Goods/Spices
Equipment category: F - Food. Nutrients[edit]
Spices add verity to both food and beverages. Most spices were used as preserves or to hide the taste of food on the verge of going bad. But most cultures quickly discover the pleasures the spices add to different foods.
Most spices are simple preparations (dried, ground, etc) of plant parts like seeds, roots, or leaves. A few consist of more complicated preparations.
However, a few species have unconventional or even exotic biochemistries and require food of different varieties, sometimes organic materials with different chirality, chemical composition, pH acidity, or even variations of the basic substances of life.
Dustspice
| Dustspice | |
|---|---|
| Type | Spices |
| Tech Level | TL–0 |
| Cost | Cr10 |
| Size | 3.0 g |
| Weight | 3.0 g |
| Also see | Narcotic |
Dustspice (Fteahrao) is a rare euphoric spice used for seasoning food, especially fruit. Harvested from the bark of the geki bush, a desert scrub-plant native to Romar (Spinward Marches 2140), this seasoning is popular with humans as a mild recreational spice with effects slighter than, but similar to, alcohol. Certain non-human races (notably Aslan and Vargr) find dustspice a much more powerful euphoric; it is in constant demand by those peoples.
Taste and effect varies with growing conditions and the dustspice from different worlds vary considerably in value. Dustspice from Romar is especially valuable to the Aslan. Among worlds other than Romar that are known for producing dustspice is Keanou (Spinward Marches 2411). Ftulrois, meanwhile, is the chief supplier of Dustspice for the Glorious Empire.
Variants[edit]
A variant, commonly called neo-dustspice, was recently created by accidental exposure to certain microbes found in the tainted atmosphere of Zugrora (Lishun 1914). It produces not only euphoria, but also a neurochemical imbalance in mammalian bodies that causes mild cravings. Imperial authorities have been studying the possibility of classifying neo-dustspice as a banned substance.
History[edit]
In 336, the pleasant taste and mild euphoric effect of the bark of the Geki Bush was noted by a Scout expedition to Romar (Spinward Marches 2140), which eventually led to the Dustspice Wars.
- Marc Miller. Twilight's Peak (Game Designers Workshop, 1980), 43-44.
- Marc Miller. Merchant Prince (Game Designers Workshop, 1985), 9.
- Herb Petro. "Small Cargo." Imperium Staple 08 (1986): 14.
- Peter G. Celella, James Holden. Solomani & Aslan (Digest Group Publications, 1991), 54,63.
- Gary L. Thomas. The Travellers' Digest 18 (Digest Group Publications, 1989), 24.
- Andy Slack, David Thomas, David L. Pulver. Alien Races 2 (Steve Jackson Games, 1999), 21,38.
- Nick Robinson. Compendium 2 (Mongoose Publishing, 2011), 66.
- Colin Dunn. Library Data (Mongoose Publishing, 2011), 18.
- Seven Vices for Hard-Living Travellers by Michael Brown; JTAS-SJG-2003-1124.3
- Author & Contributor: Hans Rancke-Madsen
Mwob
| Mwob | |
|---|---|
| Type | Spices |
| Tech Level | TL–3 |
| Cost | Cr 2 |
| Size | |
| Weight | 1 gram |
The spice, sweet and nutty with camphor-like overtones, is native to Muan Gwi (Solomani Rim 1717) and used used in cooking by many Vegans. Mwob does not preserve well, losing most of its flavor within a year.
The spice is gathered annually by large hunting parties who sweep across Muan Gwi's southernmost desert, capturing a small animal called the rurge, the source of the spice.
- Loren Wiseman. Challenge 47 (Game Designers' Workshop, 1990), .
Rumdust
| Rumdust | |
|---|---|
| Type | Spices |
| Tech Level | TL–0 |
| Cost | Cr100 |
| Size | 500.0 g |
| Weight | 500.0 g |
Rumdust is a highly valued spice which can fetch high prices for only a few hundred grams. The dust acts as a natural flavor enhancer and is a standard ingredient of finer cuisine. Rumdust is normally shipped in special vacuum sealed containers to prevent moisture contamination. Rumdust derives from a flowering plant native to Ypse (Zarushagar 1511) that excretes an oily resin.
- Author & Contributor: Greg Videll
Tlaosierlahrau
| Tlaosierlahrau | |
|---|---|
| Type | Spices |
| Tech Level | TL–1 |
| Cost | Cr30 |
| Size | 10.0 g |
| Weight | 10.0 g |
Tlaosierlahrau is a spice derived from the seed of the tlaosiear, a tree found on Roakhoi (Reavers' Deep 1224). It is also known as tlaospice, tlao, or seasongold.
The golden seed kernels, when ground, produce a fragrant, light seasoning popular with both Aslan and human gourmets on meat, soups, and stews. Because of the scarcity of tlaosiear and the expense of shipping it, tlaospice commands an impressive price of Cr3 per gram in offworld markets.
- J. Andrew Keith. "Pilot’s Guide to the Ea Subsector." Far Traveller 1 (1982): 57.
- Kevin Knight. Traveller Chronicle 06 (Sword of the Knight Publications, 1994), 41.
Tolinquin Beans
| Tolinquin Beans | |
|---|---|
| Type | Spices |
| Tech Level | TL–0 |
| Cost | Cr1 |
| Size | 1.0 cc |
| Weight | 1.0 gram |
The exquisite flavours of Tolinquin beans are used in spices (when dried and ground to a powder) or in expensive wines (crushed when fresh).
- Andy Lilly, Sarah Lilly. 101 Cargos (BITS, 1996), .
,
5 Spices items[edit]
| Item | Type | TL | Size | Weight | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dustspice | Spices | 0 | 3.0 g | 3.0 g | Cr10 |
| Mwob | Spices | 3 | 1 gram | Cr 2 | |
| Rumdust | Spices | 0 | 500.0 g | 500.0 g | Cr100 |
| Tlaosierlahrau | Spices | 1 | 10.0 g | 10.0 g | Cr30 |
| Tolinquin Beans | Spices | 0 | 1.0 cc | 1.0 gram | Cr1 |