Moonsilk
Moonsilk is a highly coveted fabric, known for its extreme softness and enchantability as well as durability. It is produced only by House Sintari, its creation a highly guarded secret.
The entire process from raw ingredients to finished fabric takes at least six weeks. House Sintari only produces 24 bolts of 20 yards per month.
Ingredients:
powdered feathers minus the shafts
dried powdered corn silk
bees wax
lanolin
goats milk
husked sunflower seeds
mercury
powdered pearl or moonstone
hydrochloric acid
bleach
and most importantly, and why the production is so 'low', elf/dragon hybridized blood. it CAN be done with dragon blood and large fey blood but much easier to use what is 'on hand'. Six Sintari with at least 12% dragonblood need to donate about a mason jar's worth of blood each per month for Moonsilk production. The exact amount varies with pedigree.
Process:
The ingredients are all mixed together (except bleach) on the new moon in large, shallow glass vats. They are exposed only to moonlight during the entire month to charge and stirred nightly with silver 'spoons'. About halfway through, the bleach is added in small amounts nightly until the PH has normalized. This part of the process requires little magical ability and is usually done by staff.
On the full moon, the mixture is magically charged and moved to be transmuted into thread. The charging process is best done by a woman who is synched to be menstruating during the full moon, as her excess energy during this period would leave her far less drained than anyone else. If no such woman is available, it can be done by anyone, though they will have hangover like symptoms for two or three days and have much less mana available for personal use during their recharging period. (edited)
Thread transmutation is the least desirable part of the process and is often assigned to whoever has the least favor in the household as it is tedious and boring, though to keep the creation a secret, only those capable of casting without somatic or gesturing are chosen for it, regardless of who the low man on the totem is. The spellwork involves turning the goop into thread. enough thread for a single bolt takes about three hours, though those with skill can do several vats at a time as it doesn't require much concentration.
Once the thread has been created, the process is mundane. Several types of weave are made. Single thread cloth is the thinnest and nearly transparent, triple thread is the most common thickness, seven thread is used as mage armor.
The weaving is done as any other cloth by weavers at a loom. Raw moonsilk is shimmering ivory in color, though it can be bleached or dyed to be whatever. The shimmer can be removed as well, though this somewhat affects the softness of the fabric.
