Ethari tribes
The Ethari tribespeople, living on the far side of the Drylands where they slope up into icy mountains and glaciers, herd woolly mammoths. The fabric and rope they produce from shearing the mammoths and spinning and weaving the hair is almost unbreakable and fire resistant. Although it is too coarse for most clothing, it is in demand for everything from curtains to shop awnings and ship's sails.
The Ethari are tall and strong, and rumours persist of giant blood in their ancestry. Whatever their origin, they regard their mammoths as part of the clan and any threat to a mammoths' wellbeing is taken very seriously. The surprisingly intelligent mammoths return this devotion in kind.
Each spring the Ethari lead their mammoths down from the sheltered valleys in the heights of the mountains to the plains below, where the land is turning green in the first flush of new growth. They stay there in the warmer months as the baby mammoths are born, and carefully shear each mammoth of just enough of its hair that it is comfortable, but will have enough regrown hair to be warm the following winter.
The shorn hair undergoes a secret cleaning, dyeing and fixing process that the Ethari do not reveal to outsiders. This process results in strong hair fibres in an amazing array of colours which hold the dye for an unparalleled length of time. The hair is then spun into threads, formed into skeins, then woven into many traditional patterns. Traders have commissioned custom designs for some large orders, paying a premium to have a pattern that no others will ever be able to use under the agreements with the Ethari.
Once the weaving is complete the Ethari give the fabric the final treatments which enhance the natural properties of the mammoth hair to leave it completely waterproof and greatly fire-resistant. It is popular as material for bad-weather cloaks, keeping out the worst rain squalls, and also for ships' sails - a place where fire is a terrible hazard to be avoided at all costs. Its weather-repellent properties also make it popular for shop awnings in certain areas of the world.
The weaving is finished as the cold weather starts to return. The Ethari disassemble their looms, break down their huts, and sell the finished fabrics to the waiting traders before leading their mammoth herds back up the mountains into the winter valleys. There, they will spend the winter carving ornate scrimshaw into mammoth bones and tusks, using every single part of the animal. This scrimshaw will be sold the following spring, but only to traders who guarantee and swear great oaths that it will be treated with care and respect.
The Ethari are tall and strong, and rumours persist of giant blood in their ancestry. Whatever their origin, they regard their mammoths as part of the clan and any threat to a mammoths' wellbeing is taken very seriously. The surprisingly intelligent mammoths return this devotion in kind.
Each spring the Ethari lead their mammoths down from the sheltered valleys in the heights of the mountains to the plains below, where the land is turning green in the first flush of new growth. They stay there in the warmer months as the baby mammoths are born, and carefully shear each mammoth of just enough of its hair that it is comfortable, but will have enough regrown hair to be warm the following winter.
The shorn hair undergoes a secret cleaning, dyeing and fixing process that the Ethari do not reveal to outsiders. This process results in strong hair fibres in an amazing array of colours which hold the dye for an unparalleled length of time. The hair is then spun into threads, formed into skeins, then woven into many traditional patterns. Traders have commissioned custom designs for some large orders, paying a premium to have a pattern that no others will ever be able to use under the agreements with the Ethari.
Once the weaving is complete the Ethari give the fabric the final treatments which enhance the natural properties of the mammoth hair to leave it completely waterproof and greatly fire-resistant. It is popular as material for bad-weather cloaks, keeping out the worst rain squalls, and also for ships' sails - a place where fire is a terrible hazard to be avoided at all costs. Its weather-repellent properties also make it popular for shop awnings in certain areas of the world.
The weaving is finished as the cold weather starts to return. The Ethari disassemble their looms, break down their huts, and sell the finished fabrics to the waiting traders before leading their mammoth herds back up the mountains into the winter valleys. There, they will spend the winter carving ornate scrimshaw into mammoth bones and tusks, using every single part of the animal. This scrimshaw will be sold the following spring, but only to traders who guarantee and swear great oaths that it will be treated with care and respect.
Comments