Author's Notes:

More optional world-building material

Welcome to Clocktower Society. At the risk of self-promoting, you will not receive a warmer welcome to our society outside the Clocktower Brothel. You are more than welcome to visit us here at the Bordello where you can experience Clocktower economics at work in the flesh. Our skilled cortegianas are more than happy to give you a free demonstration of how liquid assets flow around our tight supply and demand curves at Clocktower.

Or you can read this pamphlet first, if that’s more your fetish.

Let us start with the official spiel. Clocktower Society operates its own internal monetary currency. The currency is only valid as fiscal tender inside the society. It is strictly prohibited to exchange it with any currency, products or services outside the society. This is strictly policed and proven violations will earn offenders a ‘strike’ towards a permanent ban from the society. This is done mainly to help protect society members from actual prostitution, whether direct or indirect. To put it simply, ‘real’ prostitution cannot occur if the pretend money cannot be freely exchanged for ‘real’ money.

Plus, it’d be really, really awkward trying to explain our currency outside the society, let alone use it. I would pay to see it happen, if only for the sheer comedy value. And I never pay.

Because the currency only circulates inside Clocktower, it is effectively pretend money. That begs the question, why bother with a currency at all? Why, because money is a form of ‘power’, and fulfilling fantasies of power exchange is one of Clocktower Society’s main aims. It is used mainly to fulfill the common fantasies of slave-trading, auctioning, prostitution, even objectification in the form of pay-to-use public facilities. But through constant use over time, the ‘pretend money’ has gone on to develop a ‘pretend economy’ within the society. How that happened over time is a fascinating subject in itself, one my husband and I have written an entire book on (sold separately).

The Currency
Now, let us begin with the currency itself. It has three denominations - Tallies, lashes and brands. Tallies are the lowest denomination. Five tallies make a lash and five lashes make a brand. What distinguishes our currency from more conventional ones is the lack of coins or notes used as legal tender. The ‘coin purse’, so to speak’, is the slave’s body and the ‘coins’ are magically-charged marks upon their fur.

Is saving money starting to sound like fun yet?

Paying, Dearly

The marks are applied and removed using an all-purpose horseshoe-like instrument called a master phaser. It is best described as a magical pen marker that produces an intense arcane spark that leaves magically-charged marks on fur. The scientists at CTRL have accused me of comparing a moon rocket to a cock, but that tells you everything you need to know about their idea of fun.

I prefer cock myself.

All dominants receive one at induction, a phaser that is, not cock (that's optional). Payment is made by transferring marks from the payer’s slave to the payee’s slave. Tallies are given by simply running the phaser’s spark along the submissive pelt much like how you might draw with a pen marker. Lashes are applied by spanking/whipping the submissive’s fur using the phaser spark. And brands are given by pressing the phaser firmly into the submissive’s hide for a full five seconds. The marks are removed by flipping the ‘erase’ switch on the phaser and stroking stroking the phaser against the mark much as you would use an eraser. The eraser function draws the magical charge into the phaser, storing it until it is used to make a payment. There is no other way to recharge the phaser, making the magical charge itself the actual currency.

No, the spark does not enlarge penises. You're doing that by yourself.

You’re probably wondering, ‘are the marks painful?’. The answer is ‘it’s up to you’, interestingly. Our endless supply of consent fanatics made it clear pain play had to be optional as far as the currency’s concerned. So the master phaser was designed with something the nerds call a ‘neuropath feedback modulator’, or ‘pain and pleasure dial’ in plain Equestrian. The dominant can conveniently decide how pleasurable or painful the mark will be, with settings ranging from ‘Fucked silly’ through to ‘Pain in the ass’.

You can tell it was designed by a geek.

By the way, shouting ‘Set phasers to fucked silly’ is a sure way to get you thrown out of the brothel. Via catapult. I mean it.

It's a very big catapult.

It is interesting to note that the phasers have been around for so long that a semblance of social norms has developed around them, an entire topic unto itself. It is most important to know that it is considered polite, mayhaps even symbolic of a healthy relationship, for the dom to offer the phaser to the sub for her to adjust the pain and pleasure dial for the dom.

Would you believe that the ridiculous levels of convenience doesn’t end there? The magical charge does not leave any permanent markings and they very conveniently become invisible upon leaving the site. It is perhaps one of the few products of CTRL that actually functions phenomenally well without blowing half the dungeons up. Though the fact that this began as an attempt to create invisible sex toys says everything you need to know about our scientist friends.

I hear the prototypes are still missing, though if you are ever brave enough to venture down to CTRL you may hear the disembodied sex toys buzzing away in the background.

Buying and Selling, or Why Being Rich is a Pain
There are two ways transactions can occur. Either the payer removes the mark from the payer’s own slave and then applies it to the payee’s slave, or, more commonly, the payee removes the mark from the payer’s slave and then applies it to the payee’s own slave. Most dominants prefer the latter method especially when exchanging cash with strangers.

It's always more satisfying to put the coins in the piggy bank yourself.

Especially when it squeals back.

