blue dye and blue cloth
History & Usage
Cultural Significance and Usage
On Earth, the idea that blue is a boy's color and pink is a girl's color is a relatively modern concept. Different regions and eras of Earth history considered blue a feminine color. In Scarterra, blue is considered a usually considered a feminine color because of it's divine associations with Scarterra's goddesses.
Theurgists empowered by the goddess Mera and the goddess Greymoria both manifest a blue aura with their magics. Both are water goddesses. Both are heavily associated with femineity and the color blue. Both goddesses' followers commonly to wear blue vestments and paint their temples blue.
Khemra and Nami are predominantly associated with the color yellow, but since Khemra is a goddess of the sun, and Nami is the goddess of winds, both of them are sky goddesses and the sky happens to be blue, further reinforcing the idea that blue is a feminine color.
This doesn't mean that men and boys can't get away with wearing blue, or that women can't wear red, this is a guideline not a rule.
Mera is the goddess of healing and hygiene. Physicians, apothecaries, midwives, and other professionals tied to the healing arts commonly wear blue uniforms or at least sport blue accessories. Usually light blue clothing because light blue cloth is cheaper than deep blue cloth, because healers often dirty their clothes often.
Deep blue cloth is sometimes called "royal blue" because it's fairly expensive to make requiring large quantities of high quality dyes. Deep blue cloth is not nearly as expensive as purple cloth, but deep blue is hardly a peasant color. Some wealthy Scarterras wear deep blue garments as a status flex.
Greymoria is the goddess of arcane magic, so it's very common for mages of various stripes to favor blue clothing to signify their status. Mages are often status conscious, so they are likely to spring for royal blue shades of clothing.
In heraldry, blue represents strength and loyalty. Blue isa common color features in house colors or national colors, and a lot of Scarterrans make it a point to dress in their house or national colors.
And sometimes, people just like the color blue without worrying about any of the symbolic connotations of the color.
Mera, named by Zeta Gardner
Greymoria, Named by Zeta Gardner
by me with Midjourney
Mera is also the goddess of love and family, so weddings often feature something blue in Mera's honor.
At cotillions, dances, similar events, single people of either sex often signal their eligibility by wearing blue and people who are already married or are choosing celibacy sometimes choose to avoid blue signify their ineligibility. In Fumaya, blue sashes are commonly worn to indicate eligibility.
Refinement
by Eron12 with Hero ForgeI can create a high quality blue dye, no problem. But it's going to consume a lot of expensive alchemical reagents, so to get maximum value for your coin, you are probably better off buying indigo dyes since indigo is not hard to find in Swynfaredia. Bevan, Swynfaredian Alchemist
Bypassing the need for blue dye with natural blue wool
Ragani, gnomeish herder of sheep of goatsby Me with Hero Forge"True blue sheep are worth a lot. Unlike dyed blue, naturally occurring blue wool doesn't lose it's color after multiple washings. Blue sheep appear in areas with a high incidence of water energy, and very low exposure to the other three elements. I hear there are pastures in western central Kantoc where deep blue sheep are commonly seen, but they are very rare here. Fumaya has a lot of lakes and rivers, but we are also far inland and exposed to the cold north. This means that most sheep are a mix of watery, earthy, and airy influences so this dilutes a herd's blueness (is blueness a word?).I've only seen a deep blue sheep in Fumaya once, but I've seen a lot of sheep that were blueish. Blueish sheep still have value. If you want a blue garment, it's easier to dye a piece of wool that is already part way there as opposed to trying to dye something grey. Blue tinted black wool or blue tinted white wool is considered highly desirable. Many nobles find these shades of almost very fashionable. Grayish blue wool is also considered a fashionable color., so blueish sheep can be worth a fair bit."by me with Midjourney
Distribution
Trade & Market
In Fumaya, if we want vibrant blue dyes they need to be imported from abroad or crafted in an alchemist's lab.-Tanoa, gnome tailor's wifeby me with Hero Forge"Blue cloth is not the most expensive color to wear in Scarterra, but neither is it the cheapest. Blue is probably more of a high status color than a low status color. It is a very popular color to wear in many places, especially lFumaya where blue and green are the two most commonly sought after colors at our shop. 'Blue' comes in many different shades, and like with most other colors, pale blues are relatively cheap and easy to make and bright or vibrant shades of blue are fairly expensive.The best natural source of blue dye is the indigo plant which is cultivated in southern regions of Kantoc and Swynfaredia. We used to get most of our indigo from Swynfaredia, but we are war with Swynfaredia, so that's off the table. The trade route to Kantoc is really long and arduous, so the price of indigo is shooting up through the roof. My sister warned me that this war in coming far in advance, so I made it a point to stock up on indigo for my husband's shop, but we'll see if it was enough"Salvia Indigo Spires in the Chiba City Floral Museum; Chiba City, Japan. by 掬茶 (Wikimedia commons)
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