Thread Blight: Fantasy

The thread came blighted from the spindle, and that was the first warning that all in the valley had that their long reign of prosperity and happiness was over. The only way they could survive was to trade the fine thread that they made from their sheep, and if the sheep's wool became blighted, they were doomed. They told all that came from near and far that the reason the sheep produced so well was because of lessons handed down to son from father over the course of the generations, that stealing a sheep or two would not be enough, and that any true sheepherder would no more tell his secrets than a jeweler, no matter what torture was applied. It was tested, of course, and the valley grieved for the lost, but the test seemed to prove the truth of what the farmers said. The sheep wasted away and died away from the valley--

Inspiration: "thread blight" - actually a tree disease.
Story Potential: Low.