The door of the storehouse slides open, and an elegant Elothean woman, delicately poised but with strength gleaming in her stormy eyes, enters with an attendant in tow. The attendant moves to close the door, pausing momentarily before sliding it all the way shut to allow a sleek grey cat which had been lagging to prance in behind them.

The woman begins to pace the storehouse aisles, carefully surveying row upon row of shelves housing an expansive collection of renowned Elothean silks, rare shimmering moonsilks, imported firesilks, and the like in a myriad of shades, hues, and patterns.

After some consideration, she selects a sample of snow-white spidersilk and scrutinizes it closely. Her attention is drawn to a stray thread, which she obliterates promptly between her fingers in a small puff of smoke. Still dissatisfied though, she rerturns the cloth to its shelf. After a moment of continued searching, she plucks a bolt of frosty silver steelsilk from its place and unfurls the sturdy fabric over an empty work table. Going back for another, she selects a delicate glacial blue Elothean silk and unrolls its across the table in juxtoposition to the first. Satisfied with the cursory examination, she murmers a few arcane phrases and passes her hand over a section of the pale blue silk, leaving a thick crystalline layer of magical frost collected on the fabric. She then takes up the silk and ruffles it briskly to shake the ice away, carefuly gauging the fabric's reaction. A slight smile slips across her graceful face.

"Hm... Yes, I think this will bear the enchantments quite nicely." She brings her fingers to lightly graze a talisman suspended around her neck. "Go tell Her Grace the Frost Magess that I've found just the right materials for her design."

The grey cat, which had long since curled up in a pile of fabric trimmings in a corner, perks up its ears, rises to its feet, and darts off. The woman motions for the attendant to collect the samples she's laid out, and they leave as well.

---

The steel-bladed silk fans in Riverhaven have been one of my favorite finds in years. Even if I don't use light edged, and even if they're not especially practical, I think it's great to see varied and interesting Elothean flavor infused into the realms. Along those lines:

I think it would be cool to see a series of robes (cloth armor) magically prepared to resist particular elemental damage (and attributed to the House of the Grey Storm, naturally.) They need not have any actual "magical" qualities beyond what reflects in the standard appraisal stats. For example, an ice-themed "glacial blue Elothean silk robe with a silvery steelsilk underrobe" might protect (much) less against impact damage than a quilted padded shirt (which for me always evoked the image of doing battle in a ski parka, anyways) but offer maximum protection from cold attacks and minimal hindrance. Even if that makes it impractical in most cases, a little extra variety and Elothean style in the lands never hurt anybody.

-Zep