Imridsul

An artist's depiction of a close up of Imridsul Dye

Imridsul is a very costly dye made from the eggs of the deepearth-dwelling Thrystonese basilisk through a process that requires nearly two years (about 28 common months). The color imridsul is an intense crimson with brilliant streaks and splotches that sparkle like metallic gold. Garments made from cloths dyed this color are some of the most desirable in the world. The dye is extraordinarily color fast and does not fade even after many years. The effect is considered impossible to duplicate, but has stimulated a market for gold-embroidered crimson clothes which although costly are not as fantastically costly as cloths dyed in imridsul. In ancient times, the sale and use of the dye was strictly regulated by kings and its use reserved for aristocrats and royals. Even a small component of one's costume dyed in imridsul was a strong status symbol.

Imridsul is thought to have been discovered in the second millennium before Salmakhamer and was an important good of the ancient Narshadite sea merchants. Imridsul remains a luxury good today reserved for the wealthiest, even among the greater modern market of exotic foreign dyes from around the world. Cloths dyed in imridsul are required for the vestments of the high clergy of the Arathracian Church and often used by the clergy of other temple cults.

The city of Dhobi in Thrysto is considered the capital of Imridsul production. Over the centuries, wizards and entrepreneurs have attempted to domesticate the Thrystonese basilisk without success. The dye can only be extracted from the Thrystonese basilisk in the wild which greatly adds to the production cost.

Etymology and Related Terms

The word imridsul is borrowed through Ebinóëse and may originate from a pre-Thammazite language, perhaps Denzahmi or Thyrian. In Khahonri, the word is t’ezishziya which means roughly "great, intensely burning."

Production

Newly finished imridsul dye has a wet texture like mud with chalky, golden clots. The prepared dye is preserved in sealed, glass jars. The process of creating the dye begins with harvesting eggs from wild Thrystonese basilisks. The eggs are about thirteen to seventeen centimeters (5 to 7 inches) in length and incubate for nearly sixty days. However, they must be harvested between twenty to forty days for maximum strength. Harvesting the eggs was done either by expendable slaves, magic-practitioners, or energists. In the present, illusionists do nearly all the harvesting and the number of deaths due to encounters with the egg-laying mother have been greatly reduced. After the eggs are gathered, the unformed basilisk must be extracted and processed to remove the dye-bearing components and discard the remaining portions. The dye-bearing components are then treated, cured, and then treated again through a process that requires about eleven months. After this they are given the second to last treatment and cured for about ten months. The last treatment is given and the substance is cured for a final seven months in underground caves. After about twenty eight common months, the process is complete and the resulting substance is the precious imridsul dye.

Market

About one liter (about 33.8 fluid ounces or 0.265 US gallon) of the dye is worth over 125 pieces of gold. It requires about 20 liters (5.2 US gallons) to dye a complete aristocratic woman's outfit. Thus fully dyed imridsul vestments are reserved for the extraordinarily wealthy and the high clergy of the Arathracian Church as the dye alone can cost over 6,000 gold pieces. Imridsul is sometimes used on the pennants of aristocratic houses when the master is in residence. The dye is so precious that trained laborers will spend many hours to recover the unused portion of the dye after application. In ancient times, armed guards would watch the laborers and inspectors would weigh the dye and the cloth, both before and after application of the dye to ensure that the laborers had not absconded with even the slightest portion which could have been sold for a small fortune.

Competition

A consortium of Old Hearth dwarves and Amerzcelindot humans is rumored to have introduced Thrystonese Basilisks into the Lumshantflew Mountains of Orrhymby where they are endeavoring to start production of imridsul. The reliability of this rumor is unconfirmed. Some market observers believe minute drops in the cost of imridsul are signs that select merchants have been buying Orrhymbyne imridsul rather than Thrystonese imridsul.

History

Archeologers have excavated tombs of aristocrats buried with luxury cloths dyed in imridsul dating to the early second millennium before Salmakhamer. The dye became famously associated with Yophenthean noblewomen and Arathracian priests during the late Yophenthean empire. During the middle ages, production declined to almost none. Narshadite and Siulian merchants re-established product in Thrysto in the twenty fourth century, mainly for wealthy chaos wizard clients. After the Isbajutha, Arathracians and aristocrats maintained the demand to the present day.

See Also

• Yuncovit