Tessa Orun sets three bundles on the covered remedy row, each tied with blue thread after an origin check. A gatherer behind her has one smaller bundle and a receipt for the same inspection fee. The mark travels with the herbs; the cost of getting it does not shrink with the bundle.
Orun sells dried mountain herbs and supports the origin check. She has seen buyers ask whether a bundle came from the upper slope or the damp lower shelf, where the leaves dry differently. But the current public price board shows the marked bundle’s selling price, not the fee the gatherer paid to obtain the mark.
The gatherer, Anet Rell, says the fee can be more than the value of a small handful after a short trip. The remedy steward says an origin tag is useful only if every bundle is checked. Neither account answers whether the same procedure could charge by lot size without weakening the mark.
On the board, a blue thread is a visible promise of inspection. The receipt is held in a sleeve below the counter, and a buyer has to ask before seeing what the check cost the seller.
The hall will review the fee beside the last three market prices. Until then, the tag can reassure a buyer while making it harder for a small gatherer to sell through the row.
