WIP: This article is a work in progress and is not yet approved for usage in the RP.

Lorath commonly perform financial transactions in hard currency rather than fiat currency which is commonly signified by precious gems and metals which are valued on the spot and bartered with.

Alternatively, larger transactions or digital transactions are performed in state granted credits - which takes place in the former UOC’s HS currency.

This use of hard currency makes financial exchange hard to trace and creates a rugged economy independent of any one banking system while also retaining anonymity, something the Lorath truly value.

For example, If buying a starship, one would arrive with a few bricks of rare metal such as Platinum, which would then be assessed on site for atomic structural signs of authenticity. Alternatively, objects of similar worth can be bartered for, which is also common though obviously less anonymous.

Artificial gems and materials are considered heinously disrespectful and most Lorath carry a loupe or jeweler’s lens — commonly known as a se’ye’en — and the skills to discern between natural organic materials and counterfeit materials generated by modal systems.

Though antiquated now, P’enn specifically is the exchange of precious rocks as a symbolic gesture, rather than a mere exchange of currency. This usually takes place not with items that have been exchanged but with materials which have been discovered by hand on the land itself with a certain rarity - symbolically representing how much time a person is willing to invest in order to represent their feelings for another person.

Many prolific families, may for example, breed rare crystal on the sea-floor of - as an example - pyrite and silver in order to introduce new currency into the Lorath exchange. This specific chemical cocktail of gemstone or crystal would then become their signature p’enn.

Usually, Lorath choose to ‘dignify’ their homes and show their appreciation with P’enn they have been given through their lifetimes as gifts from close family - often as memoirs of moments in their lives or in memory of those who have passed away - usually sprucing up even low income households and basic clothing with such forms. It is also common for Lorath to keep their more precious P’enn on their person at all times either with jewelry, surgical implantation or simply to store away in little black locked boxes - known as Po’een - which might be thought of as a Lorath’s private lockette.

To this end, Lorath prize authenticity over realism — that is, provided a material is authentically organic, it is appreciated, even if it is woven into strange shapes like hand-crafted clocks using genuine crystal, authentic brass gear-work and gold decoration laid over a genuine wood exterior – over a clock with superior functionality.

The value of P’enn, if reintroduced to currency is purely symbolic and mostly tied to the history of the specific rock (which is often ascribed on its underside), or its presentation.

For example, royal P’enn is grown deep beneath the ocean in crushing pressures from thorium, pyrite, carbon and titanium - achieving a clear coloration which - while usually white, is then tainted in color and patterned as it grows. The crystal is then shaved and polished smoothly into a perfect sphere and optical meeting (from powerful lenses) is used to inscribe the story inside the ball.

This method of nesting the story inside the p’een is becoming more commonplace now - beginning with large clumsy text and in more expensive cases with the text so small it must be read with the aforementioned se’ye’en - with entire books of family histories hidden in a single marble-sized p’een in a format similar to what Nepleslians know as ‘Micro-fiche’ - protecting the story for all time - provided the exterior can still be polished smooth enough to read the interior.

In this sense, a single P'een allows a Lorath to carry the complete book of the Goddess with them, the diaries of their ancestors (usually a replica of the original records, which are stored at home or buried with them) or elements of history (often proof a person was present at an event of significance) at all times without it being cumbersome.