Re: Resources thoughts

From: Peter Larsen <plarsen_at_urtYgsPZA1pL7l1dIQwfzisHwoor7u0PBQTfv0BoUXxPMiw_60O0vlXYD9-sYWyrhxS5>
Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 09:34:46 -0600


At 11:41 PM -0500 2/25/02, Michael Schwartz wrote:
> >A listing of resources, crops, crafts, shrines, wyters etc.
>
>Wyters will be few, probably one for the stead and one for the transient
>hero band.

        Seems right -- if there is a notable economic specialty, there could be some sort of spirit/daimon involvement, but I doubt this would be a wyter per se. So the fishers might offer sacrifices to the stream "spirits" which might, in turn, warn of unusual events in their purvue or even help out in a crisis (lost child, raid, etc)

>Shrines will likewise be limited to one or two, unless the
>Buildings/Landmarks workgroup set a holy place in the stead's vicinity.

        Shrines should be two at the most -- the general Storm Tribe one and maybe one other (which could be, I'll point out, an animist site as well).

> I
>doubt there will be any specialized crafts, unless we want to introduce
>one.

        Plug-ins, again. Let's pick five things that might be a specialty, to give people a taste -- obviously, in a small stead, there are not going to be a lot of people to specialize, but there could be a master crafter (essentially full-time and a devotee of whatever god seems appropriate) and a number of part-time helpers (perhaps making up another full-time person or so, so one 60-hr/week master and 6 10 hr/week "apprentices"). We could easily define one person as the "economic specialist" -- master craftsman, chief hunter, head of the herders, devotee of Voirif, etc. Define 5 things this person might do and build the plug-ins around them.

>Barley, wheat and rye will be the primary crops, vital to the human
>stead population, though flax (for linen, canvas, rope and linseed oil),
>hay (for winter fodder), and oats (for protein and high-energy fodder)
>are important secondary ones.

        This seems reasonable.

>Vegetables such as beans and mushrooms also
>provide protein, potatoes and parsnips provide carbohydrates and vitamin
>C (essential when citrus fruits are unknown or unavailable), carrots
>provide vitamin A, cabbage and lettuce provide iron.

        No potatoes, I think (too "New World"). Mushrooms seem definite, although collected wild rather than cultivated.

>Fruits such as
>berries provide vitamin C and A, apples and grapes provide carbohydrates
>and make potent alcohols when fermented. All fruits are low in fat. Herbs
>are also important, in both cooking and medicine, and an excellent herb
>garden is an asset to any stead.

        I'm not sure about grapes -- wine-making seems rare in Sartar, but I have no idea if that's because of a lack of material or know-how.

Peter Larsen            

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