In my current Sunday
Hold of Sea Princes game there is a long-running quest object/s called the
Golden Toli Captains. These are merely oversized (and overpriced) gold coins with no magical properties except a certain compulsion on the local ruler of
Hokar. I've often mentioned these coins in my campaign posts. At long last, here is some backstory on the 33 Golden Toli Captains.
For many decades the accepted gold coinage in the Hold of the Sea Princes has been the gold Admirals minted out of the capital of
Monmurg. Twenty years ago in
Port Toli however, the rulers of House Toli wanted to defy the economic conditions in the Hold and tried to start their own currency. The first of the series, the gold "Toli Captain" was indeed a work of art and was designed to be larger than most gold coins, befitting the arrogance of Port Toli. The coins were to be minted in the mining town of Hokar, but early into development the plan was ended by the
Prince of Monmurg as House Toli relented. The plates for the infamous Toli gold pieces were destroyed but the
Marquis of Hokar, Symeon III a metal-smith and enchanter of note, had managed to strike 33 of these coins before this happened and he locked them away in his dungeon vaults to be used at a later time for his own purposes. Only he and his son knew what ulterior plans they had for the coins.
Symeon III died before his dream was realized and his lazy son never followed up on the plans of his father. Only after "the incident" in the
Mines of Hokar did
Symeon IV fear for his life and start a search for the invaluable Toli Captains. The 33 coins are all "master work" quality items worth much more than their weight in gold, possibly 200-400 g.p. apiece to a collector (the Marquis has offered anywhere from 500-1000 g.p. for each). One side bears the likeness of a typical Port Toli captain while the other side is imprinted with a Sea Princes vessel. Due to their being lost in the cavernous Mines of Hokar, they are not pristine and most should be scratched and dirtied.
Notes for the DM: The golden Toli Captains are rumored to be magical or perhaps hold a resonating effect if they all gathered together. The ruler of Hokar's obsession over them and the fact they were minted by a mage is hard to dispute. Besides their ridiculously treasured value, the 33 coins are unfortunately just plain gold. The true motives of the Marquis (his father's dream) is to use the combined masterwork coins as a special tribute to the enigmatic pirate group known as the
Fivefold Council in a bid to gain their unrivalled personal protection; the fabled
Ward. Though there is no guarantee the Council will be pleased with this gift, the chance to impress them with a thematic work of art such as the Toli Captains is worth the time, money and effort (and deaths of PCs) for the slovenly Symeon IV who lacks the adventuring spirit of his forebears.
