Druid Salt

Druid salt, "D'Vak Di'Ôrvo" in formal Tretalleri or vakorvo in more vernacular parlance, is an old technology with roots in the Druidic Civilization that was briefly lost during the tretalleri diaspora and rediscovered shortly after the establishment of the Dominion. Many scholars believe that the Dominion's meteoric rise to power and dominance over the world is due, in no small part, to druid salt.
Druid salt was named as such because of its appearance. The enigmatic substance is composed of small greenish-white crystals often no larger than grains of finely-ground sea salt. Its similarities with table salt end at its crystal structure as the two substances possess vastly different properties. While salt is considered disastrous in agricultural communities, druid salt is more precious than silver or gold to farmers, growers, and gardeners the world over.

Utility

Druid salt is considered the most powerful fertilizer in the world. Like any fertilizer, it is spread on soils meant for the planting of crops whereupon it enriches the soil and makes it suitable for crop growth. With druid salt, the soil quality and soil characteristic preferences of a particular crop can be ignored so long as its climatic preferences can be observed, giving the Dominion far more flexibility with regard to where it can plant staple crops. Furthermore, druid salt improves the robustness of plants, makes them more resistant to pests and disease, increases average yields by nearly double, and accelerates the growth rate of crops to nearly double.
If fields treated with druid salt are properly maintained and not over-irrigated, its use does not lead to harmful environmental circumstances. However, as druid salt is a powerful fertilizer, its overuse and the over-irrigation of fields that use it can lead to catastrophic environmental disasters as was discovered by inhabitants of Qesrir on the Sharan Peninsula in 330.29 NL.
Records from the time indicate that farmers in Qesrir were massively over-saturating their fields with druid salt. However, as crops were typically planted well in advance of the monsoon season, giving the druid salt a chance to be pulled out of the soil by the plants, this did not cause any issues. In 330.29 NL, an uncharacteristically early monsoon rain waterlogged the newly seeded fields, washing the excess druid salt out toward the Bay of Kings. Though the effects were not immediatley apparent, shortly after the end of monsoon season, the excess of nutrients in the waters of the Bay of Kings caused a massive algal bloom that stretched from Qesrir out past the southernmost tip of the Sharan Peninsula, devastating sea life in the area.

Recreational Abuse

Even though it is not advisable to ingest druid salt, centuries' worth of research indicate that the substance is not toxic and seems to have no deleterious effects on the body. Some studies suggest that the consumption of druid salt causes mild hallucinogenic effects, but the evidence is far from conclusive. This has not stopped thrill-seekers from ingesting druid salt in the pursuit of a high. While such individuals claim, often and aggressively, that the druid salt gave them hallucinations, it is not clear if this is evidence genuine hallucinogenic properties in druid salt or the mere result of the placebo effect.
Regardless, the Dominion occasionally issues advisories warning against the consumption of druid salt for recreational purposes and has classified the civilian purchase, exchange for, and possession of druid salt for purposes other than agriculture as a minor misdemeanor due to high demand and low supply.

Access & Availability

For the average urban Dominion citizen, druid salt is an expensive commodity and sometimes considered a luxury. It is not so in agrarian communities as the Dominion provides a druid salt subsidy for individual and family farmers that allows them to purchase it at no cost. Other legal entities such as lords of agricultural estates or corporations that control farms are also provided a druid salt subsidy, but are expected to pay a modest price for it.

Complexity

Few in the Dominion understand the secret complexities of the creation of druid salt as it remains a closely-guarded secret protected by the government and the druidic communes that produce it. In terms of appearance and use, druid salt is anything but complicated. Though there is some amount of nuance in the application of druid salt to a field, the process boils down to scattering druid salt, somewhat evenly, on wet or damp soil.

Discovery

The details of the initial discovery of druid salt are lost to time. It is only known that the technology was developed by the ancient druidic civilization that preceded the Aenevë in order to reduce the environmental footprint of agriculture. Following the collapse of the druidic civilization and the consequent fall of the Aeneveri Empire the secrets of druid salt were lost for many years, slowing the growth of early tretalleri civilization.
The reemergence of the Prophetess Llyrileýwa and the establishment of the Dominion by Cilritanë a'Detvida with her blessing saw that the last remaining remnants of the druidic civilization were integrated into the new empire. With the return of the druids came the return of druid salt which contributed massively to the explosive growth of the fledgling empire.