Post:New and rare at Hollow Eve! - 11/02/2013 - 06:35
| New and rare at Hollow Eve! · on 11/02/2013 06:35 AM CDT | 961 |
|---|---|
| Since the fest has been open for a bit, I wanted to give out information on some of the new fabrics, gems, flowers and woods you'll find at Hollow Eve this year! All of these are exclusive to the festival, and must be provided for any alterations that want to incorporate them into the design.
Fabrics: Cire - Named after the special blend of plants and oils it is cured in, cire is an especially smooth, lustrous silk with a slight iridescent sheen that remains present regardless of the color it is dyed. Jaalmin - Made by nuns of Divyaush, this fine linen fabric holds evenly spaced silver threads along the warp. Separating jaalmin from being just another nameless variation on normal linen, the nuns use a closely-guarded (and presumed magical) process to tint the metallic threads in a wide variety of colors. Though the creation process itself is secretive, finished jaalmin may have both the linen and the metallic thread colors changed, depending on the skill of the artisan. The name is a combination of the words for 'water' (jaal) and 'silver' (min) in Gamgweth. Scalene - Traditionally woven at monasteries dedicated to Hav'roth, this sinuous fabric blends silk with pliant fibers harvested from a type of marsh reeds colloquially known as "snake grass" due to their distinctive scaly outer layer. The resultant fabric has a subtle ridged appearance while remaining smooth to the touch and lends itself well to garments relying on intricate draping. Does not stiffen well or hold pleats/creases. Spun Glitter - Spun glitter refers to a fine-threaded fabric that has bits of glitter painstakingly spun into an individual thread, then that thread is incorporated into the weave. The fabric can made from wool, silk, cotton, and can be used as a thread. Silver, gold, platinum, and electrum are all very popular since they don't tarnish with washing. Thornweave - Traditionally woven only by Priestesses of Dergati, thornweave is a dense and resilient, yet supple, fabric with a distinctly matte finish. Crafted from the fibers of the thorny plant best known as shrike's bounty, traditional thornweave creation is a ceremonial affair utilizing only those plants that have had their thorns used by shrikes for feeding purposes during moonless nights, the bloody sacrifice and total darkness seen as signs of Dergati's favor. The fabric itself shows no signs of its frequently bloody origins, instead being largely unremarkable in appearance save for its ability to take and hold dark dyes exceptionally well.
Alshabi stone - This is a rare, bright orange-pink translucent gem with light mossy green speckles. Most frequently carved into elaborate shapes or cut into simple cabochons, alshabi stones are considered good luck by workers in the Turmar family's gem and metal mines in Zoluren, as their rare appearance within a mine is thought to protect against cave ins and herald new discoveries of rare metal veins. This folk belief has spread to carrying talismans crafted from alshabi stones to aid in mining endeavors. 'Alshabi' is the Gamgweth word for 'seeker'. Cloudstone - A vibrant, clear canary yellow stone swirled with opaque cream-hued inclusions, cloudstone is a rare type of diamond containing significant traces of oravir. Thought to be created by extremely high heat and pressure coming to bear upon areas where both occur very near one another, the only large deposits of cloudstone currently known to exist are within the holdings of the Turmar noble family of Zoluren. Erythraean - A rare opaque gem found in shades of red from bright crimson to a rich wine hue, erythraean displays brilliant chatoyancy (aka: 'cat's eye') effects, with shimmering fibrous inclusions that have been likened to the sheen off a spool of silk. Luminous streaks of reflected light occur across the center of the gem, always perpendicular to the direction of the fibers. The best finished specimens show a single sharply defined band of light that moves across the stone when it is rotated. Cut almost exclusively into cabochons, as this cut best enhances this gem's reflective qualities. Erythraean is found mainly in the mineral-rich mines of the Turmar noble family of Zoluren. Heliotrope - Named for its bright pinkish-undertoned purple hue reminiscent of heliotrope flowers, this a is transparent gem of exceptional clarity. It is most frequently cut with intricate facets along its edges, causing the outer rim of the stone to display a luminosity so great as to seem to glow from within. This is, however, not any actual light generating effect, but merely a property of the stone's incredibly reflective nature. Rarely found growing in or around veins of other minerals, gem-quality heliotrope is most commonly found within the mines of the Turmar noble family of Zoluren, with all of the best specimens coming exclusively from this area. Iahja - A rare translucent gem of bright vivid green with blue and yellow iridescence, iahja naturally forms in long, thin, six-sided crystals that grow outward from certain copper deposits. Particularly large (more than about a half inch in length), intact specimens are exceedingly rare, and correspondingly expensive. As such, iahja is most commonly found in small chips and pieces used as decorative inlay, and the larger intact pieces are very rarely shaped beyond the slightest finishings since its natural shape is considered valuable and beautiful in and of itself. Ulhari prism - The first, and largest known, sources of these unusual and highly sought after gems are the mines of the Turmar family of Zoluren noblity, and it is from them that the ulhari prism gets its name. It is said that upon seeing the first samples of the stone, Veahmic Turmar, the long standing leader of the House, exclaimed that the sharpness, quickly changing nature and extreme beauty of the gem could be rivaled only by his wife Ulhari. As none of the Traders who did business with the Turmar family during this time wished to jeopardize their contracts by seeming to disagree, what was once an analogy became the gem's common name. Ulhari prisms are very rare, extremely hard, opaque stones, approaching a diamond's strength and ability to hold a sharp edge. They are a gorgeous display of dichroism – the shifting of colors as light plays across certain crystalline structures within the gem, causing them to seem to dance and morph with but the slightest rotation. In the case of the ulhari prism, it appears as a warm, golden brown reminiscent of clover honey when looked upon directly, shifting to flashes of brilliant lilac-tinged purple when viewed from different angles. This characteristic is often emphasized by elaborate faceting, causing both the golden brown and the lilac hues to be visible at all times, flashing and shifting as light plays across the gem. Although rare all by themselves, any ulhari prism larger than what is generally deemed to be 'tiny' or 'small' is notably more unusual, and goes for extremely large sums of money due to this.
