> Exotic sure. Of any value at all to the Orlanthi? Doubt it. Raid the
> heavily guarded caravan - little funny smelling brown bits of dried
> plant. Must be valuable because it was guarded. But how to sell it?
Good point. And no self-respecting Sartarite would want it, since it is a sign of Lunar oppression and effete weirdness.
> My understanding is that the Virgin Mary always has a blue hood
> thing in paintings because blue paint was the most expensive.
Actually, there was a wicked fight about the use of color in the church, and the eventual linking of blue and Mary was a major turning point for the color in Western society. (Mind you, Blue and Red have both been major Mary colours)
I suggest looking at Michel Pastoureau's Blue: A history of a color (http://www.pupress.princeton.edu/titles/7116.html).
Purple was extremely expensive for the ancient world, which is why it has been an Imperial colour so long. Blue used to be associated with those awful Barbarians to the west, and was reviled. (After all, Woad was a major way to make Blue, and it was those barbarians who had it.)
I think other sorts of blue become valuable later (certainly in paint it was expensive). It's been too long since I read the book (which is great fun) and don't remember all the details.
Blue
> wool must have been valuable because some poor sod had to handle the
> pee to bleach the wool and the foul-smelling woad (Note to any of
> you who have orlanthi who have used the brew woad skill - read T.
> Chevalier's Lady and the Unicorn for an idea of the effects of doing
> so). well, not really.
LC
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