Sokol

“Don’t give me any of your stinking lartum! I’d sooner be short-changed on stew than dirty my hands with Undarun money. Give me sokols, you knave!”

Attributed to Horace Gorman, former resident of Matratut, moments before a public house-clearing brawl.

Ladies and gentlemen of Matratut! I come before you today in order to warn you of a grave disaster which is quickly encroaching upon our economic system. The Undarun barbarians are not only clashing with us on the ignoble field of battle, but in the heavens and where it really counts – our cash-boxes. They are seeking to flood our markets with more than just their heretical tapestries which are all the rage with the nobility. Yes, I am speaking of the lartum. As this graph indicates, the value of the sokol has been dropping steadily since our markets have opened themselves to the Undaruns. Not a day goes by when I don’t see our proud nation’s youth driven to indolence and greed, displaying a string of lartum on their belts. It wasn’t like this when everyone dealt in sokol.

It was the priests who first devised the coin, minted of Uum’s own Aluricite, in order to provide a less messy sacrifice than the traditional strapping bullonga or brace of turkeys. For this reason it quickly became the national currency of Matratut, further cementing our identity as a nation of ideals. Because of the ideals which it symbolizes, I feel that the sokol will persevere as long as there is fight left in us. It is the shining hope which will span generations, reminding those who will come after us how the proud citizens of Matratut fused the just customs of commerce and piety.

Found on the back leaf of a novel left by Ol’ Horace in a public house. It appears to be the first draft to his Undarun Lartum Torture speech, given mere days before Uum’s fall – Kelso the Biographer