Dominants who do not yet own a personal submissive can maintain a limited amount of savings on their master phaser, comparable to those who do not own enough spare change for a wallet. They also have the option of depositing their savings at the brothel using the services of our treasury slaves who would be more than happy to assist with all your society banking needs. We’ll even throw in a free smile.

Please come. Your investments are always welcome. We offer lots of interest. We accept credit and anal.

Now that you know how our currency works, you can imagine how this can make it difficult if not impossible to try and exchange it outside the society. The awkwardness notwithstanding, the fact that it requires both a dominant and a submissive to hold and use the currency acts as a secondary layer of security.

Besides, try spending anything at all when you're married to your pursestrings. My husband has had to learn that the hard way.

Spending Your Currency (Or Do the Smart Thing and Save it at the Brothel)
I find it superfluous advising ponies on how they can spend their money. Ponies seem to have no problems doing that all by themselves. But for completeness’ sake, society cash can be spent on a wide variety of things. They can be used to purchase slaves at the market or bid for them at the auction house (mostly on temporary ownership contracts, though there have been a few roleplayed permanent purchases). They can also be used to hire the services of one of the maid service’s keepers or make a donation to the Kindler church while you use one of their maidens to worship with. And they can also be used to tip the many free public facilities the society operates such as the cum dumpsters if you’re feeling generous.

You can also use it to purchase many care products and services to pamper your slaves, such as the more tasty feed formulas, a glorious cum bath and thorough care at the slave spa, some of the newer toys from CTRL, etc.

But when all’s said and done, you will not get better value for money or better quality customer service outside the Brothel. We are always on hoof with our army of treasury slaves to take good care of your money...and you. For a limited time only, we are offering a free throatfuck for every new customer.

Please visit. We are always open for business. We swallow.

Earning Currency AKA Keeping Your Piggy Bank Happy
Many argue that trying to earn society currency is pointless, considering there is little that it can buy that cannot be acquired for free at the society. I disagree. You can always deposit them with us. The look on the treasury slaves’ faces when you make a deposit is well worth it, trust me. But to do that, you need to earn extra cash. There are plenty of ways to do this.

Donations
The society is a non-profit organization run by members for members (some argue it is also there to keep the Fire of Devotion burning to make sure Equestria doesn’t freeze overnight, but you’ll hear enough on that in the pamphlet from the Kindler Church). Considering the two Equestrian branches alone serves 5% of Equestria’s population (that’s 5% of Equestria’s 320 million ponies - 16 million ponies, with anything between half a million to a million of them visiting Clocktower Equestria East each day), the upkeep cost is similar to that of a medium-sized town. As you can tell from the heavy presence of royal guards, we are solidly backed by the government. However, even state funding can only go so far, and a large amount of the society’s expenses is paid through our (shockingly cheap) membership fees, revenue from CTRL’s sales and patents, income from the society’s many other organizations and clubs and, most importantly, your donations.

The society repays generosity in kind. You receive one lash for every monetary donation of any value you make to the society. You are limited to a maximum of one donation a week. This is to ensure donations cannot be abused as a method of purchasing society currency

The Brothel
We pride ourselves on being one of the Society’s oldest institutions, pedalling ponykind’s oldest profession and supplying Equestria's most open market. We are always hiring quality sluts to staff our bordello. We are also always on the lookout for willing treasury slaves to help us bear the burden of wealth.

Volunteer Work
As mentioned, the society is run by members for members. As such it requires members to run. While there are a few full time paid positions, most of the posts are filled by volunteers. Volunteer work comes with perks, obviously, mainly in the form of either wages or a salary paid in society currency. You can browse available volunteer jobs on the main hall’s bulletin board or our society newspaper, the Daily Stocks. The work and job requirements will depend on who your employer is. Clocktower Society itself mainly employs administrators and guards, the Research Laboratories are always in need of test subjects and researchers, the Maid Service are always seeking housekeepers, shopkeepers, waitresses, chefs and repairponies and the MILF Milk Mares need their milk. No matter what your background, there is work for you at Clocktower.

Except the Kindler Church. They never pay. They still owe me money.

Trade
Slave trading has always been and will probably continue to be the biggest driver behind Clocktower’s internal economy. Generally speaking, only temporary ownership contracts can be bought and sold at the regular market and auction house. There is however is a weekly ‘roleplay’ auction and market days where submissives can list themselves to be sold on permanent contracts to specific buyers.

The market price for slaves mainly depends on how long the ownership contract is. A few factors can increase a slave’s market price, from reputation to the badges they hold. Those who hold crystal badges, i.e. the record holders in any specific fetish, generally fetch higher prices.

Inflation has its benefits.

If you ever feel like simply visiting the markets to do a little window shopping, the market place and auction house have a very generous ‘test drive’ policy where you can try before you buy. Don’t worry, the shopkeepers always have slaves ready to clean up the mess.

Please remember that all ownership contracts are subject to Clocktower rules, especially the safe words. Both owner and slave are free to terminate the contract at any time by invoking the safe word with no penalty.

Author's Notes
Owned art vectors used: Pet Dashie by Grumblepuck