InverSlab
InverSlabs (abbrediated ivrs or 1/s) are an attempted currency for the Realm of Madness. They are not official or used anywhere, but this article details how they would have been used had they been implemented.
InverSlabs are the negative version of Slabs, which are a universal currency in Nguhcraft. They are backed by the act of deleting a slab, giving them equal but opposite worth. At least, that's how it is for one inverslab. A greater number of antislabs decreases their worth because their value is 1÷x, x being the total quantity of antislabs in any given situation.
Unlike their counterpart, inverslabs take the form of a book. It is titled "1/x InverSlab" and contains information on how to use it inside. InverSlabs do not have a counterpart for slablets, which are all worth 0 inverslabs.
Value
The value of inverslabs is most often dependent on their owner's wealth. In a transaction, both the wealth of the buyer and merchant must be considered, however due to the Realm of Madness' enforcement of scams, this is rarely an issue.
Number of Slabs | Number of InverSlabs | Total InverSlab Value | Value of each InverSlab |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
2 | 2 | 1/2 | 1/4 |
3 | 3 | 1/3 | 1/9 |
4 | 4 | 1/4 | 1/16 |
5 | 5 | 1/5 | 1/25 |
x | x | 1/x | 1/x² |
There is a prize for one who manages to obtain 32 or more inverslabs, however. Instead of having 32 inverslabs worth 1/32 in total, they receive 1 special inverslab worth ∞ money. When this occurs, every other person's wealth in the Realm of Madness is functionally zero. Since the infinite money is only encapsulated in one inverslab, and inverslabs are deleted during transactions (see: Usage), it is merely a ticket to make one purchase of any item(s) a person desires.
Number of Slabs | Number of InverSlabs | Total InverSlab Value | Value of each InverSlab |
---|---|---|---|
32+ | 1 | ∞ | ∞ |
Practicality
Because attaining additional inverslabs makes one poorer, a merchant would not be interested in attaining more money. Thus, the inverslabs used in payment are destroyed, not given. While this does result in the buyer increasing their wealth, it also results in deflation where the value of the currency also increases due to now having a smaller supply in existence (they cannot be traded for slabs). This inadvertedly also increases the merchant's wealth.
The Bank of Evil contains a board telling of the total amount of inverslabs that exist. This is used to determine how much value in inverslabs an individual has. This is useful in creating prices, so people can know how much is safe to charge and how much richer they will become after the money is deleted.
While one would be tempted to destroy their own inverslabs, the difficulty of attaining enough resources to receive a slab (which is then destroyed) means the amount of inverslabs in existence will likely remain a small number. Deleting a significant amount of one's own inverslabs would make purchasing anything in the Realm of Madness more trouble than it's worth for everyone.
Obtaining AntiSlabs
InverSlabs are provided by the government of the Realm of Madness to anyone who brings an equivalent number of slabs, who are then burnt or thrown into the void. This is typically done in the Bank of Madness.
In the event that a number of inverslabs are needed to fuel the economy, the Lord and Officer(s) of Insanity of Realm of Madness will provide them.