Commodities

 

 

Consumables

 

“The wines that one best remembers are not necessarily the finest that one has ever tasted, and the highest quality may fail to delight so much as some far more humble beverage drunk in more favourable surroundings.”

 

Mushroom, Marshay:  Marshay mushrooms are harvested from a fungus (marshay) which has a strong tendency to grow on charred plant and animal matter.  The basidiocarps of this fungus are bone-white but display a soft violet glow only seen in low light or darkness.  Marshay basidiocarps have a tendency to be ridged and dry, cracking before cutting.

Marshay is most commonly found in areas recently ravaged by fire where some organic matter has been badly burned by not reduced to ash and not yet undergoing more aggressive decomposition.  The marshay fungus itself appears to be resistant to combustion as are its spores which can allow it to lay dormant in an area awaiting the touch of fire to render its environment suitable for growth.

Marshay has been cultivated by some cultures underground on purposefully fire-treated matter to encourage growth.  The basidiocarps are harvested at maturity and either used as a delicacy food item or used in the production of specialized wines.

The value of marshay declines slowly over time as the fungus looses quality during its shelf-life.  After harvesting, marshay maintains a peak quality for nearly three months before beginning to ossify into a nearly unusable husk.  Each month beginning on the third the value declines twenty-percent until it is virtually worthless seven months after harvest.

While still in prime condition, marshay is often used as a delicacy in its own right either alone or as part of salads or other foods.  It is also pickled or preserved in syrups in order to increase its self-life if not its true quality while making it softer.  Also popular is the brewing of marshay beverages such as wines which fetch surprising sums if correctly done.  Added to a quality wine before bottling is a guaranteed method to boost the value as this technique cannot be done once the bottling is competes.  The production of actual pure marshay wine is the work of an experienced vintner as the time required is often prohibitive but the value of a successful batch is legendary.  The method to introduce marshay correctly to a wine is a Profession: Vintner DC 27, failure reduces the wine to common table-grade.  A single pound of marshay mushrooms are used per typical bottle.

Average price range: 50 wafers per pound.

 

Wine, Carrot: While carrots do have a natural sweetness they do not possess the acid normally associated with proper wine production.  This fact has in no way deterred its use as a basis for wine making and the different varieties of carrot wine are evidence of how many different ways the approach was made.

            Carrot wine is historically made during times of rich harvest where the fresh produce is in such abundance that some can be used for something other than just food.  Carrot wine is thus a sign of prosperity and has been used in celebration of every form of good fortune from good harvests to job promotions.  While large supplies of carrot wine are possible enough to make it a common sight at the table it is often voluntarily reserved for celebration in order to preserve its significance.

            The recipes for carrot wine work around a basic standard; carrots (3-4 pounds), dried berries (raisins, etc, 1 pound), sugar (5 cups), fermentation catalyst and water (1 gallon).  The carrots are chopped into small pieces and boiled for about fifteen minutes.  The mixture is strained and the water put in the fermentor.  This process is done once more before the pulp is discarded from the process.  Enough water is then added to bring the volume up to one gallon.  Rest of the ingredients are added except the catalyst and left to sit one day.  The catalyst is then added and stirred each day until frothing stops; normally three to four days.  Some variation adds the juice and rinds of more citrus fruit to the mix to introduce acids but this is a matter of preference and taste.  In this case the wine must not be allowed to sit on the citrus as the peels for more than five days as it will make the wine bitter.  Once ready the mix is placed into a secondary fermentor for one year resulting in a dry wine.  Sweet variations can be made by adding a half-cup of sugar every six weeks or so until fermentation ceases to restart.  Bottling occurs after one year.

            Average price range: 1-4 wafers.

 

Wine, Clover: The phrase “Another weed, another wine” is perhaps no less true here than anywhere else but clover wine is anything but typical.  Succulent rich clover is not exactly rare enough to justify this wines value but vintners have chosen the recipe to be something a little more than average with the addition of honey.

