The Professional Banker

A land with a tavern, farms, inns, public houses, cannot be called a village unless it has a bank.   Though the tradition came out of the chaos of the 7 Tribes Demons' arrival on the material plane, the implicit rules following banking is one that every citizen of Autauga has come to trust explicitly.   The entire fiasco of the Demons of the 7 Tribes who came to the material plane to enjoy their hedonist nature and avoid fighting came about because of the counterfeit gold coins they had in their possession as they left the lower realms.   The joyful demons had been using the counterfeit gold for so long that it had almost escaped their memory completely that the coins they used to trade with friendlier Autaugans were not real gold. When accused of passing counterfeit gold, the Demons' natural response was to argue until they remembered the pact they had made and their new goddess. Grumbling, they had to do something. And that something turned out to be work.   The 7 Tribes Demons were reluctant to do actual labor, especially labor that didn't seem to immediately benefit them but one savvy human man who understood the lure of profit and how to disperse that lure had a brilliant idea. He talked the 7 Tribes Demons into guarding the bank he had just built in Autauga's most occupied city. The man's name was Wells. He was the youngest son of seven and knew that the wells his family were famous for would bring little profit to him as the youngest son. He had come up with an idea about how the booming town that was quickly becoming a city could store its gold and silver safely.   He had used the best architects and built a building that had banded iron around every wooden door, wall and ceiling. Soon enough, he realized that instead of banding the enormous wooden beams, it would be simpler to create the doors and walls and ceiling out of iron itself. Architects laughed at Wells, telling him his building would collapse from being so heavy, Townsfolk made it a running joke that their money would be safe in Wells' bank alright because none could ever open the door to the bank.   Wells ignored the snide jibes and continued his fanciful building. On the day the bank opened for business, two different customers appeared an hour or two apart. Both appeared to be ruffian scoundrels but the townsfolk were watching as they pretended to go about their business.   Each of the two customers deposited large amounts of gold that day. Wells was thrilled with his luck. The two men had made the trek across the country from the Juniper Mountains and in particular, a place they had named Eureka Peaks.   As Wells' bank became famous in the town, its reputation grew. It was known that Wells hired Demons to guard patrons' money. Wells was nothing if not a man of vision and he foresaw a need to build similar structures throughout the growing continent of Autauga. He also saw his chance to build what today would be called a monopoly but then only seemed to make excellent business sense to Wells.   As his profits and reputation grew, he began building banks in other growing villages and towns throughout Autauga. Each was run by someone who had to follow his tenants of banking and because he trusted none but the Demons who were lawful though evil, he hired only 7 Tribes Demons to be bankers. Of course each banker had to pay a certain amount of profit to Wells. In 80 years, Wells was the wealthiest man alive in Autauga, followed closely by several 7 Tribes Demons.   One can only be a banker if one is a member in good standing of the Tribal Council of the 7 Demons Tribe.