Dye Tank

The Dye Tank puts colour on textiles that already exist rather than producing anything new. That open-endedness is why it carries a single system row at level 99 instead of a recipe list: anything of the cloth, blanket, cover or linens classes can go in. It is seamstress work.

Two things go into the tank. Dyes are made at Herbalism — eight of them, black, blue, green, orange, pink, red, white and yellow, each five blooms and one vinegar at level 2. And tints, which are the interesting part: any item in your inventory can be dropped in for its colour, because everything in the game carries one. Leather, a drink, a spice, even coins. Mix dyes and tints until the water is a shade you want.

Nothing is consumed until you set the dye. Experiment as long as you like; the cost is only taken when you commit, and setting takes five vinegar. A run then dyes for two minutes and the tank holds ten uses — and any seamstress who comes along can use what is left in it, so a tank of a good colour is a service you can offer the colony.

Start with the vinegar. It ferments at level 2 from water, white grapes and yeast, and at five days it is the only slow step here; everything else runs in minutes. One batch of a hundred covers twenty runs with plenty left over for Herbalism. The usual mistake is gathering flowers first and then waiting on the ferment.