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Produced by order of the Conclave of Arts and Artificers
The Rivermen
Fishermen are an ubiquitous sight along the Niben river banks. Wearing loose clothing and coarse silken knee-high pants, they float along the stream in flat-bottom boats and skiffs, casting their nets and laying their lines. Fish, beside the equally omnipresent rice, is the dominant component of the Niben diet. Common catches are the Chrysophant, Slaughterfish, and the common Mudcrab. The catching and processing of fish are a major industry, indeed, the only industry in many villages of the river. Along the brackish southern parts of the river, the growing of Kollops is also undertaken in large hatcheries and breeding grounds along the banks. These mollusks are prized as a source of food for the lower classes, and for the reddish-brown Tinmi pearls they produce, favored by the Niben jewelers.
The Chrysophant is considered an expensive fish, rarely eaten by the common folk. Instead, their diet focuses on the humble meat of the Kollop, Mudcrab, and Slaughterfish, for which they know many unusual preparations. Of note is the famous Nibenese fermented fish-sauce, also known as Mokre, said to be an invention of the Keptu tribes. This oily sauce is made by gathering fish guts and leftovers in large clay jars, mixing them with salt, sugar and local spices, and leaving the jars suspended for several months from eaves and tree branches, in sight of the sun. This preparation is said to soften the bitter taste of Slaughterfish meat, while the often tasteless Mudcrab meat becomes in turn more palatable. The Niben Valley is one of the few places where these base kinds of meat are commonly eaten, and even considered a delicacy. Nevertheless, the traveler unaccustomed to this dish is advised to be cautious around the Niben kitchen, and never to look in any unlabeled pots found hanging around the villages, lest he encounters a particularly putrid surprise.
Another reason why Slaugterfish [sic] is considered a treasured catch are the particularly lustrous scales of the Rumare breed. Besides their potent alchemical applications, these scales are another prized components for jewelry and clothing ornament among the trader caste, who consider them emblematic of cunning and forceful behavior. These scales are also prized among certain Argonian tribes in the Blackwood and Argon border with whom the Nibenese sometimes trade, where they are used as a highly symbolic from of currency.
The Soap Refineries
Alchemists accustomed to the rarity and high price of Sload soap elsewhere in Tamriel are often surprised at this product's abundance in the Niben Valley. In truth, this version of Sload soap is alchemically less valuable than the "true" product, due to its degenerate origins and the Nibenese focus on cosmetics over alchemical usage. Trade with the Sload has been illegal across the Empire since the First Era, and any samples to be found in alchemists' or perfumer's workshops today are more than likely acquired through illegal means. Not so in the Nibenay, where purified, low-grade oil forms the basis of a thriving market in salves and lotions, all guaranteed to keep the skin young, increase agility and virility, and cloud the mind to the best of Niben ability.
One would be forgiven, however, for abstaining from these products after learning the way in which they are produced. The Niben soap industry, being denied the natural source for its soap, now relies on a limited number of Sload grubs, alchemically suspended in an embryonic, non-sentient state, all of which were plundered ages ago during the Thrassian War. In the great soap-tanks of Lake Rumare and the Niben Bay, these grubs are fed on masses of rotting fish and crab dredged from the river, until they grow to gargantuan proportions. When a grub has reached a sufficiently massive size, the so-called soap-cutters come to lop large pieces off the creature, leaving the kernel mass to regrow, and process the cut pieces into the oil so beloved by merchants and priests.
In this way, the Niben refineries have made a profit from the same regenerating grubs for centuries. Soap refineries of this type can be found in Bravil, Delodiil and on the Imperial City's poorer, more industrial islands. Since each refinery only uses its own specimens, a piece of soap can often reliably be traced back to its firm of origin due to the signature features each grub imparts on its product.
These unique features also serve as a means of trade protection. The limited resources and esoteric trade secrets of the soap-cutters make this profitable industry very entrenched and resistant to growth. It is in practice impossible to start a new firm in a legal manner, since obtaining a grub requires one to either deal with the Sload (which is illegal), buy from the refineries (who never sell), or steal from them (whereafter the product would be instantly recognized). The existing refineries live in constant fear of sabotage: an expertly used bag of salt could very well decimate an entire grub population. Indeed, recent aggressive business practices have all but destroyed the Bravil firms, putting further strain on a limited market. These unpleasant business practices, coupled with the occasional rumor of escaped feral Sload in the Imperial City's underground, have given the refineries an unpleasant reputation as of late.