THE TREASURY ·
THE MONEY-CHANGER'S DESK
Ten stones to the dollar — the greater share of what you spend reaches the hands that made the books.
THE COUNTING DESK
Every packet is the same rate — ten stones to the dollar. The sizes are convenience, not persuasion.
- 30 stones$3.00a paper packet, string-tied
- 50 stones$5.00a heavier packet, twice-tied
- 100 stones$10.00a silk-corded packet, sealed
- 300 stones$30.00an iron-banded chest
Minimum $5.00 (50 stones) — the crypto gateway's floor, not ours. Patreon monthly keeps its own floor, posted at its counter.
ONE-TIME
Sign in to fill a purseThe desk serves named purses — signing in costs nothing, and your packet choice rides along.
MONTHLY
Patreon monthlyFrom $5/month, ten stones to the dollar — $5 posts 50, $10 posts 100, and a custom pledge counts the same. Under the floor, nothing posts until it's raised.
Stones land each month and you wear the supporter mark. It never buys access — no membership opens chapters.
Pay → stones land in your balance → open sealed chapters at the book itself. Stones never expire.
THE POSTED PRICES — the standard tariff by length; every seal posts its own price up front
Short
under 1,000 words
1 stone$0.10Standard
1,000 – 2,999 words
3 stones$0.30Long
3,000 words and up
5 stones$0.50626 of the shelf's 626 chapters are free. The tariff is the default — a translator may post their own price on a seal, from 1 to 100 stones. Whatever the seal posts is what you pay, shown before you sign in.
THE READER'S PACT
Four promises, posted where the money is. Each one names the machinery that holds it.
Yours means yours
A broken seal stays broken. If a work must ever leave the shelf, every stone you spent opening its chapters in the 30 days before it left returns to your balance. Tributes stay given — they paid the hands for work already done.
HELD BY: the removal-refund scan and its per-sale windowThe price is posted at the seal
Every sealed chapter shows its price before you pay — the same for every reader, before and after sign-in. Most seals follow the posted length tariff; a translator may post their own price on a chapter, and what is posted is what you pay.
HELD BY: the one price accessor — the plaque and the charge share itStones never expire
Neither do gifts. There is no clock on your purse.
HELD BY: nothing to hold — there is no expiry code to disableThe greater share reaches the hands
Chapters, tributes — one split. When you open a sealed chapter, the greater share of what you spend reaches the people who made the book. Gift stones open books but pay no one — only spent stones split.
HELD BY: the split, pinned in the pact every hand signs
ASKED AT THE COUNTER
Every answer names its clause — the FAQ can never drift from the Pact.
What lights the lamps on the Guild Rolls?
Standing counts every dollar of paid stones given or spent on a translator’s work — donations and unlocks alike. One lamp at your first dollar (Lamplighter), two at $10 (Tender of the Wick), three at $50 (Keeper of Lamps), four at $150 (Light of the Guild), five at $500 (Beacon of the Guild), 6 at $1,500 (Pillar of Light), 7 at $5,000 (The Undying Lamp). The roll never prints amounts, and you may sit it out from your reading settings. (Clause 4’s spirit: the greater share of what you give reaches the hands — the lamps only say thank you.)
If a book I paid for is taken down?
Stones you spent opening its chapters in the last 30 days return to your balance, and you are told. Older purchases are settled business, and tributes stay given — they paid the hands for work already done. You may still export what you own for 30 days after it leaves. (Clause 1 — the removal-refund scan runs on takedown.)
Do my stones ever expire?
Never. Neither do gifts. (Clause 3.)
What does Patreon monthly buy?
Stones each month and a supporter mark. It never buys access — no membership opens chapters. (Clause 4's spirit: identity, never access.)
Can I read without ever paying?
Yes — most of the shelf is free. Sealed chapters are the hands’ pay: the price is posted on every seal before you pay — most follow the length tariff — and some carry timers that lift the seal free after a while. (Clause 2.)
Refunds on stone purchases?
A finished crypto settlement is final — but a payment that fails or half-lands never costs you: failed pays nothing, partial is reviewed by hand, and a removal refunds every purchase inside its posted window. (Clauses 1 and the door's own words.)
Where do I actually open a chapter?
At the book itself — the seal is broken on the chapter's own gate. This desk only fills the purse. (Clause 2's spirit: everything posted where you meet it.)