Thumbolt, Alfred Landers

The First Bank of Symbolencie is a Very Big Important Respectable Financial Institution in the Gri’x. The main branch dominates the Symbolencie Block in the older, dignified section of DownTown, right down the street from City Hall and the GGAPExB. It's an ancient mid-Victorian style building made of massive brown bricks, dingy concrete, and polished oak: a good, solid, sturdy thing. When people talk about the proverbial “immovable object,” they’ll often point to the First Bank of Symbolencie.   And the “unstoppable force” to go with it would be Alfred Landers Thumbolt.   A ‘Nodian financier from Back in the Day who frequently visited the Gri’x in his dreams, Thumbolt took one look at what passed for an economic system here and realized that, while it could never be completely regulated, someone had to try. Coin was flying everywhere, fakeries were rampant, and heated disputes over the value of Coins were common. Even in regular barter transactions that didn’t involve Coin, disagreements and duels were turning the Crating Bazaar into a daily free-for-all.   As he approached the end of his ‘Nodian life, Thumbolt spent more and more time here in the Gri’x. He acquired a small office DownTown and founded Thumbolt’s Currency Services, a system whereby folks could come to him to forge their own Coin in his presence, so that he could bear witness and imprint the finished Coin with a Seal of Authenticity. Though this wasn't the only such service in Gri'x, Thumbolt’s unusual philosophy and methods distinguished him from his competitors.   He was the first to establish a central regulation system: he created a database of all validated and certified Coins that he encountered, cross-indexed with a long list of goods and services of comparable value. With this information, he could provide appraisal services (for a small fee) to anyone wanting to learn more about an unknown Coin before summoning its creator for remittance.   Also, in those days, most Coin validators and appraisers often charged the customer a second, smaller Coin for the service. However, while Thumbolt’s business revolved around Coin, he refused to take it as payment. In fact, he also offered financial counseling to help his customers find alternate trade arrangements before giving away any part of their core essence.  

"I'll take your old sewing machine. I'll take a barrel of apples. I'll take that big wad of dog hair. But anyone desperate enough to be forging Coin needs to hold on to all the Soul they can. Now, are you sure you want to do this?"

-- Alfred Landers Thumbolt, to his customers

  Before too long, Thumbolt's Currency Services had earned a reputation for compassion, reliability, and fair dealing. (Never mind that on some planes, a big wad of dog hair fetches a far bigger price than any amount of Soul ever could.)   But Thumbolt had even bigger plans. By the time he finally left the ‘Node and immigrated to the Gri’x permanently, he had acquired a couple of like-minded silent partners. Together, they had the means to take possession of the entire building in which Thumbolt’s Currency Services resided. After some major renovation and restoration work, the First Bank of Symbolencie was open for business.   Thumbolt and his partners could now offer a broad portfolio of financial services in addition to validation and appraisals of Coin. Today, customers come for financial advising, investment brokerage, and the most popular service: Soul Saving accounts. Each account comes with a physical vault in which one can securely deposit anything—including one’s own soul energy—that might be useful in future trade negotiations.   Through feast and famine, the grandfatherly-yet-steely Thumbolt has remained at the helm of the Bank, never wavering from his original vision of equitable trade for all. The First Bank of Symbolencie is well-known not only for its uncompromisingly high standards of security and customer satisfaction, but also as a fierce corporate-level opponent of the Illuminati Bastards, the Consensi, and any others who would undermine individual autonomy and free will for their own gain.