And there are plenty of tools which are small and need to be made precisely to work properly. The skills of a "jeweller" rather than a smith. The scissors you mention further on are a good example although to my mind they are an imported luxury in Sartar. A suitably sized knife will substitute for most purposes.
>> For example a needle is a tool which will normally
>> be made out of bronze yet the skills to make it are closer to
>> those of a jeweler than a smith. And given the source of bronze
>> (the bones of dead gods) it is going to be used for jewelry,
>> ornate and religious items as well.
>
>Yes, so if bronze needles are necessary they'd be made by jewelers.
>But again, they wouldn't need to be hardened, etc. They simply aren't
>going to take the punishment that the tools take. I'd even think that
>bronze needles are luxury items--rare. Bone needles work pretty well,
>and can be made in a household, probably over the winter.
You harden the point of a needle for the same reason you harden anything you want to keep sharp. Depending on the metal you may want to harden the whole needle to avoid it bending. With heavy fabrics that's easy enough done. I'd agree bone needles are probably more common but the difference in stitching will show how well off you are.
>> Size probably
>> much the same as Gustbran - one or two per clan.
>
>I'd guess not. Jewlery is a luxury and definitely an elite item. The
>tools are far more common. Every farmer needs a hoe and shovel, every
>housewife needs scissors. But jewelry? A chief and the priess would
>want osmething,b ut in the nature of things they'd get it from the
>king or the temple.
>
>So I'd guess that the ration of tool makers to jewelers is something
>like 50:1 or 100:1.
Given there are only a few hundred clans in Sartar that would mean maybe half a dozen in total. I can't imagine any tribal chief being reliant on another tribe's jeweller.
I guess MGDV here. I see metal jewelry as commonplace. Sure torcs, elaborately made armbands and rings will be the preserve of the rich but only the poor will be without a cloakpin and few Ernaldans will be without a copper bracelet or necklace. Certainly much of it will be passed down through families but there will still be a significant demand for new and remade pieces. And that cloakpin is going to need hardening or it won't last a season.
-- Donald Oddy http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/
Powered by hypermail