Elder Pinecones

Elder Pinecones are pinecones that fall from Elder Trees. For the most part Elder Pinecones look like typical conifer pinecones, but on close inspection it can be seen that they have a more thick, uniform central stem, and the scales can be rotated in rings around the pinecone.
Since Elder Pinecones come from Elder Trees, they can only be found in a few places across Melra. In Gwandrin they can be found in the Mirinwood and near the Exiles' Bridge, and in Elura they can be found in the Greater Elquothil Forest as well as the capital city of Quilana.
Usage in Cooking:
Elder Pinecone scales are known to have a particularly nutty flavor when boiled, and they pack a roaring punch of spice when powdered and sprinkled in beverages and on food. They are considered a delicacy in the Kingdom of Elura and in the village Velden, but one would be hard pressed to find someone elsewhere willing to cook with them since they look fairly unappetizing.
Usage in Trade:
Due to the limited number of locations that the pinecones can be found, the citizens of Elda often gather them from the relative safety of the Mirinwood and trade them across the Merchant's Span to Elura where they can fetch a fairly hefty sum of coin. Elurans would gather them from the Greater Elquothil Forest, but doing so is very dangerous and so most prefer to purchase the pinecones from Gwandrin.

Significance

Elder pinecones are often used by the Earth Druids living in Mirinwood as identification symbols. Earth Druids who are fully initiated into the circle are given an Elder Pinecone, which they then take and hollow the stem of. Next they create a set of holes in the stem and the "scale rings" of the pinecones so that a certain set of sounds are produced when air is blown on them. The sounds produced by an Earth Druid's pinecone correspond to that particular druid's name in Windspeak. This way, Earth Druids can easily identify other Earth Druids and increase the security of their secret gatherings in the Mirinwood and in villages such as Elda.

Item type

Miscellaneous

Rarity

Common