Silk (Total War: Attila)

Description

Cloth, like the kiss of a goddess upon your skin…

The luxury textiles trade was extremely lucrative because clothing and decorative fabrics were an obvious sign of status and prestige. Silk, for example, was a jealously guarded Chinese secret for over two thousand years, and highly valued whenever it was traded in Europe. Once the Silk Road was opened up in the 1st Century BC silk became highly desirable and, although considered by some to be immoral and decadent, it was always very profitable. Another cloth related product was Tyrian, or Imperial, purple. This dye was used for royal and ceremonial robes and produced from the Murex, a mollusc. It was a beautiful colour but, more importantly, it did not fade. It took thousands of shellfish to extract even small quantities of dye. The Phoenicians, whose name derives from the Greek word for purple, and their colony at Carthage, traded the dye across the Mediterranean.

Trade Value

Silk has a value of 16 at the start of the campaign.

Settlements

• Ancyra, Bithynia
• Ecbatana, Media Atropatene
• Kotais, Caucasia
• Merv, Khwarasan

Building Chain

Tier	Name	Cost	Sanitation	Public order	Resource production	Bonus
1	Silk Road Resthouse	2500	0	0	20
2	Silk Road Tradehouse	4000	-2	-1	40
3	Silk Road Market	7000	-4	-2	80
4	Silk Road Bazaar	11500	-6	-4	160

Required for building

Eastern

• Imperial Palace