Those expecting death to free them from the chains of commerce are severely disappointed. Death does not extinguish avarice, and coins are as valued in Hell as they ever were in life.
Gold Piece
For aeons, golden coins have been placed into the mouths of the dead to ease their passage into the sunless lands. The shades of the deceased use these grave goods as a currency, redeemable wherever the dead gather. The coins are stamped with owls, bees, and other animals thought to act as messengers between the living and dead.
On the Shrike, gold pieces are mainly spent and carried by Sinners.
Umbra
When a coin is destroyed in life, its shadow insinuates itself into the underworld. An Umbra is a lustreless black coin, easily lost in the dark, which can drink any amount of heat into itself without melting. Umbrae are prized for their appearance and commonly traded throughout the infernal regions.
Umbrae are valued by Sinners and Devils alike. Treat 1 Umbra as being worth 5 gold pieces.
Athame
Athame are black-bladed knives, used by Devils in flensings and ritual sacrifices of defeated foes, as well as dividing meat for infernal feasts. Over many epochs, Athame have come to be regarded as a stable trade good, forged at a standard size and weight. Their value increases if they can be proved to have slain famous Devils. They are usable as a dagger, dealing d4 damage, and can wound creatures that are otherwise immune to non-magical weapons.
Treat regular Athame as worth 100 gold pieces each. A Devil will always carry at least one.
Distinguished Athame, used in notable slaughters and flensings, are worth 5,000 gold pieces each.
Legendary Athame, wielded by or against the Archons of Hell, are worth 10,000 gold pieces each.
Scarlet Scale of Mammon
Mammon, scarlet wyrm of greed, was carved into a million pieces by the Devils who overthrew him. In secret, his cult gathered the remnants of his corpse and forged it into heavy coins of red gold. They are rough and warm, seeming to shine in the gloom of the underworld like embers and their obverse faces marked with a coiling rune.
Mammon’s cult spent the scales wherever they could, believing that the greed these scarlet coins spark in their beholders would resurrect their master. That day never arrived and the cult of Mammon eventually subsided, but the custom of spending these red coins has remained. It is considered unlucky to spend prudently with them; one should instead squander the scarlet gold on extravagances and gluttony.
Mammon’s Scarlet Scales are worth 50 gold pieces each, as long as they are spent gluttonously and recklessly. If traded prudently for necessities they collapse into grey flakes of ash and become worthless, awarding no XP.
Armour: Mammon’s scales are sometimes found woven into armour. See p.xx for details on such garments.
Cursepearl
The crushing pressure and congealed malice of the Abyss births these abominations: iridescent tumours of aragonite and sin that whisper incessantly when held to the ear. They are prized by Devils and traded as a commodity. Crushed cursepearls are imbibed as an aid to diabolic virility.
Imps and other diabolic characters can crush and snort cursepearls, regaining 1d8 HP from a small pearl and 1d10 from a large specimen. In addition, the Devil gains +2 on their next Save vs Death.
Small cursepearls are worth 500 gold pieces each.
A large cursepearl will fetch 1,000 gold pieces.
Black Ledger
Black Ledgers are small record books in which the details of infernal debts are kept, including the infamous contracts Devils makes with living mortals. Possession of the Ledger is considered possession of the debtor, and as such they function as a unit of exchange amongst Greater Devils. Ledgers that are close to maturity (the debtor is likely to die soon) are worth more.
A Black Ledger is worth 3d6 x 1,000 gold pieces. If more details about the debt are required, roll below.
| d8 | Living Debtor | Reason for Debt |
| 1 | Ailing King | Desired Eternal Youth |
| 2 | Revered Scholar | Desired Wealth |
| 3 | Louche Artist | Desired the Love of Another |
| 4 | Industrious Torturer | Accumulate Occult Knowledge |
| 5 | Minor Cleric | Raise Another from Death |
| 6 | Beautiful Widow | Erase a Mistake |
| 7 | Paranoid Empress | Make an Impossible Journey |
| 8 | Feared Sorcerer | Ensure an Heir |
Nightmare Bloom
The flora of fevered dreams, each blossom its own impossible hue, stamen capped with eyes or petals tongue-like and lashing. Dried or fresh, they are prized by Devils, for plucking them from the realms of Nightmare is no small task.
Teas brewed from Nightmare Blooms are powerfully psychoactive. Drinkers must Save vs Poison or fall into a horrible dream for 1d6 rounds (as effect of Sleep spell). There is a 50% chance that a living fragment of the Nightmare emerges from their nose or ears during this dream.
A dried Nightmare Bloom is worth 1,000 gold pieces.
A fresh, living Nightmare Bloom is worth 5,000 gold pieces.
Auric Homunculi
AC: Unarmoured, HD: 0 (1 hp), Dmg: 1d4 bite, ML: 4
Believed to be another creation of the cult of Mammon, these creatures appear as horned human infants with the lower bodies of serpents. Their flesh and scales are golden, their eyes rubies of impressive size, and their fangs sharpened diamonds.
Unlike most other currencies, Auric Homunculi are sentient and actively resist being carried or spent. They cannot speak but cry, bite, and attempt to crawl away from their bearer unless restrained. They are usually stashed inside jars or soundproofed boxes.
A live Auric Homunculi is worth 100,000 gold pieces.
A dead Auric Homunculi rots away and is worth nothing.
This is a short excerpt from my upcoming infernal OSE mega-module, The Shrike. You can follow the project on Kickstarter here. The project should launch on the 13th of February.
VAULTS OF VAARN 