Silkbaths
Silk is one of the most important commodities and its production is a long rigorous project. This fabric is needed for almost all of the aspects of the society, from clothing to house fabric, decorations and military. It is the second most important thing traded, after silver itself.
Threads of silk get produced out of the cocoons of specific worms and tailors have long tried to devise better and better ways to make these worms more wormy and prevent their final transformation into a butterfly. Everyone would like to have just one big worm factory that only focuses on producing never ending cocoons. Alas it does not work this way but there have been some improvements made in the productions, not by the worms themselves, but by people.
These methods are commonly nicknamed as silkbaths, where the cocoons along with the worms are dipped in different kinds of liquids that are slowing the transformation of the worm themselves without actually slowing the production of those coveted silky threads. Using silkbaths have been able to more than double the production in some areas and as such are a closely guarded secret.
Thank you for reading my world!
I used Summer Camp this year to generate new ideas that I can explore and play around with in the months to come. All of my articles are first drafts, little sketches that need further development.
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Access & Availability
Some of the ingredients needed for such baths are hard to come by, especially as the seasons of the year change. This made some local herbs extremely valuable overnight and as such transformed little villages into prospering towns.
Discovery
Unfortunately silkworms are really sensitive to their environments and are prone to catching all sorts of diseases that could threaten not only one cocoon but the entire batch if a hidden infection spreads quickly. Over the years, multiple different methods and herbal baths have been passed down from generation to generation, to help keep away and in some cases cure these affliction and preserve the silk production. Through these experiments, methods how to keep the worms working and not butterflying were discovered as a sort of a side effect.
