Garments of the Mercurian Nomads
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A feather-flake robe fell heavy on the nomads shoulders, yet he moved across the glacier with an unexpected lightness. Two carmine spots on the cloak stared straight at her, false eyes painted onto the back. His sharp feet left only pinpricks in the snow.
The traditional garments of the Nomads of Mercury are made from materials they can produce while travelling, or traded for with settled folk. They usually prefer light clothing that doesn't weigh them down. Most nomads today wear a mix of modern and traditional clothing.
Mycellium Shawl
Mycellium shawls are long strips of fabric grown in pots. The fabric is bone white and gauze-like. It has an elasticity and sponginess to it, but easily tears and deforms when pierced. The properties of the fabric make it unsuitable for sewn clothing, so it is almost exclusively worn draped. Holes can be patched with a paste made from the same fungus, and many shawls have thicker, discoloured corners from repeating pinning and patching. The fabric is grown in Walker egg pots that have been infected with a special mold. It grows along the inside of the pot in thin layers. When the fabric is done, it can be pulled out of the pot in one go. It takes years to produce a shawl, and over a decade for a larger one. It is tradition in many nomadic groups to prepare a mycellium pot when a nomad either discovers their pregnancy, or when they begin trying for a child. The shawl is gifted to the child when they come of age.
Potter Eggs by Annie Stein
Chewpaper Robes
Perhaps the most distinctive garments made and worn by the nomads are the Chewpaper robes. Chewpaper is crisp and easy to shape, but can sink in on itself and warp if not properly supported. A single layer of chewpaper might not be particularly strong, but with enough layers it can even serve as armour. After being shaped, the chewpaper is treated with chemicals that add some much-needed flexibility.
Chewpaper can get lumpy and struggle to hold a sharp point, but artisans among the nomads have developed techniques to create almost sculptural pieces. Many of these artisans work through an intuitive process, describing it as listening to the paper or channelling the divine.
A small amount of rockwood bark is often packed into the legs of the walkers or the treads of a rover to be tenderized as they travel.
Heirloom Silk
Silk garments are the most prized possessions of the nomadic people. Passed down through generations, these garments are usually saved for special occasions and rituals. The love and care the garment has recieved is evident in the garments. Nomadic heirloom silk is regularly treated with wax, giving it a glossy finish, and the colours are unusually deep and rich from numerous rounds of overdying. The silk has a unique multi-colour sheen, resembling oil or the shell of a beetle.
Although the chewpaper is seen as more ancient and iconic, the silk garments have clearly been part of nomadic life for far longer. Some of the heirloom silk is extremely old, lasting much longer than silk usually does. Conservationists have studied the treatment to see how they can help protect extant garments made of silk or other natural fibers.
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Current Location
Related ethnicities
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Oh this is epic. This needs to stay around yours.
Thank you!!
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