Editing Dark Ring (section)

== The [[Bank of Salt]] ==
Created near the start of the Caliphate, the Bank of Salt, often referred to as the Salt Bank or Salts, started its life as a simple central bank. However, as the trade of minerals and spices grew the Caliphs gave the Salt Bank more power. After more than four hundred years, the Bank of Salt has almost become an independent entity from the government. While the Caliph can order that the bank take action, this has fallen out of favor and instead members of government usually petition the bank for funds. 

=== ''Internal System'' ===
On the outside the Bank of Salt seems to operate like any normal bank. The bank has a chair that serves on a three year term before a new chair is appointed by the board of governors and approved by the Caliph. The board of governors sits below the chair. Each governor is responsible for a different sect of the rank or region that the bank operates within.

Below this level sits an army’s worth of branch managers, accountants, financial analysts, and more. These lower level positions oversee the day to day operations of the Salt Bank.

While the bank does maintain more than one-hundred local branches across all three Rings, the nerve center of the operation is located in Zosul on the Dark Ring. Located near the center of the city on the street of silver lies the headquarters of the bank. Standing almost two-hundred feet tall, containing more than nine-hundred rooms, and an underground vault said to be larger than the actual city, the bank’s seat of power is a wonder of Eshai engineering. 

=== ''Investments'' ===
With being the larger lender in the Rings comes many investments. The Bank of Salt finds profitable enterprises in many areas. From supporting a rising nation to funding a new bridge, the bank does not discriminate between money making enterprises. The main thing the bank’s leadership examines is whether or not they can make money on the venture or at least break even. Risky investments are often met with high interest rates or absurd pieces of collateral. Once, when the nation of Breoa defaulted on a loan, the Bank of Salt received their entire production of mead for a year. Under threat of being terminated from the bank’s client list, the nation of Breoa capitulated and have never defaulted on a loan since.

The Bank of Salt’s investing is so widespread that they have developed a stock market. Stocks are bought and sold within the headquarters of the bank. It is estimated that more than three million gold pieces worth of stock are traded daily. 

=== ''The Gold Swords'' ===
An organization the size of the Bank of Salt requires a way to keep safe its interests. That’s why the bank employs its own private mercenary army, the Gold Swords. These troops are equipped with the finest weapons, armor, and supplies money can buy. However, it is widely known that the Gold Swords rely on their superior equipment far too often. Their actual training and military strategy is lacking. However, for the purposes of the bank, this is not an issue. The Gold Swords have crushed many private armies or local warlords that have made an enemy of the bank. 

The Bank of Salt usually keeps a standing force of two-thousand Gold Swords that can be dispatched at a moment’s notice. However, prior history suggests that within a year, the bank can assemble an additional seven-thousand fully outfitted soldiers. These soldiers are separate from the army of the Eshai Caliphate which has caused some concern amongst the ruling class and Faisal.

=== ''When Clients Default'' ===
Defaulting on a loan from the Salt Bank is a mistake few repeat. At first the bank sends notification of the default or breach of contract. If payment is still rejected, the bank contacts local authorities. Once even this avenue fails and the bank still has not collected what it is owed, a Gold Sword battalion is loaded onto an astral ship fleet and deployed anywhere on the Rings. The mercenaries collect what the bank is owed, plus interest, before departing from the wreckage they leave behind.

=== ''Level of Wealth'' ===
It is unknown exactly how wealthy the Bank of Salt is at the moment. As of the year 715 AR, it is assumed that the bank contains at least forty million gold pieces within its vaults with loans exceeding that of two-hundred million gold pieces. However, this vast wealth hangs on a knife’s edge. Running the bank is expensive and too many failed business deals could spell ruin. Maintaining growth requires constant reinvestment from the bank. They run dangerously close to defaulting on their own dealings every year. However, by obtaining more lucrative trade deals and lands, this pressure might be eased temporarily. Many within the bank realize it's not a matter of if the bank will run out of money, but when unless a new source of income is found.

=== ''Kasheevs'' ===
Corruption is usually rampant in organizations the size of the Salt Bank. However, the board of governors has a secret weapon: the Kasheevs. A Kasheev resembles a humanoid, standing seven feet tall with dull gray skin. The creature has eight eyes that line the top of its bald head. It has claws sharper than swords and bones that have surprised being dropped from mountain tops. 

A Kasheev has the unique talent of sensing deception. From a blatant lie to an omitted truth, the Kasheev will detect it. But the Kasheev goes further than that. Deception causes extreme pain to the Kasheev. The creature will attack a deceptive creature. Employees are kept honest as these creatures patrol the halls of the Salt Bank. Many would-be thieves have been scattered across the walls as an angry Kasheev ended their life.