The Trade Goods of the Elves
We elves are not renowned as traders and merchants in the same manner as the dwarves or halflings or the jack of all trades men. This is a shame for my fellow merchants and I have much to share with the wider world. The wonders of the forests from the divine fruits of the AureliaOramor to the supple leathers of forest deer and the finest wrought chainmail that can be found in any lands save the dwarves. I have decided to produce a catalogue of the goods of the elves as they will stand by the end of the summer of the first year of the Arrival of the Wizards to Ethereal.
Foodstuffs
Everyone loves a good, hearty meal and the forest has a veritable bounty to offer to those who have the skills and wisdom to keep and preserve it from year to year.
The Fruits of the AureliaOramor
The fruits of the AureliaOramor are not truly a foodstuff, for one could not consume them as a staple, but I have decided to include them here. How to describe these most wondrous and magical of fruits? Their most renowned property, amongst the elves, is their powers of healing. When properly prepared as an infusion using the freshest spring water, it can sustain and heal a body through grave ills and hurts, even, it is said, those of a magical nature. It cannot heal maladies of the mind nor can it maladies of the spirit and it is crucial that water is used in its preparation for alcohol spoils the delicate fruit and negates its power. The fruit can also be consumed leading to a variety of effects from a mere sense of euphoria and well-being to powerful visions of the past, present and future with the truth of magical scrying but power far beyond any such spell that has yet been devised. These fruits are a mystery and great treasure and out of the yearly crop of a few dozen up to a hundred or so such fruits as few as a dozen may be set aside for use as gifts or for merchants, such as myself, to sell.
Venison
Onwards to somewhat less magical bounties, the hunters and butchers of LanElatair produce the finest venison in all the world. It is hunted with great skill and the deer are slain swiftly, with no anticipation of their fate that might spoil the meat, with either a single arrow to the neck or a word of magic. It is then borne swiftly to the butchers who take the carcasses and prepare the most fantastic meats. Steaks, roasts, sausages of endless variety and strips of smoked and salted venison, often flavoured with herbs or honey, are the most common products.
Fruits
The forest does not just offer the magical AureliaOramor for consumption, a host of other fruits can be found throughout the forest. To list all of the fruits available would take up an entire book but I will list some of the choicest fruits. The finest groves of the Elves are typically found around the shores of Luerelanor, with a few notable exceptions. The apple groves of Tallianin are particularly notable for, if the fruit of the AureliaOramor is divine, then these fruits are regal and second only to them. Such sweet, succulent apples rich with flavour, even Elatair, our leader who has wandered in many places, cannot think of a place from which better apples can be had in the whole of the Nether Sphere. Pears are also a delight that can be found on the shores of Luerelanor as are the thickets of blackberries, raspberries, dewberries and strawberries, to name but a few. Further afield one can always find nuts, seeds, roots, berries and other such things which are edible.
Breads and other baked goods
I promise this shall be my last entry regarding the foods one can find in LanElatair but I could not in good conscience write a section on food and not include chestnut bread. Chestnut bread, as far as I am aware, is unique to the elves of LanElatair. It arose because bread is the staple food of all civilised nations and, as the elves lack wheat from which to make flour, we use chestnuts. Other nuts are used as well such as acorns and almonds, but chestnuts are the principal nut used. Normally chestnut bread is a leavened bread and it obviously has a rich, nutty flavour.
Beverages
The dwarves are the most famous brewers of all the races but the elves produce a variety of fruit wines, fortified fruit wines, liqueurs, meads, perries and ciders. The art of cider-brewing was discovered independently by the elves of LanElatair, probably before the halflings were even civilised. The elves make their fruit wines out of just about anything that can be fermented, from blackberries to dandelions, though a shortage of grapes prevents our vintners from making conventional grape wines. These wines are the most famous product of the elven breweries. Sadly I cannot spend any longer extolling the virtues of elven brews as there are many more things to get through before this list is done.
Spices and herbs
Spices and herbs are of vital importance to properly flavour a meal. We much prefer milder spices and herbs ourselves but we understand that more masochistic people prefer to burn their taste buds from their mouths with spice and can cater accordingly. The range of spices and herbs we can provide is too large to fit into this small notice but we would encourage all more discerning buyers to consider visiting our markets to see what we have on offer. Of course herbs and spices have medicinal and other uses as well and herbs and spices suitable for these applications can also easily be found.
Crafts
I have decided to list the crafted items of my people next, then I intend to list some of the raw materials and then I should be done so bear with me. The elves produce a huge range of crafted objects from jewellery to armour and of course the fabled bows of the elves.
