woadmaker

A DABBLER IN THE ART OF DYEING

Woadmaking is a time honored tradition, dating back to the time of the Heroes. The leaves of the blue woadplant can be ground and mashed into a powder or paste, which can then be boiled with water to make a bright blue dye. Clothing, flags, burial shrouds and bedsheets can be dyed with woad, or it can be applied to the skin by needle to show allegiance to a clan or to express one’s individuality. Woadmakers often work hand in hand with the other professions of the dyeing world - weldmakers who cultivate yellows from the weldweed, maddermakers who draw reds from the madderoot, and bonecharrers who make deep blacks from the charred remains of animal bones. One begins their career as a woadprentice, studying under the tutelage of an accomplished woadmaker and after many years can rise to the rank of woadmaster. The Woadhall in the village of Bluegrove is where woadmasters convene once a year to discuss the tricks of their trade and extol praise on each other for a successful twelve months’ worth of dyeing.

Wendeline, the green (once blue) haired proprietor of Wendeline’s Woadshop in the bazaar of Baron’s Cove; and Brother Paul, a half-Drow woadmaker from the village of Ninestone Ring in the Crowlands.

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