Olaan Tzes

Short introduction

Olaan Tzes means nothing more than 'red tussock' in the language of the Mentzuul Orohlen. It is a sort of kelp regularly washed onto the southern shore of the continent of Mentzuul. Local people collect it for food, since it is rich in minerals and in vitamins.

Appearance and ecology

Pieces of the plant are washed upon the shore as fist- to head-sized tufts or longer strands. These are torn lose from a plant that grows on rocks far off the shore. The ocean around Mentzuul is not too rough, but sometimes stronger breezes or storm occur, that rip parts off the Olaan Tzes plants. The yield of foragers is thus best after rough weather conditions.

The plant itself doesn't grow in greater depths, but it is nonetheless not possible to directly harvest it, as the water is too cold to dive for fresh plants. The leaves of Olaan Tzes resemble long bands of liverwort and are gum like and elastic. They have a very light oceanic smell to them and tend to lose their colour when lieing on the beach for too long. That's how foragers can tell fresh plants apart from older ones.

Cultural role and use

As food, especially fresh plant-based food, is scarce during the winter months, but storms are more common during that time, causing lots of Olaan Tzes to be washed upon the beach. This makes it an important source of digestible and nutrient rich food in the winter. All peoples along the southern shores make used of this food source and profit from the qualities of the Olaan Tzes. The only drawback is, that Olaan Tzes renders its consumers thirsty, so it always has to be served with plenty of drinks. Also it colours the urine and feces reddish, which often scares people eating this plant for the first time. The taste of Olaan Tzes is very light and reminds one of a slightly fishy fresh lettuce, although the texture is more like a dense jelly.