            What would normally be considered nothing more than a sad attempt to brew a wine from a common small weed, clover wine has found wide acceptance throughout the world as a mild yet refreshing beverage.  The process is a little more complicated than is normal for a wine and so its creation is often the mark of a real vintner’s hand.

            Clover wine is made using the following ingredients and general methods: purple clover blossoms (one gallon), sugar (6 cups), five average sized citrus fruits, blending acid (2 spoons), water (16 cups), honey (1 cup any variety of choice) and fermentation catalyst.

            Four cups of water with the honey are brought to a boil and then left to simmer while removing the foam produced.  This is continued until foam ceases to form.  The sugar and twelve cups of water are added and brought to a boil.  This solution is put into the primary fermentor along with the clover, fruit juice and grated rinds and left to sit one day.  The catalyst is added and stirred once a day for one week.  The solution is then strained and put in the secondary fermentor for one year to produce a dry wine.  Sweet wine can be made by adding a half-cup of honey every six weeks until fermentation ceases to restart then left to ferment for one additional year with no further addition of honey.  Once the wine is stable it may be bottled.

            The very nature of honey makes it difficult to handle in wine.  Fine sediment will accumulate in the bottle if left to sit for more than a few months.  To minimize this, an experienced vintner boils the honey first and skims the foam produced until it ceases to form before using the honey for the wine or to sweeten it.  When used to sweeten it must be mixed with water to allow it to be smoothly introduced to the fermenting process.

            Average price range: 70-200 wafers or more depending on quality and honey used.

 

Wine, Peach: This beverage is found commonly wherever peaches are available for its production.  The basic recipe revolves around a supply of peaches (2 pounds), sugar (4 cups), water (12 cups) and a fermentation catalyst.

            The resultant solution is then left to ferment for at least one year to yield the final product.  The default wine is dry.  A sweeter wine is made by the addition of additional sugars every few months during the fermentation process.  The product is then treated to remove suspensions to make the wine clear before bottling.

            The price given is for a standard age wine, of standard recipe.  As with many goods there is a tendency for the local color to impact the product and so some regions have varieties that are sought after due to their quality and uniqueness.

            Average price range: 5-10 wafers.

 

Wine, Peach Marshay: The wine used for this vintage is drawn from the finest stocks so as to warrant the use of marshay.  As with most marshaed wine the marshay is added to the fermentation process without exposure to air and under pressure shortly before bottling.

            While keeping the flavour and body of peach wine the marshay tints the beverage purple or violet and grants the mark of a marshay wine; a soft violet shimmer upon shaking the bottle.  At the moment the bottle is uncorked a shimmering violet vapour rises from the vintage further proving its authenticity.  The wine must be consumed shortly after uncorking as the vapour will continue to rise from the wine until the marshay tint fades away leaving the wine quite mundane.

            Imbibing marshaed wine gives ones breath a temporary violet shimmer, not unlike seeing ones’ breath on a cold day.  Aided by alcohol the vapour is absorbed by mucus membranes in the lungs, throat and nose.  For 1d6+4 turns after imbibing the wine the subject is brought to a sudden and deeper awareness, granting a +4 pharma bonus to all skills that rely on their inborn senses (taste, touch, sight, smell and hearing normally).  This in effect also tends to enhance the experience of further food and drink making marshay wine very popular with professional dining establishments, or professional critics of such establishments.

            Average price range: 200-250.

 

Wine, Snowdrop: A beverage fine and refreshing enough to easily qualify as a wine if not exactly one of exceptional qualities.  What is most noted about Snowdrop wine is both its atypical flavour and simple rarity.  Snowdrop wine is found in the possession of collectors who look forward to “something different” and offer up the same to their guests, and this spiced-wine of mild flavour usually pleases and never offends.

            Brewed by the people of Kadesh, the only region the snowdrop is found naturally, Snowdrop wine was originally only enjoyed domestically.  Due to the freezing climate and the innate tolerance to cold of the inhabitants Snowdrop wine is brewed start to finish in frigid temperatures.  It would soon prove to be the fact that Snowdrop wine must also be stored chilled to prevent degradation and so methods of transport and eventual storage at the destination had to be devised and set up for export purposes.

