Scales imbued with powerful Arcana of the
Feywild. These scales are highly sought after as they can be used to simplify the enchantment of magic items. Their trade is tightly controlled in most of
Aurelia by the
Rainbow-Crystal Lizard Preservation Foundation.
History
These scales have been subject of study and utilization in
Aurelia since the first age scales have been used in the creation of magic items. Since then the populations of these lizards have been endangered and several times since then they have been believed to be extinct. However, every time, either through the work of the divine, a mortal organization, a druid circle or a mad wizard the lizards returned to Aurelia with larger numbers.
In 4910 they returned once more to Aurelia in the
Eldertree Forest after several centuries of absence. For several decades their native range expanded to the entire forest protected by the
Eldertrees and
Forest Giants. The forest giants and hunters of the
Kingdom of Elenath collected any scales they could find and use them for their magic item production or rituals.
However, from the beginning there were poachers who instead of just collecting the scales, they hunted and killed the adult lizards to collect all of their scales at once. Over time this approach was intensivied until 4980 when in a single year over 90% of the population of lizards was killed off. Two years later the lizards were no longer found natively in
Aurelia outside of the
Feywild.
During this time
Kadrial Osterion worked hard to create the
Rainbow-Crystal Lizard Preservation Foundation. He convinced
Anhelik and the royal family of the
Kingdom of Elenath to give this foundation the exclusive trade rights for the scales. Since then a few Lizards have been rewilded in the
Eldertree Forest and the trafficking with baby and juvenile lizards has been reduced significantly. The guardians of the forest kill any poachers on the spot protecting these efforts.
Harvest
An adult
Rainbow-Crystal Lizard has several thousand scales on their body. Each of these scales falls out and regrows once every decade or more. Meaning every week the lizard loses a few scales every week which can be collected without harm. Then these scales regrow within a few weeks.
Scales that are ripped out by force will regrow all the same, but this process is extremely painful to the lizard and will cause them to go mad if done repeately.
Trade
The trade of these scales is under the control of the
Rainbow-Crystal Lizard Preservation Foundation. The foundation gives out trading licenses to merchants who can prove that they only sell scales that were procured without harming any lizards in the process.
Anyone who wishes to sell these scales can do so only to a licensed trader with the stipulation, that all the scales are collected after they were naturally shed by the lizards. The foundation requires any seller to prove this to them. A license is 10'000 gold pieces. The licensee will then be allowed to sell any scales they have to licensed buyers for fixed prices which are the
Kingdom of Elenath, the various clans of the Forest Giants,
Amara's Haven and a few other nations.
Any trade outside this is illegal and punishable by death. Despite this there is still a black market for scales.
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