>Mostali have paper-machines. Mostali have small paper-factories!
>And aldryami HATE mostali for cutting trees to make pulp and paper.
>Aldryami of the Stinking Forest have a darkness age myth about horrible
>wood-harvester machine the mostali unleashed upon them. (RQA6)
This doesn't ring true to me. Why would they use such an ephemeral material
like paper made out of living things (shudder) when they are surrounded by
vast quantities of metal and stone? I would imagine that they use both
materials
for their records and day to day purposes. The ancient alphabet they use
is best suited for cutting into stone or sheet metal (like cuneiform was
suited to
inscribing into wet clay). They use thin sheets of metal for most of their
writing.
They would use a hammer and punch to make notes and such and the more
important writings are carved into stone tablets ala the Flintstones. They
have machines that can "read" this writing as well (like those old punch
card
readers computers used to use or the way in which Jacquard looms were
"programmed" in the 19th century) and can use their machines for simple
record
keeping and automation. Another advantage is that they don't have to be
able
to see it to read it.
As far as paper production goes they might make a special fine paper used
in their "reading rooms". Cleans up messes, and shows their contempt for
living things at the same time. (Of course I don't really mean fine paper,
it's
probably more like the quality you used to find in East German public
washrooms
before the Berlin wall fell). Of course steam powered bidets have potential
as well....
>I believe that mostali produce a significant amount of paper.
>In my game paper is a product mostali trade in Dragonpass Dwarf Mine and I
think
>this contributes for example to the lunar bureocrasy...
>(Lunar provincial goverment gets exclusive buy of the paper produced and
usually
>little is left to others seeking the "first choice of a writer")
Of course on the other hand making bleached chemical wood pulp is a great
way to wreck the environment. Just because they don't use it doesn't mean
they
can't sell it to the locals. They probably don't drink hard liquor
either...
Just IMHO,
Oliver D. Bernuetz
www.geocities.com/bernuetz
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