The lesson on mathematics that Tusa instructed us on was far less broad than what I initially thought it would be. The main focus of the lesson was teaching us how to tally up loot and how to ensure we were not being cheated.
“This is an invaluable skill. A stupid Goblin can be easily taken advantage of or used as a sacrifice for others' mistakes.” The Goblin shaman gave us a hard look, it sounded as if she spoke from experience.
“Being stupid is almost as dire as being weak. Ensure you're neither if you want to survive in this world.” It didn't seem to matter what the subject that Tusa taught us, the stakes always appeared to be the same. Success meant living another day, failure meant death.
After the older Goblin appeared content enough with our grasp of basic mathematics, she decided it was time to move on to more practical applications. From a small leather pouch, she produced four thin pieces of metal and set them on the ground in front of us.
“Now that you know how to calculate your loot, you need to understand what it can get you. Money.” The tall Goblin said with a smirk, rubbing her hands together. It seemed to be a topic that was of great interest to Tusa.
“These are the basic currency you will find here in the Deamon Desert,” She pointed to the first metal piece, it was circular with a peg hole in the center and a glittering orange-brown color.
“This is a copper, it's the most common coin you will see and is also worth the least.” My brothers and I stared wide-eyed, it was the first time we had seen any form of currency. In all honesty, I had thought we were primarily trade-based and didn't rely on physical money. Tusa pointed to the next coin. This one was square in shape, with the same peg hole in its center, and was an earthy brown color.
“This is a bronze. One bronze is worth one hundred copper.” She moved to the next coin, it was a triangle, with a peg hole in its center and a dark gray color.
“This is nickel, one of these is worth one hundred bronze.” Tusa picked up the final coin, This one was larger, ovular in shape, and a much lighter gray than the nickel, with a metallic white tint to it.
“And this little beauty is a silver. Can you little Goblins guess how many nickels make one of these?”
“One hundred,” I said without thinking, then cringed when I realized I hadn't raised my hand. I wasn't entirely sure how strict our new teacher was, or what kind of disciplinary methods she subscribed to. To my relief, she only gave me a quick glance before nodding her head.
“That's correct Idika. One silver is worth one hundred nickel.” We stared wide-eyed at the coin, it was the most money we had ever seen.
“Is silver the most valuable coin there is?” Asked Drazahar excitedly, his hand raised in the air, but he had not waited to be called on before speaking. At this question, Tusa let out a snort.
“Hardly! It's most likely the most valuable thing you'll ever see! But there are plenty more.” At this, we all leaned in, curious at what could be even more valuable than the glittering silver coin she held.
“After silver is roe,” With this Tusa stood up and walked to the blackboard. On its surface, she drew a crescent shape with a hole at its center.
“A roe is worth fifty silver.” Taking a sidestep she drew another image, this one was another circle but it had an archway shape cut out from the lower half and a hole punched at its top.
“Then its electrum, which is worth fifty roe.” She tapped the board under the recent drawing she had just completed. Tusa moved again and drew what looked like an elongated pentagon.
“From there it's crystal, which equals fifty electrum.” Drawing another image, this one looked like a circle above a square, the two shapes connected by a thin bridge.
“After that it's gold, that's worth fifty crystal. And finally that brings us to the last one.” Tusa scribbled a shape that looked like a rectangle with two thinner rectangles welded halfway down its length on either side. She tapped a long nail on the drawing, staring almost longingly at it.
“This is platinum, and this dazzling little thing is worth ten gold.” She gave a snort and turned to face us.
“It's also far more money than any of us will ever dream of seeing.” My brothers and I stared up at the board in wonder. Just a moment ago we thought the glistening silver coin was the most money there was, but now we knew there were coins so valuable that we most likely would never even see them. I tried to wrap my head around the value of these phantom coins.
“How much do we make from tribute? What are things we can earn money from?” Drazahar let loose his questions with excitement, waving his hand in the air, still refusing to wait till he was called on. At this Tusa ignored his questions completely, much to Drazahar's annoyance.
