Fisé Blue

Fisé dye, properly called *néda pa fisé* dye, or "blue poison", is a rare and expensive dye exclusively produced in Hosquerre. It is very difficult and dangerous to manufacture. The danger of fisé lies in its source: Riftcrawler venom. Riftcrawlers are extremely dangerous animals that live only in the Rift. The venom of a riftcrawler can kill an adult, as it is designed to paralyze auroch-sized prey.

The Venom

First the venom must be acquired. The most common source is the riftcrawlers in captivity at the royal arena in Churanu. When they are killed, the stinger and venom gland are immediately removed and the venom extracted. This provides about a gallon of venom in one go. However, riftcrawlers are not killed often. Extracting the venom this way is only possible once or twice a year. A gladiator who gets stung during battle, damages the stinger, or otherwise compromises the amount of venom available for extraction is strongly reprimanded.
The collected venom is taken to a master dyer in Churanu, who his hired by the state to produce the small amount of bright blue cotton possible from that one batch. Fabric left to simmer in the venom absorbs the bright blue colour after about 12 hours.
Adventurous entrepreneurs have been known to travel into the Rift and attempt to slay a riftcrawler in the wild to obtain venom. Every now then, someone succeeds at this, which just encourages a lot of other fools to go get killed and eaten (hopefully in that order). The lure is understandable, though. A single stinger of riftcrawler venom can be sold to a dyer for enough money to buy a small house and support yourself for a year.

Dangers

Working with highly potent venom is not without risks. Before working with the venom, a dyer must be sure their hands are free over any small cuts. Even a too-deep hangnail could be dangerous if it allows the venom to enter the bloodstream. The small amounts of venom that enter the hands in this way are not usually fatal, but can cause a person's hands and arms to become paralyzed. The sign of a master dyer is if they have perpetually numb hands in old age, as it means they were frequently entrusted with the most precocious dye.
The fabric is only dangerous until it dries. Once it has set and been absorbed by the alum mordant on the fabric, the venom is unable to hurt anyone. Getting it wet again, such as via sweat, is not enough to cause the venom to "bleed" again - it would have to be boiled to get it to separate from the fabric.
However, there is at least one case in history of a cunning assassin making improper Fisé blue by ignoring the mordant. She then disguised herself as a doctor and used strips of dyed fabric as the lowest layer of bandages on a noble's injured leg. Nobody understood why his condition deteriorated until he was dead, she was gone, and the dressings were inspected.

Control

Because of its rarity and potential to harm, the dye is strictly controlled by the state. Only members of the royal family are allowed to wear Fisé blue, and it is illegal to take the venom beyond the borders. Fisé blue textiles are occasionally given to foreign monarchs as a gift; these are highly prized and worth more than their weight in gold.

Significance

This colour is symbolic of the power of Hosquerre royalty. Because the colour is only obtainable from deadly beasts, wearing the colour says "We have tamed the monsters".

Item type

Trade/Manufactured good

Owning Organization

Hosquerre

Rarity

Very rare, controlled substance