Magic System · Economic Enchantment
A silent spatial reallocation filter that siphons obsolete normal-world currency into the hidden economy of Capitol City — ensuring the magical marketplace never runs dry.
The Sunset Protocol is a specialized, automated enchantment responsible for redirecting obsolete and abandoned fiat currency from the normal world into the hidden economy of Capitol City. Operating entirely in the background of the setting's financial infrastructure, this phenomenon ensures that discontinued or rare physical money naturally siphons into the magical ecosystem to maintain a circulating baseline of tangible currency.
The protocol has no visible physical form; rather, it operates as a silent spatial reallocation filter. Currency that has triggered the enchantment seamlessly vanishes from its mundane resting places once it is abandoned or forgotten by baseline humans, rematerializing within the vaults, cash registers, and pockets of Capitol City's commerce districts.
For currency to "hit the protocol," the normal world must completely stop manufacturing that specific type of denomination or coin minting. Active, currently-produced currency is immune to the enchantment.
The enchantment does not steal active funds. It automatically kicks in exclusively when the original mundane owners completely lose track of the discontinued physical money, freeing it to be repurposed into the magical economy.
Once a piece of currency settles on the magical side of the spatial barrier, it retains its baseline denomination structure, functioning exactly like normal money within the local marketplace. No conversion or exchange is required.
The Sunset Protocol is a fundamental quirk of the Capitol City economy, providing a steady supply of physical legal tender for shops, vendor stalls, and restaurants like Joe's. Rather than minting an entirely independent local coin system, the civilian population adapts to the unique flow of these discarded normal-world bills and coins.
Specific assets circulating within the city due to the protocol include "Sunset Susies" — local slang for specific coins that initially hit the protocol a couple of decades ago, commonly used for everyday street transactions — and Two-Dollar Bills, frequently referred to by merchants simply as "twos." These bills consistently siphon into the magical world through the protocol, though their presence is noted as an ongoing curiosity.