Sea Sponge

Sea Sponges are native to the oceans of the West. They are are soft, porous, sessile plant-animals, which sit on the ocean floor or rocky outcrops underwater, absorbing food particles from the surrounding waters. Their status as plant or animal remains in dispute within the Bureau of Nature, the gods responsible for them playing one against the other for advantage, and skillfully cultivating connections with the Bureau of Humanity to grow their influence.

Sea sponges are used by a number of cultures in a wide variety of roles: as padding for helmets and armour, to absorb shock in mechanical systems, to apply paints, glazes, and cosmetics, as a cleaning tool for the household as well as in Medicine and (for the wealthy) the bath, inserted by women as a contraceptive or to absorb blood during menstruation, and others. Larger examples see use as pillows, not as soft as a down-stuffed cushion but allowing cooling air to circulate… some Dynasts hold such headrests to be of use in avoiding assassination by smothering.

With so many different uses, sponges are in high demand in many areas of Creation, particularly the Blessed Isle, where they are employed in the powder rooms of the Scarlet Dynasty, the ‘apricot orchards’ of the Benevolent Stewards of Health and Utility, and in the homes and toolkits of the urban citizenry. A significant goal of Realm policy in the Western Threshold is to secure a stable supply of sponges, and a number of island satrapies pay part or all of their tribute from such aquaculture, raising sponges along weighted ropes lowered to the sea floor. Attempts have been made to cultivate the Luffa Gourd in the interior of the Isle, so as to reduce this dependence, though the sea sponge still makes up the majority of the supply, and cannot be replaced by the Luffa in all its myriad roles.