Brass Coins
By Taipin very wise diviner
Brass... An alloy composed of the metals copper and zinc. In these lands, it is rarely seen save in the shield of the Nangens offered to those most powerful among warriors. Its defensive strength and sturdiness offers a mighty hand to the worshippers of Chung Ryong, and I suppose this is why such a large heap of gold had to be placed in the hands of a Nangen in exchange for it. Even though brass is rare in the East, I came upon an interesting discovery when travelling in the Western lands...
I am a Diviner of the Grey Path, no doubt, but I am also something of a nomad. I feel an insatiable need for knowledge at all times, and remaining in one place only forces the feeling that I could be learning if I were moving. For this, I wander. My path has had so many curves that I nor anyone else my true age, as my body has taken quite a beaten from the countless mountains I have scaled and valleys I have explored. In a recent quest for knowledge, I found myself in a small western village...
I stayed in the village for a good while, quickly picking up on the language of locals and being sure to learn all that I could. I eventually made friends with the town's blacksmith, a scraggly old man by the name of Bardol. Bardol's curiosity was almost comparable to mine, and our conversations were long as we exchanged knowledge of our seemingly opposite kingdoms. I studied him, and being a Diviner my eyes often give my mind strange visions; I quickly learned the man's entire future as we spoke. His mind seemed troubled by my intrusion, and he inquired.
"Are you some sort o' fortune-teller?" he asked me quizzically. I grinned warmly and gave a short nod. "I suppose you could call me that... if that's what they're called in these lands. Does this discovery interest you?" I replied. "Perhaps... In my kingdom, those who tell fortunes are burned as heretics, so finding one such as you is quite interesting." he said to me with a smirk with intentions I could not decipher. I was startled - was he going to hand me over to his Kingdom? I then decided to remain calm, and offered my divine advice. "If you're interested, perhaps you may have a problem I could aid you in solving?" He looked up with a sparkle in his eye and spoke almost as if a child, "Really? Ye... ye can fix what's wrong? Ye can do that?" I shook my head slowly and replied "Nay... The path is yours to walk, but I can show you where to find it." Satisfied with this answer, he complied.
"In my kingdom," I began as I reached into my pouch for my coins, "we divine by using I-Ching.. This I will --- oh dear." I realized that my coins were missing from my pouch -- I could not give him his reading without them. "What is it?" Bardol asked anxiously, as if I had already perceived a nasty fate for him. "Oh.. its just.. my copper coins. I use them for my readings.. but I cannot perform one without them." I replied, assuring Bardol that he was not in danger. Sighing with relief, Bardol reached into his own pouch and pulled out three dark-brown colored coins and placed them into my hand. "Will those work?" he asked me softly. I looked at the coins and found upon one side a crude rendering of a grinning, walking man, and on the otherside another poorly engraved portrait of a stern, standing woman. Not bothering to ask their identities (assuming they were the King and Queen of Bardol's country), I studied them further. The portraits were perfect for my cause, as the man was a wonderful representative of Yang and the woman a delegate of Yin. But.. I still knew not of what they were made of. The metal looked somewhat familiar, but its texture and weight felt nothing like the copper, silver, and gold coins I had been so used to. Rather than eternally guessing, I decided to ask Bardol of their origin.
"Ah.. those are made of an alloy we call 'brass'. You might've seen it in that southern country, Nagnang... A shady character from area was wandering out here and came upon our village,and seemed to fall in love with the stuff. Sure, it is quite strong, but those coins are only worth two coppers. We've got quite alot of it here, this smithy is one of the leading producers of it in my country. What do you think of it?"
I grinned and practiced flipping the coins, realizing their superiority to my old copper coins. "They're perfect - better than I had imagined when you took them out of your pouch." I flipped the coins into the air, and performed for Bardol a reading of the I-Ching.
Being discrete, I will not specify Bardol's question or the result of the reading, but I will say that Bardol was well pleased with my advice. "There must be some way I can repay you, good sir! Are there more fortune-tellers like you in the East?" I chuckled and said "Quite a few.. At the very least I'd say one hundred. I believe many of them have a Circle of some sort and they convene.. but still there are freelance Diviners which I am unaware of. If you wish to repay me... May I keep these three brass coins?" Bardol smiled with the same sparkle in his eye and went into his back room. He returned with a large chest and brought it out to my steed. "That chest is filled with Brass coins... I'd say about 600 are in there. It is the very least I can do to repay you -- if you ever need more, just remember my name." I was surprised at his gift and shared my concern for his financial situation, but he didn't mind. "That's only a thousand coppers, which isn't much here.. Not sure about the East. Make good use of those coins." I nodded and placed my hand upon my steed. "Heh... I suppose what is waste to some is treasure to others.. I will certainly treasure these, and if I ever come across that Guild of Diviners, I will share these coins with them." Mounting my steed, I rode off into the East.
Reader of my tale... Are you worthy of these brass coins?
_
| a i p i n