Ambergrist
An excerpt of Mirin’s Natural History of Fayhaven, published in Year 817.
Many of my contemporaries have speculated at the inspiration of my mission to catalogue the natural resources of the region of Fayhaven. Those who predicted that the primary source of my curiosity was Ambergrist were correct.
Of the resources I have studied in Fayhaven, the most versatile and costly is that of the Ambergrist sap. The lives of the folk here in the center of the Gristwood are almost entirely reliant on the export of this resource. When refined into its distilled state, Ambergrist oil possesses healing properties that far outpace natural herbs and remedies found in other parts of Enon. It is known to stay the festering of wounds and, in my own clinical studies, has nearly doubled the pace at which the body naturally heals from ailment.
Ambergrist sap has only been documented within the bounds of Fayhaven. I hypothesize that the old magic warding the town from the Gristwood has influenced the flora within this realm. The exact properties of the warding over the town remain a mystery even to their most learned- there is no record of the spell, the individuals involved in its casting, or when precisely it was cast. Every scholar that has investigated it in the past eight centuries has discovered a dead end. Even in a concerted effort to conceal its history, I could not expect such secrecy.
The hypothesis of the magic influencing the flora’s production of this incredible sap stands. I work tirelessly to find examples of similar phenomena in other parts of the world, but have thus far failed. The Ambergrist sap is produced in every tree native to the region, tapering off in prevalence as one chances deeper into the wood and further from the town. Otherwise, the trees of Fayhaven strike me as not unlike trees in other parts of the world. Old and strong, but otherwise unremarkable. Whether other living organisms within Fayhaven have also been altered by the enchantment will be a topic of my further study.
Oral history dictates that within the first century following the Rivening, trees in the area began producing a golden sap. Sources predating the Rivening are rare, but I have found no records describing anything meeting Ambergrist’s description in what scant Campyrian literature remains. The sap had a mild, sweet odor often described as akin to red currants or sandalwood. The sap crystallizes into a semi-hard, clear, amber crystal. Folk in Fayhaven began to harvest the sap by the second century as a mild stimulant, and soon discovered its other medical properties. In the centuries since, a refinery process to distill the crystals into a highly-potent oil has emerged.
Fayhaven’s refinery is the center of its economy, employing many townsfolk and maintaining the flow of Ambergrist into the other regions of Enon. This export of Ambergrist oil and the less-valuable unrefined Ambergrist crystals provides the folk of Fayhaven with crucial trade. Ambergrist oil is a highly-coveted commodity in the world beyond the Gristwood. It is reckoned now, by weight, more costly than gold.
Fayhaven’s size would not permit it to support its population by farming alone, and most definitely would not allow for the production of luxury goods. Ambergrist is freely harvested in its raw state throughout Fayhaven according to the Mayor’s ordinance, however, and many make a living by selling the raw crystals to the town refinery. This allows Fayhaven residents to have access to trade for ore and literature, permitting the town to survive so sundered from the communities of the rest of Enon.