Bows
I thought I would list our most famous product first, our bows. We fashion many different bows to suit different archers and our bowyers would be more than happy to take special orders, for a price. We make two main styles of bow: the famous longbow and the less famous recurve bow. Longbows are the war bows of the elven people, fashioned from a single piece of yew or ash, though yew is the preferred material. These bows are fashioned with great skill and care and the entire process may take as long as eight years for a truly magnificent bow, but, when finished, no other bow of any people can match it for range, power, accuracy or durability. These bows are incredibly expensive but they are priceless in the hands of a proper longbowman. The recurve bows of the elves are no less deadly than the traditional longbows, for they can be used in even the densest forests and scrubland, due to their smaller size. These bows could also be used quite effectively from horseback, though, as we elves have no cavalry, I cannot say this for certain. These bows, though they are composite bows, can be fashioned at greater speed and less cost than a longbow, whilst still retaining good power and accuracy over shorter ranges, and thus would make an excellent weapon for the archers of other peoples. They also somewhat easier to draw than a traditional longbow, which might make these recurve bows easier for other races to use. I understand that, in order for other races to wield their longbows effectively, their archers must train until they become grotesquely muscular and deformed by the stresses drawing such powerful bows places upon the bodies of younger races.
Swords
The elven lands lack any notable veins of ore and we elves lack the inclination to rip apart the forests looking for them. So, you may rightly ask, how can the elves forge swords when they have no iron? Our reply is simple: not all iron is found beneath the ground. Elven swordsmiths long ago found star-iron in clearings in the forest and since then our swords have been forged from this iron. There is only a limited supply of this iron, so only a few hundred new blades may be forged each year, and every blade forged is carefully preserved and handed done from father to son. Why would one want to pay the high price required to secure one of these swords then? Once again it comes down to quality. A finely forged elven blade can often defeat a blade of similar quality due to both the quality of the star-iron and the long process and techniques employed in forging an elven sword. These techniques and processes are far beyond me, a humble merchant, to describe but the results of such loving labour are second to only the finest works of man or, of course, dwarven steel.
Chainmail
This is the last work of war I will describe but I feel I must describe elven chainmail; else the armourers would never forgive me. Worked from the same star-iron as an elven blade, elven chainmail is a wondrous thing. It can turn aside most any form of hacking weapon, whether it is a refined sword edge or a brutal pole-axe and can even defeat a good thrust from a spear most of the time. Elven mail comes down typically to the waist or, perhaps, mid thigh at the longest to allow freedom of movement. Again the price is high and large quantities cannot be supplied, but the quality of this mail is exceptional.
Clothing
Our tanners and tailors can make anything with leather, from tough deerskin cuir bouilli breastplates to supple buckskin gloves. Clothes can be dyed, patterned and tailored to suit all tastes and sizes. Not only do we produce the finest leathers, but we also produce fine linen from various fibres in the forests and, from the linen, velvet. The velvet may not be of as finer quality as velvet made from silk plain but we have access to some of the best dyes in the whole of Ethereal and our velvet will be cheaper by a mile. All of these fabrics can be fashioned into any item you want, a cloak, gloves, scarf, tunic; you name it and an elven tailor will be able to make it.
Raw Materials
The elves do not exploit natures bounty but we often have surplus materials, which are more than we can use. These materials are given to merchants so that other peoples might use them and they do not go to waste.
Timber
Elven timber, can any other timber match it? Unlike other races who brutally hack at the forest until it finally surrenders some wood, the elves speak to the forest. We ask the forest and the forest provides. Thus we can find the finest timbers in the remotest corners of the forest and harvest them easily. Elves have been harvesting timber for hundreds of thousands of years and the experience and knowledge of elven woodsmen is beyond anything that the younger races might hope to obtain, within the next few thousand years. The elves have also perfected the art of properly drying and seasoning wood. Our timberyards are the largest in the world and from our stores we can produce timber of any age and type required. As always our prices may be higher than some but the quality of the wood received speaks for itself.
Dyes
Dyes are the final thing I will mention here, as I have covered most of the major products, though there are countless local crafts and traditions to explore across our forest. Just as the elves are good with timbers, we are good with dyes. We know of pigments that other races do not and can produce any colour one can imagine through the use of overdyeing. This allows us to make fine linens, velvets and leathers in any colour a person could wish for, though we are also willing to sell our dyes directly to other peoples if they wish. Unfortunately we will not supply the plants to make up the dyes, as the plants used are closely-guarded secrets, for we assume people would only request dyes they are unable to make themselves.
Even wrote a story for everyone.
