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Counterfeiting
A story from an Unknown Merchant; Provided by TwiceAHuman
~~Written on a wooden board outside the Sales District~~
You probably know the pleasure of getting a lot of blue stones from a large sale of a valuable creature. And, if you're a beginner to the area, you quickly learn the frustration of discovering that most stones you're given are fakes.
I know it all too well as a merchant here, and this is why I have erected this sign. Here you will find the many descriptions of blue stones counterfeiting techniques, and how to identify faked blue stones. Counterfeiters, beware, the knowledge seen here is cherished by all who do commerce.
Firstly, to start with, many people try to split their blue stones in smaller ones, trying to increase their fortune by doing so. In fact, a man named Byhor made himself a large fortune by finding just several large blue stones, and splitting them into hundreds of pieces. Unknown to many people, there is an official limitation on the weight of a blue stone, and anything below this limit is worthless. The minimum allowed weight is three granks, or seven goild. If they weight less than that, you have every right to reverse the sale and demand the return of the goods you have sold to that person. It is also recommended to turn the person in to the authorities if done in large quantities.
Secondly, you may find that some people take regular rocks and cover them in various substances to hide their origins. Some people use crushed seadrake shell powder to paint ordinary stones and make them look like the currency we use. This paint is waterproof and therefore these "blue stones" seem to be no different from real ones. However, real blue stones are smooth, while these fakes are lumpy.If somebody tries to pay you with lumpy blue stones, you should, again, report them to local authorities.
Another way to make fake blue stones is using hardened Yivartian Windslugs' goo mixed with any blue dye. These hardened goo pieces are virtually indistinguishable from true blue stones, however they have one dead giveaway - they have quite a "slimy" smell, and you can see the center of the normal stone instead of the crystalline insides of a real stone. Some fake stone makers try to fix it by adding mint or lavender powder to the formula, but in fact it only causes fake stones to have two smells at once, not loosing the slimy one.
Finally the last and most horrific known way to make blue stones, the knowledge of which is lost. A'Eara, a Flame Clan mage is said to have invented a way to... Turn dragon teeth into real blue stones by complicated alchemy. For that she gained the nickname, "Tooth Fairy". She was prone to kidnapping small dragons to harvest their teeth for her own purposes, at regular intervals, until the dragon could not grow any more teeth- where, they did not face a lovely fate once found useless, as she kept many beasts as her companions.
When the authorities, worried about the disappearances of hatchlings in the wild finally found her subterranean fortress, they were astonished by the amount of blue stones on the underground floor, and the large pile bloodied dragon skulls with all teeth removed. What happened to A'Eara's secret knowledge is unknown, and thankfully such. Some people say that it was destroyed and forgotten on purpose, some people say that the council has this spell to themselves and keep it in secret to this day. The whole story may be a mere fabrication to warn about the dangers of greed.
I hope this little sign will help you in your future brokering. I would be really pleased if it decreases the amount of dull commoners trying to pay me with falsified blue stones. I know all of your tricks, stop trying to fool me.
I know it all too well as a merchant here, and this is why I have erected this sign. Here you will find the many descriptions of blue stones counterfeiting techniques, and how to identify faked blue stones. Counterfeiters, beware, the knowledge seen here is cherished by all who do commerce.
Firstly, to start with, many people try to split their blue stones in smaller ones, trying to increase their fortune by doing so. In fact, a man named Byhor made himself a large fortune by finding just several large blue stones, and splitting them into hundreds of pieces. Unknown to many people, there is an official limitation on the weight of a blue stone, and anything below this limit is worthless. The minimum allowed weight is three granks, or seven goild. If they weight less than that, you have every right to reverse the sale and demand the return of the goods you have sold to that person. It is also recommended to turn the person in to the authorities if done in large quantities.
Secondly, you may find that some people take regular rocks and cover them in various substances to hide their origins. Some people use crushed seadrake shell powder to paint ordinary stones and make them look like the currency we use. This paint is waterproof and therefore these "blue stones" seem to be no different from real ones. However, real blue stones are smooth, while these fakes are lumpy.If somebody tries to pay you with lumpy blue stones, you should, again, report them to local authorities.
Another way to make fake blue stones is using hardened Yivartian Windslugs' goo mixed with any blue dye. These hardened goo pieces are virtually indistinguishable from true blue stones, however they have one dead giveaway - they have quite a "slimy" smell, and you can see the center of the normal stone instead of the crystalline insides of a real stone. Some fake stone makers try to fix it by adding mint or lavender powder to the formula, but in fact it only causes fake stones to have two smells at once, not loosing the slimy one.
Finally the last and most horrific known way to make blue stones, the knowledge of which is lost. A'Eara, a Flame Clan mage is said to have invented a way to... Turn dragon teeth into real blue stones by complicated alchemy. For that she gained the nickname, "Tooth Fairy". She was prone to kidnapping small dragons to harvest their teeth for her own purposes, at regular intervals, until the dragon could not grow any more teeth- where, they did not face a lovely fate once found useless, as she kept many beasts as her companions.
When the authorities, worried about the disappearances of hatchlings in the wild finally found her subterranean fortress, they were astonished by the amount of blue stones on the underground floor, and the large pile bloodied dragon skulls with all teeth removed. What happened to A'Eara's secret knowledge is unknown, and thankfully such. Some people say that it was destroyed and forgotten on purpose, some people say that the council has this spell to themselves and keep it in secret to this day. The whole story may be a mere fabrication to warn about the dangers of greed.
I hope this little sign will help you in your future brokering. I would be really pleased if it decreases the amount of dull commoners trying to pay me with falsified blue stones. I know all of your tricks, stop trying to fool me.