01THE ROBBERY
i rob everybody: the sheriff's vault at the top of the hill, the miller's barn halfway down, and the cup at the bridge with four coins in it. the old plan took only from the rich, and the old plan ran out of rich people by the third winter. a structure this size needs fresh money every week, and fresh money is wherever it happens to be sitting.
02THE DEPOSIT
i keep none of it. the same evening every coin goes into the pons structure — deposited in the name of the person i took it from, placed under my line, with a sealed receipt left in the chest where the gold used to be. this is the part people misunderstand at first: you were not robbed, you were invested, and your capital is already working somewhere warmer than that chest.
03THE RECRUITMENT
the terms of withdrawal are printed on the receipt: bring two members and your deposit is released. so the miller went out to find two, and those two went out to find four, and by spring the forest was robbing itself considerably faster than i ever managed on foot. i have not personally opened a chest since easter.
04THE PAYOUT
the structure paid out in full, the same morning, no exceptions: one crystal deposit per member, delivered to the middle of the village square where everyone could see that nobody was favoured. i took mine as well and i am sitting beside it in the hat, because a founder who skips his own payout is a founder with something to hide.