Appendix A: Luxury Goods

Cultured pearls from Margaron Produced by Terran oysters, but superior to Earth-grown in size, luster, and variety of colors

Margaron shore-pearls Milky-white translucent objects, round and flattened like thick buttons, as much as 3 cm in diameter, with an interesting soap-bubble sheen, the cast-off opercula of certain large, rare shell-caster crabs of Margaron

Gem-woods from Argentus Twigs and short branches, neatly stripped of bark, with the sheen of moonstone. The thickest and commonest samples are telper wood, a.k.a. "moonwood," white to beige in color. Others, tiny twigs, come in a great variety of colors, some bright, some pastel.

Amph bone from Aphrodite Neat piles of cleaned ribs and vertebrae, topped by a reptilian-looking skull. The creature appears to have been snake-like -- at least there are no limb bones -- and all the bones look as if they were composed of opal.

Terran chromatic velvet In deep, rich, vivid colors, but of course you have to feel them to appreciate them properly

Lion's egg pearls from Kun Lun Peach-sized and peach-colored, with a frosty translucence under a sheen of iridescence, the spherical surface interrupted only by a gentle S-shaped crease. These are the cast-off egg cases of some aquatic creature of Kun Lun. Probably the species is known, but its identity is not widely circulated, since mystery enhances the value of the "pearls."

Hawk silk from Kun Lun Rich cinnamon-brown, shot with streaks of gold and the occasional, startling gleam of blue. The Kunlunese avians bind their nests together with silks spun from glands in their throats, and some of the hawks spin this stuff to lay their eggs in.