g., a laser pistol costs 500 argent). These numbers equal the number of grams of argent dust required to make the purchase. In-universe the purchases are made with piles of argent dust—or, in the case of larger purchases with tanks of argent—but for ease of tracking the players and GM use numbers.

During character creation players have an individual amount of argent to purchase their gear and modules for their spaceship. After character creation all of the player characters’ argent is no longer kept by the individuals, but instead as one shared resource in their ship’s argent tank. Any player can spend from this pool of money (although they should talk with their fellow player characters about taking the money first), and any money earned goes into this pool.

Argent Growth

Because of the nature of argent, it has the ability to multiply, thus producing more money for the player characters. As long as argent remains in a sealed tank, it continues to multiply. This provides people an opportunity to make money simply by keeping their argent sealed. 

Mechanically this works by players setting aside a certain amount of their argent and designating it sealed. Any money sealed away for the 100 days results in a 10 percent increase at the end of this time. Note that players do not have to seal away all their money. They can decide how much, if any, they want to seal away.

Example: The player characters decide to seal 10,000 argent in their tank. After 100 days, they now have 11,000 argent. 

The player characters can choose to break open the sealed tank at any time if they need access to the money. If the tank is unsealed before 100 days is up, however, then the argent experiences no growth. 

Example: The player characters have had argent sealed away for 50 days, and they realize they need a module for their ship. They had sealed away 10,000 argent, so they open it up to pull out 5,000 argent to buy the module. There is now 5,000 argent in the tank, and when the tank is resealed, the 100 days of argent growth begin anew.