            Snowdrop wine is made primarily from the blossom of the snowdrop, a small timid plant who’s flower appears to be nothing more than a small white berry.  The small white sphere never actually opens into a flower and for the most part is treated as a permanent floral bud.  Snowdrops are not very common and cultivation is tedious due to the delicate nature of the plant, but enough is available to attempt wine making and that was excuse enough to try.  As the wine is ruined by both warm temperatures or the wine itself freezing there was some issues with the ease of storage.  It was found that lattish juice-base did not have an observable boiling or freezing point and so was ideal for the task.

            The recipe for Snowdrop wine is not well known outside of Kadesh but is unsurprisingly rather simple.  Snowdrop blossoms (4½ cups), lattish juice-base (12 cups), 1 citrus fruit (juice only), pectin (1 spoon), neboux (½ spoon), fermentation catalyst.

            The blossoms are washed and crushed before being placed in the primary fermentor along with 2 cups juice-base, pectin and citrus juice.  The mixture is left to sit one day.  Add 10 cups juice-base and the catalyst and stir daily for three days.  Strain out on the fourth day, add all other ingredients and place in the secondary fermentor.  The wine will be ready to bottle after one year as a dry wine, to make a sweeter wine do the following.  During fermentation add ½ cup of sugar every six weeks until fermentation does not restart with the addition of sugar.  The wine will be ready one year after fermentation ceases to restart.

            Average price range: 20-50 wafers.

 

Wine, Syrillian:  Known for a great many different things, Syril enjoys the dubious reputation of bountiful excesses and euphoric stupors.  Both loved and hated for the export of less than mild narcotics, Syril is also known for the export of a strong wine bearing its name.  Originally formulated from the ingredients available to the region for the single purpose of export, Syrillian wine is as potent as one might expect from a city of such renown and as surprising as one could hope.  The bottles are always the same; pink with the title “Syrillian Wine” inscribed above which is a depiction of a small flower bordered by two askew feminine ears each with three earrings.

            Syrillian wine is a floral beverage produced from the petals of mature flowers; in this case from a flower only found in the regions of Syril and held as sacred.  The water for the brew is not drawn from Lake Ranolt but rather from the springs found within the mountainous cliff that overlooks Syril, which gives it a unique set of impurities that have been found to add a characteristic flavour.  Besides this, what juices, spices or more adventurous ingredients are used is unknown but the mystery and low volume of production only whet the world’s thirst for this vintage.

            The flavour of Syrillian wine is easily one of the most complex.  Thought to be fortified due to having strength far in excess of hard spirits this “wine” is said to be nearly three-quarters alcohol.  The floral flavour is quite light yet sharp near the end, with only hints of what might otherwise have been added.  It is generally agreed that some number of Syrillian “herbs” have found their way into the wine production as there is an unmistakable level of stimulants also found in this vintage.  While filling a few cups with this wine is one of the surest ways to bring ones self to inebriation, ones awareness remains mostly intact for the experience even if ones reason is cast by the wayside.  The result is a state clear enough for conversation, work and even writing even if one comes across as detached from all good sense.

            As there is little more than an engraved label on each bottle to proclaim the beverage for what it is few know the actual intended use of Syrillian wine without specifically asking.  While it was indeed formulated for export some of the stock kept for domestic consumption by those who can afford it and the better dining establishments.  Syrillians are known for their love of sauces, juices and the mixing of them in seemingly endless combinations.  The high strength of Syrillian wine is no accident nor meant to be a venomous beverage to be used by ignorant foreigners.  The wine is meant to be mixed to ones taste with anything from cool, clean water, juices of all kinds, other beverages or anything else one might be curious enough to try.  The strength is present in the expectation of later dilution before consumption and the notion of drinking it pure tends to elicit an amused smile from a Syrillian (or a mildly cross-eyed look from one that recently did).

