Trade goods
Overview
There are a number of exotic merchandise available to ship captains that trade with Foreign ports during Downtime, or engage in voyages of discovery. Likewise, a military captain might come into possession of unfamiliar goods due to actions such as raiding. Most of these goods are not entirely familiar to Imperial citizens - they are found only on foreign shores - and acquiring them can be a challenge.
Axos
- Imperial fleet captains can trade directly with the Towers of Kantor and Chambers of Issyk
The small nation of Axos is very close to the Empire, and Imperial traders regularly make the journey to the Towers of Kantor and newly opened Chambers of Issyk. They specialise in odd consumables, and items related to the practice of the necromantia.
Axou Luxuries
- Represents money
These are items that represent money to a ship captain. They include cunningly woven shrouds, death masks of bone and wood, subtly unsettling icons and statuettes, tomes of blasphemous and heretical philosophy, dark coloured wine, and occasionally disturbingly carved wands, staffs, or wands of dark hardwood harvested in the vallorn woods of Visokuma. Characters are encouraged to create peculiar examples of Axou art as souvenirs for use on the field.
Bonedust
A mildly poisonous material that is apparently literally made from ground human bones, along with several other substances native to Axos. It is reportedly used by Axou priests without access to liao when they perform spiritual ceremonies. It is also known to provide peculiar, dreamy visions of death and the dead.
Lamia
A magical salve favoured by Axou battle-magicians and practitioners of Winter magic. It reportedly acts a little like vis, but with a narrower application. It provides power to rituals of Winter magic that involve personal survival, although it is also known to have some odd effects on those who use it. There are disturbing anecdotal accounts of those who make extensive use of lamia becoming unnaturally inured to murder and violence.
Masks of the Citadels
The newly established Grand Council of Axos has determined to make some of the rarer goods produced in Axos available to visiting Imperial captains. The Masks of the Citadel are apparently magical foci that empower certain ritual magics favoured by the descendants of the sorcerer-kings. Such masks differ from those popular in places like Sarvos in that they are usually full-face masks, often made of porcelain or fired clay, and decoration is usually sparse and symbolic. Each of the six citadels apparently has a trademark mask that is used extensively by magicians that claim a connection to one of the founders of the nation.
Serenity
A prestigious drug that causes sensations of absolute calm and tranquillity when consumed. It is apparently much favoured as a recreational substance by wealthy Axou who appreciate the ability to put aside the worries of their day and relax despite all the challenges of existing in such a dog-eat-dog society as the citadels of Axos.
Tomb Dust
As a nation dominated by magicians, Axos produces a large amount of crystal mana. Sometimes there is sufficient surplus that it is available to purchase, but increasingly Axou merchants are dealing in tomb dust. This is a consumable that takes the form of dust or sometimes resin that is either snorted or burned in a flame and the smoke inhaled. It allows the user to tap into their personal reserves of strength to power their magic in a manner familiar to apothecaries who make a study of ritual potions. There are several varieties of tomb dust depending where it is gathered and how it is prepared, effecting what kinds of rituals it can be used with, but they all apparently bear a touch of necromantia about them.
Tombstone
Also known as Tarfos, this is a powder that when consumed insulates one from the emotion of fear. It is very popular with Axou soldiers, pit fighters, criminals, and a small number of very dangerous ritual magicians. Repeated use of Tarfos apparently increases the threat of death - not because it is particularly venomous but because an absence of fear can lead to users failing to run away from obviously fatal situations.