Mintero

Mintero is one of the many gods of the Petrenean Pantheon, occasionally acknowledged by the followers of the Awakened One, particularly in Albassaria. Some mythologies have him as divine from the outset, and others ascribe that he was either a powerful spirit or a human (usually born of the city of Albassaria) who achieved great wealth and acumen on Ahren before renouncing much of it and taking up the study of the way with the Awakened One - in this way, he has commonalities with both San Marino of the Bastonian Canon and Xuthakug Three-Eyes of the Orcish Pantheon.

Mintero is a Lawful Neutral god whose portfolio encompasses wealth, travel, architecture, and diplomacy. His holy weapon is a scepter, and his symbol is a golden coin marked with his name in Old Petrenean.

History

While the origins of Mintero are unclear - and his own recollections of them deliberately vague - his strong association with the city of Albassaria is not in dispute, though there are three competing legends:

• Mintero is the god of Albassaria, from a time before the Awakened One, who founded and watched over the city. These legends ascribe the Old Wall's constriction to his divine instruction, but fail to account for other discrepancies like absence of his mention from the records of the time before the walls, as a material influence in the world in that time would certainly have brought him into conflict with the Enemy, as well as how he came to be so aligned with the awakened one.
• Mintero was a spirit of the Bardo who became associated with the city of Albassaria through a dalliance the scions of one of the noble families of the city, shaping and influencing its trade and culture. They accumulated great wealth amongst their family's progeny and eventually ascended upon learning the teachings from the Awakened One, after realizing wealth could not buy them the immortality they wanted for their loved ones. These legends are unclear of which family benefited from this relationship.
• Mintero was a human born of the city of Albassaria in the time shortly after the Awakening. In this origin, he was a trader and merchant who made a great deal of wealth for whichever guild or noble family could best attract his attentions, but due to his low station at birth, could never found a guild or house of his own. It is purported that he suffered the death of a relative - the retellings differ - and fled the city, donating his wealth to the church of the Awakened One and taking up the practices thereof, eventually reaching awakening himself.

Relationships

Mintero is loyal to few. He is known to be a devotee of the Awakened One, and maintains rivalries with some of the Bastonian gods, San Meteo and San Marino, though the rivalry can only be said to be friendly with the latter. Of all the gods of prosperity worshipped on Ahren, he is perhaps the least avaricious; his good nature and attitude toward clemency, the forgiveness of debts, and the use of wealth to support the common good are well known and have earned him the respect of the likes of San Hera and many of the "healer gods".

Appearance

Mintero's appearance is highly mutable, but he is often depicted as a silver dragon, usually seen seated upon a wealth of coins. In murals and bas relief depicting the god, he is often seen to disburse that wealth, perhaps paradoxically given the form.

Realm

Mintero, by the nature of his alignment and the manner in which he is bounded to the cosmos, maintains a realm in Axioma known as the Celestial Mint. The realm is said to be fabulously wealthy, perhaps unsurprisingly. As a neutral party, the realm often serves as a place of mediation between otherwise opposed gods, especially those of the good and evil sides of the Bastonian Pantheon.

Providence

Mintero has been said in particular to reward acts of charity, though his providence is also ascribed to the successful return of "wise" investments. His wrath is said to fall upon those whose investment in high-risk enterprises fall flat.

Servants

Mintero is served, especially in his realm, by the Inevitable Kobolds, a clockwork servitor race.

Unique Servants

The Evershifting Coin

Mintero has a herald or messenger in the form of a coin of platinum, blazed with an open palm on one side and his name in Old Petrenean on the other, which is a fully intelligent magic item on its own right. The coin refuses to be horded or held and will inevitably influence those around it to spend, steal, or otherwise cause it to be transferred closer to its goals. The coin is said to occasionally ally with those worthy of it, channeling its divinely-granted energies through them, often causing them to become an Avatar of Mintero.