            Unknown ingredients, excessive strength and laced with narcotics, Syrillian wine has been outlawed by several governing bodies in an effort to reduce both personal and economic damage done to or by consumers.  This has had the effect of only increasing the sums willing to be paid for a bottle of this wine in restricted areas and enhancing the already present mystique.  The notion that those willing to pay are denied the refreshment of Syrillian wine mixed with cool ice water after a hard day has only made Sath more determined to spread the vintage with the help of enthusiastic merchants.  Sath is also known to have a personal supply of unknown size which she draws from for personal use or as gifts to visitor and civilian alike when the mood strikes her.

            Average price range: Domestic 300-350, Import 375-435, Restricted 550+

 

Wine, Wildberry: This very common and often low-quality wine is less defined than any other.  Historically this vintage was produced from whatever berries could be gathered in a region then mixed together in the production process.  These wines had no consistency from batch to batch and so the quality was largely up to luck.  In recent times the same varieties of berry are still used but instead are now cultivated and combined in ratios definitive to the region.  While both methods are still in practice there has been no concerted effort to make the distinction other then by the region of origin and thus likely cultural production methods and quality.

            Wildberry wine is based on a standard recipe of berries (4-5 cups), sugar (5 cups), fruit acid (2 spoons), fermentation catalyst and water (12 cups).  Variations to this recipe include type and mix of berries used, addition of spices, fermentation time, sugar and acid ratios and age.

            The berries are crushed and mixed with every ingredient except the fermentation catalyst and left for one day.  The fermentation catalyst is then added and the mixture stirred daily for one week.  The mixture is then strained and squeezed before being placed in the fermentor.  This method yields a dry wine; a sweeter beverage is made by adding about a half-cup of sugar and stirring repeated once every six weeks until the wine ceases to restart fermentation.

            This variety of wine is popular due to its ease of production, simplicity of ingredients and for its low cost if purchased.  Some regions have made wildberry wine a point of historic and civic pride and have worked to bring their product to a level of comparable standard.  Attempts to introduce grade categorization to wildberry wine have so far failed due to the staggering logistics of grading wines made by region, company, home-brew and even species of maker.  At best certain regions and company names have risen to be recognized over the years for their product and share the respect normally reserved for more sophisticated vintages.

            Average price range: 3 sticks to 5 wafers for common stock.  Prices may vary widely for specialty or unique examples.

 

Spices

 

Aja:  A sour fluid produced when the black roots of the ajaine plant are pressed.  The juice is sour and may be concentrated by distillation of the water it contains.  Aja is most often used in the preparation of sauces, soups, jellies, glazes and drinks

Honta: The dried flakes of the honnata fruit.  The fruit has a tart flavour that intensifies when it is dried, making it ideal for several otherwise bland or too sweet food items.

Neboux:  A small purple herb that grows in the frozen waste.  It is a common export of that area, and finds itself used in many applications.  Once dried, the herb has its already potent flavour enhanced, akin to cinnamon but slightly stronger.

Rudol:  A bitter tasting berry dried and then ground to a fine powder.  The powder is added to soups, stews and sometimes tea to add some character.

Salt: A very common spice that is also a dietary requirement.  It can improve the flavour of almost any food and therefore is one of the most common spices.  It does not lose potency over time if kept sealed from moisture.  Salt may also be used to help dry and preserve foods if needed, making it a very versatile substance.

Sana:  A sweet seed that is ground into a course powder.  The sweetness of this seed makes it ideal for cakes, pies and candies.  It has a deep green hue that gives its jellies and sauces a characteristic that is easy to recognize by sight alone.  The sweetness and flavour is akin to cherries.

Torgar:  A strong, heady spice preferentially used in meat dishes.  Torgar is prepared by drying of its leaves and later crushing or grinding them to a powder.  Herbivores tend to find this plant unpalatable because of its harshness, but carnivores find it adds a new facet of flavour and tingles the tongue if used sparingly.  If overused, it can make food so harsh that it is inedible to anyone and causing severe internal irritation.  It is also this property that can make it difficult to use should one not be very familiar with its potency.

Textiles