Lexicon:Modern/Zhael
| Zhael | |
|---|---|
| Stage | Modern CLT |
| Pronunciation | /ˈʒaɪl/ |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Etymology | from Middle zhāelē; Eldershore substrate |
| Related words | Aruna, Spicaen, Grein |
Zhael — the foremost of the Aruna, and the single most valuable agricultural product in the world by weight.
Notes
A dark aromatic bark, cut from a tree that will not bear before its fifteenth year and is not worth cutting before its thirtieth. The groves are held by Eldershore lineages, some of which have tended the same ground longer than four of the six city-states have existed, and no grove has ever been sold to an outsider. A Grein of good Zhael costs more than a laborer earns in a month. It is sold in sealed brass tubes bearing the grove’s mark, and the tubes are themselves collected. Adulteration is the commonest fraud in the spice trade and the one the guilds punish most severely, since a factor who cannot vouch for his Zhael cannot vouch for anything. A free person of standing keeps a little in the house whether they cook with it or not.