Church

The formal church of Mintero is not widespread, and does not operate outside of the city of Albassaria. There are no country temples of the god, though the estates of some Petreneans (many of which have been abandoned since the Great Collapse occasionally have chapels or shrines dedicated to the God of Good Fortunes.

Worshippers

Merchants and guildsmen often worship Mintero within his city, and many sailors who pass through the city have been known to make minor tributes to him. While even in his own city, the worship of Mintero is usually second to the Awakened One, it is a well known worship and often engaged in alongside that of the more popular god. In particular, his name is synonymous with the city's moneyed class, to the extent that the "common" chamber of the city Signoria (which is made up of the moneyed class) is known as the Hall of Mintero.

Clergy

Mintero holds a limited clergy, owing in part to the lack of widespread worship of the god throughout the bulk of Wisteria. In particular, many of his clergy have skills related to divination, and are often sought out for this purpose; a limited number even work on retainer for various wealthy or noble families in the city.

Perhaps peculiarly, priests of Mintero take vows of poverty. While they are allowed (and in some senses encouraged) to accumulate material wealth, they are required to liquidate the overwhelming majority of it in a series of annual festivals, disbursing the proceeds among the citizens of Mintero. For this reason, his clerics are often desired in positions of trust in banks and treasuries, as they are seen to be less corruptible.

Temples & Shrines

Mintero's chief temple is Hall of Mintero in the City Palace of Albassaria, part of the complex of buildings that make up the formal chambers of the city Signoria, though he also has multiple smaller shrines throughout the city. The most popular of these is the Golden Sun Shrine, a large shrine complex in the city's harbor, that is frequented by arriving and departing sailors, especially those engaged in merchant trading. That particular shrine complex also includes a bank that is said to be the oldest such institution in the world; the Bank of Albassaria having been established in antiquity on a practice of granting loans for public works out of its holdings, to be repaid by the City Signoria at interest. A significant portion of that interest is disbursed in regular festivals.

Holy Texts

Mintero is associated with a holy text often distributed in the wider church of the Awakened One known as the Laws of Exchange, presented as a series of discourses and sayings delivered by Mintero to some unnamed ancient follower or followers. The document serves as a caution against avarice, drawing clear lines between effective business practices and outright greed, as well as establishing a series of moral codes surrounding the acquisition, treatment, and disbursement of wealth. In particular, it cautions against underpayment for goods and services, forbids fraudulent business practices and "false dealing", and establishes a regular practice of almsgiving. Adherants to the church - even lay adherents - are expected to donate no less than one-third-part of their material income (less their costs of living) each year into charitable and public works.

Church History

The Church of Mintero is viewed by many to be coterminous with the City of Albassaria, even existing long before the republican era of Petrenea, and the rise of the city Signoria. While such incidents are rare, it has been known to suddenly withhold its loaned funding from the city Signoria, or use the threat of doing so to influence city politics. More often, it will simply refuse loans when there is the appearance its funding will be used for projects not in keeping with the teachings of Mintero.

Holidays

There are festivals on each full and new moon dedicated to Mintero. The former are known as "Silver Nights", and are usually marked by feasting and the giving of alms to the poor of the city. Such festivals vary month over month and often are directed not straight at Mintero but at various minor spirits associated with him, though his priests always officiate over the religious aspects of these festivals, which can be viewed as energetic, oftentimes drunken affairs.

In contrast - and perhaps less observed - the latter set of festivals are known as "Nights of the Alm" or "Empty Bowl Nights". The monastic subcomponent of his clergy traditionally make rounds in the city, chanting from the Laws of Exchange at the doors of the houses in the city's wealthy quarters, begging donations to their cause. Interestingly, in these latter cases, one third share of the alms collected are gifted in trust to the city's temples to the Awakened One - the balance are used as all other revenues of the church, in the upkeep of the shrines and temples, feeding and care of the clergy, and disbursed to the city's charitable works.