Simmony

Simmony [SIM-on-nee] is a bush native to the Eastern Isles, whose stems are a spice valued for its warm, piquant flavour.

Simmony bushes are virid plants which flourish on the dry seaward slopes of the island of Sfize. Simmony was one of the first important exports from the islands, hence the word “spice”, a corruption of Sfize.

Simmony canes have a thick bark surrounding a soft core or pulp, with an abundance of narrow spiny leaves on top. The bark is rich in aromatic compounds which are toxic to native fauna, and protect the plant from local fauna. When the plants die and fall, viridplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigVirid

Referring to the Virid Kingdom of flora and fauna, toxic to human life. ants enter the stem and consume the pulp, leaving hollow stems which dry in the sun and eventually crumble.

To humans the pulp is toxic, whilst the bark is merely aromatic and piquant. Sailors first harvested the spice by finding the hollow, slightly crumbly spice stems lying on the ground, but today the bushes are grown in plantations, cut and stored in drying-houses where ants devour every trace of the poisonous pulp.

Various attempts have been made to transplant simmony bushes to mainland Anásthiasplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigAnásthias

Anásthias [a-NAS-thee-ass / ænæsθiːæs], or [an-ass-THEE-as] is an equatorial island continent, heart of the Civilised World. The north straddles the equator and is hot and humid, while most of the equatorial centre is an upland plateau with fertile river valleys, and stretches of arid plains and desert in the shadow of the mountains. The south is temperate but more wild, separated from the civilisations of the north by the almost impassable Harthera, but without ideal soil conditions the plants are too thin and wispy to be of culinary value, and without the native ants to extract every trace of the pulp, simmony stems quickly rot and become entirely inedible. Some varieties were grown in the royal gardens at Perilth as a symbol of the source of their wealth, but generally the plants have little ornamental value.

Simmony is used particularly in the cuisines of southeastern Harthera, Besoa and central Ororr. Its warm earthy flavour is used to spice grains, stews and, particularly in Ororrplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigOrorr

Ororr [o-ROARR, ɒ̝rɔ'ɾ], also called the Holy Motherland of Ororr, is a theocratic nation in Anásthias, one of the world's great powers. It the largest nation in the world, perhaps the largest empire in history, occupying the entire northwest of the continent between the mountains and the sea. Ororrlanguagelanguagelanguage, sweet dishes. The stems are either used whole or ground into powder, though the powder does not store well and loses its flavour quickly.