“There are a lot of currencies with different conversions. You also will often hear them referred to by their 'common' names. For example copper is dull, bronze is strong, nickel is nicked, and so on. It will benefit you to learn them by both names, nothing is worse than mistaking a payment of nickel when it was strong.”
Tusa brought out a clay jug and nine small glasses, laying them out before us. She filled each one with a red liquid, which turned out not to be blood wine, much to my relief. She also produced a small leather drum. According to Tusa the best way to learn the currency system was with an old shanty song. The shaman explained it was very popular in taverns and burrows alike and was often sung as a drinking game, hence the cups.
We sang the long shanty through more times than I could count, with whoever miss-sung vers needing to drain their cup. It was very clear how people could become very drunk with this game. It made reference to every currency, both names it was called by, and its conversion to the next highest value coin.
Tusa finally decided enough was enough when we were all able to sing the song twice without anyone taking a drink. Though I wasn't entirely sure if was due to our improvement, or the fact that over the course of the afternoon we had emptied the fairly large clay jug.
“Alright you lot, I think that's enough for today.” The tall Goblin stated as she stood and brushed her robes off. She then retreated from the room only to return moments later with a wood poll straddling her shoulders. On one end was a wooden bucket and on the other was a metal cauldron, emanating from it was a mouthwatering aroma. My stomach growled as I realized we had not eaten since that morning. Due to how well covered the temple was from natural light it was difficult to tell how much time had passed, but if my hunger was any indication it was most likely late afternoon.
We eyed the cauldron hungrily as it was placed on the ground and Tusa instructed us to line up in front of the wooden bucket. Makadian had pushed and managed to be the first one to line up, he eagerly reached into the bucket, which we could now see was full of wooden bowls. He snatched one up and was about to move toward the cauldron when a metal ladle came down firmly on the back of his hand.
Makadian withdrew his hands with a sharp cry, dropping the bowl back into the bucket. Holding his injured hand he glared at his attacker.
“What was that for?!” He barked at Tusa who stared him down, ladle still in hand, and she scoffed.
“I guess you lot haven't learned your proper places yet.” The woman gave a sigh and rubbed at her temples.
“You can't simply take what you want, not unless you know how to get away with it. You need to learn your place and respect those above you. At least to their faces.” Makadian still looked furious and spat out a reply.
“And what's that supposed to mean?” I could see Tusa's eye twitch in annoyance and I half expected her to strike him again with the metal spoon. But she took a long breath, trying to collect herself before she spoke again.
“When it comes to anything be it food, loot, or mates. Anything. The ones with the most authority have the first claim. For you lot, the order of authority is by age. Oldest to the front, youngest to the back.” At this Makas face turned so red he looked more like an Orcus and a Goblin.
“And how do you know I'm not the oldest?” He spat at Tusa, she gave him a quick glance and smiled at him.
“Trust me little one. I know.” With that, she pointed at Malkadian and me, gesturing us to move forward. We did as she directed and I stood at the front of the line, Mal behind me, followed by Drazahar and a still-fuming Makadian. The other boys followed suit, taking their places in the back half of the line.
From there we each took turns grabbing a wooden bowl and spoon from the bucket, after which Tusa served the stew from the cauldron. It was a hearty concoction of meat and vegetables, while I recognized the Lamot roots there were several other ingredients that I couldn't put a name to. But it was cooked to perfection, savory and the meat seemed to melt in my mouth.
We all sat in a loose circle as we ate hungrily, in between bites we went over the information Tusa had given us. There was concern about the burrows and leaving mother. We didn't even know how long it would take us to come of age. There was also the concern of what day-to-day life was like in these burrows, from what she explained so far it sounded like a far cry from our current home life. It was clear we all had questions and desperately wanted some clarification.
I don't remember when I fell asleep, just that not long after we had discussed what we would ask during lessons the next day, I felt my eyes grow heavy. Then it was just comfortable darkness.