Sheep Wool

The domestic sheep and the many products derived from it are the lifeblood of Cymbarite industry. Wool of various qualities, stages of processing and refinement is produced and transported throughout Cymbar, and is the principal export of the governorate. Many villages make their primary livelihoods off the raising of sheep and the sale of the raw wool extracted, and the great city of Fin-Allan has risen to its current prominence mainly off the back of the wool industry.
The importance of wool in both contemporary and historical Cymbar is hard to overstate. The man on the street, whether in the city or the village, is likely clothed in wool. It is not a slim chance that he derives his livelihood from wool, either refining or producing it. Wool is sheared and graded by the shepherd, and then typically sold to larger settlements with facilities for refining it, a process that has become increasingly centralized and sophisticated.
Wool is used for many things, and grading of wool is fairly well understood by the general public, with different qualities of woollen clothing being markers of wealth and status. The average person wears the off-white wool that is serviceable, and cheap dye that obscures the quality of the base material is taken as a sign of low class, poverty, and sometimes pretense. Fine wool is a marker of wealth, and valued not only for its comfort but also as a status symbol.
This also bleeds into religious imagery. Many of the druidic circles specify types of wool to be used for religious dress, for example the "scuff" (an umbrella term used for low quality wool from places like the legs of the sheep) wool used by druids of Dagd, the high wool grades used by druids of Cainneach, and the prohibition on dyeing wool with the produce of more than one plant, animal, or mineral for Tailtean dress.
Since being introduced to wool by the Cymbarites, the elves of Exodus have also begun using it for many purposes, though to them it lacks many of the cultural implications that it has for the Cymbarites.

Properties

Physical & Chemical Properties

Typically white in color and soft to the touch, wool is usually cleaned and sorted after it is sheared from the sheep. Raw wool straight off the animal has a more grimy and yellowish color and feel, as the wool contains the sheep's natural bodily oils as well as various impurities that have gotten stuck to the sheep's wool.
Properly processed wool is smooth, soft, and a more clean white color, depending on the grade of wool used. The wool insulates, keeping away the cold. However, it also absorbs water readily.