Faesoul - So named after a poem describing the redemption of a Frostweaver through witnessing true love amongst a mortal couple, the rare faesoul flower grows in small clusters after the melting of a particularly hard snow. A ring of pale, slightly downward sloping petals supports a delicate fringe of blue and white filaments that encircle the blossom's light green heart. Melir - Growing in gently rounded cones, the tiny, clustered flowers of the melir plant are often confused for a single blossom from afar. Sprigs of melir flowers are thought by some to enhance concord and harmony amongst groups needing to work together for a common purpose. While most commonly found in shades of pink and white, rare clusters of gold-rimmed cobalt melir are occasionally found growing amongst their more common brethren, and are prized as an omen of a bountiful and harmonious future. 'Melir' is the Gerenshuge word for 'agree'. Shrike's bounty - This is a thorny plant that vaguely resembles an extremely overgrown, yet somewhat sickly, rose bush. Its sparse leaves and woody stems are a deep, purple-black with spidery green veining which radiates outward from the long, thin thorns. These numerous needle-like protrusions have earned it the name shrike's bounty, and indeed, it is said to be held sacred in some circles who worship the dark Immortal Dergati due to the frequency with which it appears to attract Her symbolic bird. Though rarely appearing, shrike's bounty bushes do produce flowers. Night blooming and velvety-soft, the large blossoms range in hues of red from deep incarnadine to brilliant scarlet, and all bear an eye-like mark nestled within the center of their petals.
Alerce - Though extremely large and fast growing, the alerce tree is most notable not for either of these properties, nor for the wood of the tree itself, which is crumbly once dried, but instead for its unique multi-layered bark and the inhospitable terrain in which it is found. Growing only on ledges within the inner rims of volcanoes, the alerce tree adapts to changes in volcanic activity by integrating minerals into its bark, forming richly colored and remarkably dense plates. Once harvested, the bark is then processed and sold as simply 'alerce'. More like stone than wood, alerce is most often used for fancy household items and decorations. The bark plates have been found in nearly every color imaginable, though pure white alerce is the most rare and valuable. Glitvire - Squat, warped and dark, the glitvire tree is, by all outside appearances, a thing of nightmares. Covered in bulbous lumps, the limbs of the glitvire tree grow in tangled snarls, often plunging back into the ground to form a maze of natural cage-like structures around the central trunk. Spined leaves hold a fatally hallucinogenic toxin, while the lumpy protrusions within its bark contain pockets of a corrosive sap said to eat through even kertig if left on the metal long enough. Despite all of this, the wood of the glitvire is extremely beautiful and highly sought after for its dark, satiny finish and intricately whorled grain. Reflective flecks of variegated greens and purples can be seen in the most prized specimens, formed by tiny, crystallized (and thankfully inert) traces of sap. Though rarely found, the tree has been known to spring up in the under canopies of very dense, dark forests, where no other plants seem to survive. Due to both the rarity of the tree itself, and the danger in attempting to harvest its wood, items made from glitvire are often extremely expensive. Iroko - A large hardwood said to contain evil spirits, iroko trees were once thought to have been purely fictional creations referenced in a handful of pre-Imperial folk tales. However, a small number of trees resembling the old stories of the iroko have been found in largely untraveled portions of the barrier areas between the Forest of Night and the rest of the Endrus Forest, and some samples of this newly dubbed iroko wood have made their way to the civilized regions of the Provinces. Initially pale yellow when cut, iroko darkens to a richer brown over time. Old stories of iroko state that this darkening of the wood was the result of the tree's evil spirit leaving its woody prison to instead take residence within the owners of items made from it. So far, despite both the legends and the newly rediscovered trees' proximity to concentrated, lingering magic of unquestionable corruption, no ill effects have been reported by those carrying items made from iroko, and the smooth, satiny wood has proven useful for both decorative and functional personal items from scabbards to hair combs. | |
| This message was originally posted in Discussions with DragonRealms Staff and Players \ Game Master and Official Announcements, by DR-PERSIDA on the play.net forums. | |