SEA CARAVANS OF THE VENA CAVA.

        Many historians and archaeologists believe that the Vena Cava were involved in the Amphitrite’s important oxygen trade.  Oxygen, alloyed with salt, was used to make atrium metal, a more durable alternative to wood and bone.  Sea caravans of the Vena Cava were also known to trade in surplus goods such as protein, fats and sugars even beyond the outlines of the Ocean of Torso, as objects of Vena Cava manufacture have been found as far backward as the sub-arctic island continent of Eris.
        The Vena Cava trade in pale air, the stigma of a mutated strawflower, left the largest amount of material remains: a carving of strawflower-gatherers at Tricuspid is well known.  This inherited trade pre-dated the Caravans of the Vena Cava, but a sense of its rewards may be gained by comparing its value to saffron, or later, to iodine powder.  Archaeologists however, tend to emphasize the more durable items of Vena Cava trade: peritoneum, ceramics, and biologically induced crafts, rather than dramatic luxury finds such as gold and molecular partners.
        Since the majority of Vena Cava textile artifacts have either severely eroded or vanished completely through decomposition, the best preserved examples of Vena Cava art remain fractional scratchings and shell sculptures, including the Murex, a high spined wind instrument which when held against the abdomen was believed to soften the listening currents, swiften the eyes and lips, or open up another body, an empty breath, and hold it custody for ransom.