Avishraa Reloaded

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====== Leather cabbage ======
A food crop found in the [[geopolitical:Citadel:]], named for its thick, tough leaves. The name is a translation of the descriptive [[language:imperial:|Imp.]] //kadesekraashtil odim// which has wide currency in southern [[geography:Sekhaa:]], but many cultures that grow it have less obviously-derived terms of their own; in [[language:Ghyezramsi]] it is //indissi//, particularly when referring to it as an ingredient or component of food.

Wild leather cabbage is native to the upper southern foothills of the central and western [[sekhaa:region:Spine of Sirdanth]]. Though it requires shelter from the wind, it is otherwise a hardy, cold-tolerant plant that subsists well on the volcanic soils of the region, from which it becomes rich in particular micronutrients. It is an important source of forage for the larger animal species of the region, such as the [[species:aghatin]]. Domesticated varieties are grown for food both in their native range and in similar environments in and around the Spine.

===== Role in the Citadel =====
Leather cabbage has a long history of cultivation in the lower elevations of the Citadel around [[geopolitical:citadel:Oldstone]], which are similar in climate to the plant's native range and comprise almost the entirety of the Citadel's traditionally arable land. In recent generations the crop has been spread somewhat more widely due to the efforts of local [[chosen:magic:life|lifegivers]], who have pushed the crop's tolerance of marginal conditions to new bounds.

Until relatively recent work in developing subterranean crops, leather cabbage was a critical staple in the Citadel, providing irreplaceable sustenance for their domesticated animals as well as for the [[Chosen:]] themselves. Though takmar cannot digest the tough leaves while raw, leather cabbage stewed together with meat and tubers continues to be a staple of [[ethnicity:Ghyezramsi:]] culinary tradition.

Before they grow and thicken, new leather cabbage leaves are thin, membranous and somewhat stretchy. At least [[person:einriss|one lifegiver]] has taken advantage of this property while modifying the plant for non-culinary use.

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