Specialty Products of the Flanaess, Part I

It’s always nice to give a little “local color” when describing particular items. When the characters are served a drink at the Inn, it’s always more fun to say its Celene ruby wine or Aged Special Urnst brandy, rather than just “ale” or “fine mead”. The same goes for other things as well; certain lands are noted for certain products, and by dropping such names in descriptions, the DM can add a little bit of campaign flavor with minimal fuss. With that in mind, I give you some notable products from different lands and regions of the Flanaess. Use these to liven up your merchant caravans, taverns, treasure hoards, and marketplaces. Compared to local fare, these items might command 2x or even 4x the value, just by virtue of their reputation and rarity. Some of this comes from module T1 “The Village of Hommlet” while the rest comes from p. 45 of the “Guide to the World of Greyhawk Fantasy Setting”, which details what nations have what notable exports in a general sense; I’ve filled in the details, with, of course, a lot of poetic license…

• Keolish Golden Wine
• Urnst White Wine
• Celene Ruby Wine
• Sundish Lilac Wine
• Furyondian Pale Emerald Wine. Pressed from the grapes that grow on the endless gentle rolling hills in central Furyondy, this light-green-hued wine is famed for its gentle fruity flavor.
• Velunian Fireamber Wine. A white wine, fortified with a reddish distilled liquor which gives it its famous hue and firey flavor.
• Keoish Brandy.
• Aged Special Urnst Brandy.
• Ulek Elixir Liqueur.
• Medegian Tartan. This is popular in the various provinces of the Great Kingdom; each pattern is representative of a particular Aerdy clan.
• Sulwardian Fine Teak. Largely a misnomer; the huge logs are brought from Hepmonaland and processed in Sulward (in the Lordship of the Isles), and exported thence to the rest of the Flanaess.
• Hoolish Wild Rice. Grown in the large slave-labored plantations in the Hold of the Sea Princes. it originated in the marshes, but its cultivation has since spread throughout the land.
• Ulek embroidery. This is especially very popular with elves in various locales in the Flanaess.
• Traskish Chequered Cloth (from the towns and villages along the Trask river in North Province). This cloth is also popular with the various Oeridian folk in the Flanaess, particularly those in the eastern half of the continent.
• Crystal River Cheques (from the local folk along the Crystal River in Furyondy). The Crystal River patterns are often held in heated rivalry with those of the Trask, with the former dominating the western Flanaess and the latter the eastern. Prices adjust accordingly, as the one is more rare in the other’s dominant market.
• Franzish Linen. Both the County of Urnst and the Kingdom of Nyrond hold this to be the best of their fabrics, and there is a friendly rivalry between the growers on either side of the Franz River as to who produces the finest and most luxurious cloth.
• Pomarj Black Wine. Tough purple-black vines cover some of the sunny hillsides of the Pomarj, whose grapes are turned into a highly alcoholic wine highly prized in some quarters.
• Tenha Beef. The cattle of the Duchy of Tenh are prized for their subtle flavor and exquisite texture. The Palish also export identical meat, but it is known by the general name “Tenha Beef” (much to the chagrin of the Theocrats, who once tried to market their own cattle as “Lightbearing beef” to general derision and no real effect).
• Bisselian Angora. The cultivation of the long-haired angora rabbit (from whose soft hair the angora fabric is spun) is commonplace in Bissel, the creatures originally imported from the Baklunish lands. They are found throughout the Flanaess, but nowhere as common as Bissel.

This list is, obviously, not exhaustive. In fact, a sequel might be in the offing on this very blog in the not too distant future.