I was thinking this might be a way of "in game" explaining treasure points. Maybe sometimes it buys you a favor?
When he first arrived in Phlan, the feline armsman found a smithy called the "Fiery Forge"
Red Tail would occasionally stop and try to purchase a set of plate mail armor at "a bargain", hoping his service to the town would curry some favor with the armorer, a surly dwarf, rather "long in the tooth" fellow named Tordek.
When he first entered his shop, the gruff dwarf merely grumbled. : "Begone with ye, ya aint got tha coin for anything better'n what you are wearing...Keep your whiskered face out of trouble, you long tailed, oversized,ratsnatcher...and stay out of the ropemongers quarter, I dont want you chasing around balls of fishing twine from here to Luskan."
The dwarf did, however, offer the Tabaxi a few hundred gold coins for the breastplate he had earned from the armorers guild in Mulmaster, a token of appreciation for his small part in driving out the cult of the "Crushing Wave" from the ruins of Fort Dalton, which he then used to buy a set of Splint Mail.
The second time, he had hoped the favor of the Clerics of the Dead God or the Black Fists might help his cause, but again, he failed to convince Tordek to lower his price.
The third time, he had hoped the Lord Sage's favor might at least get him some sort of bargain, but again, the surly dwarf just waved him off as soon as he padded into the shop..
Each time, He had gotten the dwarf to repair a few dents and rips in the mail, but that was it.
However, since the arrival of the "Maimed Virulence", Red Tail had slipped in and out of Phlan several times with the help of the Welcomers, lending his "sword arm" and his climbing skills in exchange for passage..
The catfolk had returned to try and help any refugees who wanted to get out of the city. Sometimes with a few of his adventuring companions, sometimes by himself.
Sometimes he could only convince one or two people it was time to leave the city, once it had been a family, once it was nearly a dozen and Red Tail was sure they were going to be caught, but each time his luck had held out.
A day or two before he had been summoned by Rholk from the merchants guild, he had once again stopped by the "Fiery Forge" whom the feline armsman had been trading with, or attempting to, since he had first arrived in Phlan.
Each time he entered the city, the tabaxi was amazed at how the dragon hadnt just destroyed the city, in many ways, it didnt seem all that different than when Ector Brahms ran it.
Likewise, Tordek, was still churning out armor and weapons, apparently none too happy with having been impressed into service of the green Dragon and his worshippers. Several suits of armor bearing the green paint lay on hte racks, some recently repaired, some in dire need of repair.
Looking up from the anvil, the dwarf gestured Red Tail over to him.
"Ye be with the resistance?" he muttered under his breath.
Nodding, the feline armsman listened intently to ensure they were not being watched.
The tufts of his ears twitching, he extended a massive, pawlike hand to the dwarf and says "Yes, my friends have tried our best to aid the smallfolk"
"Follow me "grumbles the dwarf"
Heading into the back room, he gestures to a suit of armor standing on a rack.
"You know, crafting armor for a giant cat is no easy task..I cant just tailor a suit ive started for a human black fist and slap a coat of paint on it to cover their sigil. I had to take your old breastplate, hammer the dents out of it, and then try and cobble together something to fit your short legs and long arms. Damndest suit of armor ive ever made. Probably has a half dozen pieces from different suits ive repaired over the years. Im gonna have to strip some of your splint mail to fill in these gaps, so you are still going to look like your armor was a piecemeal job".
Red Tails yellow eyes widen in amazement, "I thought you werent going to make it,, i dont have enough coin..."
the dwarf shrugs and says "Never made armor for a tabaxi, let alone one who helped save Mali's life.. Took it as a challenge, and it seems you have a knack for helping folk out. Now take off that splint armor and let me scavenge what i need, then get out of here before the "Black Fists..I mean Tears of Virulence" come looking for their armor to be repaired."
the dwarf pauses for a moment and waves towards a few shields that seem either hacked by an axe or kicked in
"And you and your companions seem to ...Ahem..Leave some distinctive marks when you hack my work to bits and i have to try and hammer it back together."
AS Red Tail buckles on his new suit, the dwarfs eyes almost twinkle as he says "One or two of those turncoat Black Fists might find their armor now has a vulnerability or two, seeing how you are wearing the piece they need."
Once fully armored, Red tail shakes the dwarfs hand with both paws and the dwarf wishes him "Weve all got a part to play in this before its over..Maybe ill see you in the Happy Hunting Grounds, or the Halls of Moradin, if not sooner, then later...Fat Marr was my friend, and you and your companions stood by him. Avenged him..."
OOC: Heres how im going to in game explain treasure check points...or at least some of them...you don't always "buy" stuff with them, they either represent goodwill from folk like Tordek (i converted 4 checkpoints to "gold", or they represent the ability to maybe "upgrade" and item, like residdum from 4E" , or maybe you do pry that sword out of the cold, dead hands of the hobgoblin chieftain, the treasure checkpoints just represent an abstraction of the time and effort needed for you to unlock its secrets (kind of like how hit points are an abstraction). likewise, the "gold" you find "but cant use", at least from Red Tails perspective, represents stuff he would give to refugees as he tries to help them rebuild their lives once he guides them past the city walls