Lexicon:Modern/Kravoe
| Kravoe | |
|---|---|
| Stage | Modern CLT |
| Pronunciation | /ˈkɾa.vɔɪ/ |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Etymology | from Kravoen |
| Related words | Kravoen, Oevrei, Forgegate, Stormharbor |
Kravoe — the oil rendered from a Kravoen. The finest lubricant in the Known World and its most valuable single cargo by weight after Zhael.
Notes
Clear, near odorless, and it neither gums nor turns rancid with age. No other oil in the world does both, which is why every clockmaker in Forgegate uses Kravoe and nothing else, and why a fine mechanism is worth what it is. It burns cleaner than Oevrei and gives a whiter light, and the houses that can afford to light with it do. Rendered on deck in iron pots on the voyage home, since it will not keep in the carcass. A full ship is two years’ work and makes the crew’s fortune; a ship that comes home empty has cost its owners everything. The trade binds Stormharbor and Forgegate together more tightly than either would choose. The clockwork of the Known World runs on the oil of a beast neither city understands, and the two cities furthest apart in temperament are the two that cannot do without each other.