Hand-Worked Wood

Between the time of the founding of the Teles Council and the return of Science to Poneren, one of the most expensive substances that could be bought was hand-worked wood.
Magic was commonplace and cheap, with everyone able to cast spells to some degree, and creation of new material or modification of existing material being commonplace. Having simple wooden items created was cheap as the supply was high.
Having hand-worked wooden items was expensive, not just because magic was cheap and plentiful, but also because technology was taboo and any hand work had to be done with the simplest of tools.
Even simple stone working was avoided as some people saw a hammer and chisel as too much technology. Several well-known artists were executed because of their "reliance on technology", while most of the rest fled to Berkham.
Woodworking could be done with a simple blade, a common-enough tool that few considered to be technological, and fire. So woodworking still occurred, but only by the few truly skilled in the art.
The kings of Emswort had entire rooms in Fullent covered in hand-worked wooden panels depicting their glorious past, often embellishing on the stories. Darter and Tiveley were quick to follow, with the wealthy in all three nations showing off their wealth by the quality of their wooden trim.
Magicked wooden items were also common, trying to copy the extravagance seen by the wealthy, at a much more affordable price-point. No matter how skilled the magician, however, they never seemed quite able to replicate all of the imperfections that went into a hand-worked piece.

Magicked vs. Hand-Worked

One of the key differences between wooden items created by magic and those created by hand are the imperfections evident in the pieces. It's suggested that a sufficiently skilled magician should be capable of creating similarly imperfect items via magic, but that the detail of belief required to do so is so great, it would end up being easier to create the imperfect items by hand.

Value

The value of these pieces lies not in the material itself, but rather in the perfection of their imperfection. The more skillfully an artist is capable of making an item while still creating an obviously hand-made piece, the higher the price the artist can receive. A handful of artists lived wealthy lives on their own, just from the sale of a few hand-made wooden items every year.

Type

Wood