Halvon of the Coinless Hand

Patron of Charity Guilds, Ethical Lending, Laborers in Debt, and Restorative Wealth

Halvon was the third son of a powerful banker family in Bellengar, a port city in Oridal where wealth flowed like wine and the poor paid interest with their blood. Expected to inherit a share in the family’s usurious empire, Halvon instead chose to walk away from his inheritance on the day he came of age, empty-handed and unblessed. He wandered the poorer districts of the city, living among stevedores, cobblers, and brewers—recording their struggles in what would become his most famous work: The Ledger Without Profit. It was during these years that Halvon founded the first Temple Lending Hall — a modest shrine and lending office where small, interest-free loans were offered to laborers, apprentices, widows, and ruined craftsmen, drawn from alms and donations rather than investor capital. He wrote: “Gold is not divine. But the trust behind it may be.” Despite threats and mockery from his own kin, Halvon’s halls grew across the region, providing financial lifelines without shame or ruin. He died of exhaustion during the Long Winter of Elaran, after personally distributing every last coin to keep local workers fed.

The Ledger Without Profit , still studied in Minosan seminaries, outlines seven principles of ethical finance and the dangers of chaining the poor to interest. It includes stories, aphorisms, and formulas for lending that preserve dignity.