Herders from the north of the city come with bad news. The sheep have developed a disease that the shepherds don't know how to deal with, and to prevent its spread, they've had to kill a lot of animals. There is concern about public health, and the shepherds are afraid to eat the meat because it may be tainted.
[Ossian]
Beware the mad llama disease.
Folly finds out what she can about the symptoms and then does a little research to try to identify the disease and suggest possible treatments.
As mentioned [below], Conner is happy to help with this as well.
Conner and Folly do some basic research and decide that what they have is a somewhat-more-virulent form of hoof-and-mouth disease. The disease won't kill the sheep, but it will mess up wool production. Well-cooked meat should be safe, but it's going to be hard to prove it to the shepherds, who are probably more likely to get sick from being around sheep than from eating them.
The only known way to stop the disease would be to cull the sheep and start the herds fresh, and even that's not sure (cf the recent outbreak in the UK).
OK, we're definitely getting llamas this time:
(From www.internationalllama.org/html/ffmdfowler.html -- wouldn't it be great if Castle Amber had DSL so Folly wouldn't have to dig through piles of books to find the same info?)
1.FMD [foot-and-mouth disease] is a highly contagious virus disease within
cattle and swine populations of Asia, Africa and some South American
countries.
2.Llamas and alpacas have been experimentally infected with the virus and
developed signs of the disease under those circumstance.
3.Researchers have concluded that llamas and alpacas are highly resistant to
the infection.
4.Even with experimental inoculation, llamas and alpacas do not retain the
virus for more than a few days, and do not become carriers.
Llamas, like, totally rule.
"A waste." Conner sighs. "Well if the shepherds won't touch the meat maybe your army of good works can see it distributed to the needy."
"Oh, yeah, that'll make 'em feel loved," Folly says with a grin. "'Here, the shepherds are afraid of it. Why don't you eat it?'" Connor can tell she's pleased with the suggestion, though.
Conner sighs. "If labs could be set up here I'd work on a vaccine." Conner chuckles. "But that's not really an option here."
"Would a vaccine developed somewhere else work here?" Folly asks. "Maybe we could go looking for one, or, I dunno, sponsor some research at an ag school somewhere in Shadow."
In the late summer, Alan leClaire's wife gives birth to a son, who dies within hours. She is desperately ill with childbirth fever, but pulls through. Aunt Felicity tells Vialle that everyone expects that Mistress leClaire will never bear another child.
Shit! Paige does everything she can for Mistress LeClaire to ease the pain and suffering. She'll personally attend her bedside ignoring all but Council duties (i.e. Court, dinner meetings, court etc.) until
[until what?]
Sorry. Until Mistress LeClaire seems to be in the clear. With Alan's permission, and of course the lady's, she'll examine her as best she can, trying to determine what could be done for her.
Mmmm. Alan isn't comfortable with the idea, Paige thinks. After her first trip to see Lady LeClaire, Vialle takes her aside and explains that it simply isn't done for a woman in Paige's situation to take such an interest in a lady when her friendship has been primarily with the husband. If Paige would like to visit, though, Vialle will chaperone.
As the summer draws to a close, Gerard solicits suggestions from the Council members about what sort of memorial ceremony should be held for the fifth anniversary of the Sundering.
Paige is at a loss currently... She'll think on it...
Ossian suggests a ceremony down at the harbour, where everyone who wants to puts a tiny boat carrying a burning candle into the water, in memory of someone lost in the Sundering.
As long as we've got enough people standing by making sure the real boats don't get set on fire by a wayward candle, Folly thinks this is a lovely idea.
[Lucas]
I need to think on this one.
Reid suggests a concert. He'd even go so far as to offer helping put it together.
Gerard likes the boat idea, of course, and he's by no means averse to the concert idea, but he'd have no idea how to go about organizing such a thing. He'd need to put Reid and Vialle in charge.
Any other suggestions?
The food situation has become less dire, as noted previously. In light of this change, what policy recommendations does the Council have about trading voyages?
[Reid]
I would think the above [fish and sheep situations] would put the
food situation more dire, not less?
[GMs]
Those food supplies are either not immediately affected and/or are orders
of magnitude lower in volume, so they don't really affect the quantity of
food.
The sheep farming initiative is too small and too new to have a serious impact yet. The sheep have started producing wool, which is good for the economy, but they weren't really planning on profitable mutton production for some years yet.
The fishing problem is just coming to light. It'll mean less protein and more grains for poorer people, more work for less of a catch for the fishermen, and rising prices on fish. No one knows if it is just a bad year or if it's a long term decline. However, the docksides are disturbed.
The grain importing, which is what the trading vessels are about, is still providing what should be almost enough food but is somehow more than enough.
Paige suggests no change. Stockpile a little before we change too much.
If there is food enough Ossian suggest that we trade for more variety in food and some "luxury items", giving the merchants of Amber more opportunities to wealth.
Folly suggests trying to find another Golden Circle shadow to open up more trade possibilities and maybe make the Ambassadors less cranky.
[Lucas]
Since we need to worry less about food, we can work to improve quality
of living.
How does Robin interact with her cousins?
[That depends on who they are!
Which cousins take an interest in Robin, and how?
As mentioned elsewhere, Folly invites Robin to the family jam session. If Robin shows any interest in music -- or in socializing, drinking, or meeting cute musicians (since she is, after all, showing signs of re-acquainting herself with her inner Girl) -- Folly will also invite her out pub-hopping.
Folly seems genuinely interested in helping Robin feel at home.
Robin produces a small mouth instrument rather like an ocarina. She reveals herself as quite practiced in its use, if innocent of actual musical theory. She plays by ear. Hers. Which seems to have a high tolerance for the high shrieking notes the instrument can produce, though her style incorporates sudden drops into rounder, richer tones. It is not the instrument, and she is not the cousin, for anchoring the rhythm of a piece. Her characteristic style skitters about like birdsong. Whether it reminds the listener more of a thrush or a catbird is a matter of taste.
When Robin starts playing her birdsong-like tunes, Ossian will stop playing his flute, and close his eyes, listening. Then he smiles, picks up his flute again, and starts making answering bird calls, matching Robin's.
At the end of one of the family jam sessions, Ossian asks Robin: "I like that eh... ocarina of yours. Where did you get it?
"May I have a try?"
Robin considers.
"Shake the spit out first," she says, and hands it over.
Ossian gives Robin a slightly disgusted look, but does as she says.
[Robin]
[Imagine the disgusted look he'd give if he _didn't_ shake the spit out
first...]
[Ossian]
He just doesn't like to be reminded of the ugliness of the world.
It looks like an ocarina but, as mentioned, is richly-grained and polished hardwood rather than terra cotta.
"I made it."
Ossian tries a few tones. "This is exquisite. I like the tone... and your playing style." Ossian seems sincere.
Robin is warily pleased.
He examines the instrument closely: "Is it hard to learn how to make them?"
Robin admits, "I can't say. My father taught me. I've never seen anyone else try to know if it was hard or easy."
Ossian smiles "I guess it was easy for you, then?
"The hard part is making sure there are no seams."
As Ossian examines it, he can see that the Ocarina appears, improbably, to have been carved of a single piece of wood rather than two pieces (or more) joined together.
"Would you like to teach me how to make one?"
Aha! says Robin's face to the clueful.
Ossian smiles and shakes his head.
"Sometime maybe," says Robin's voice to Ossian. "Now tell me about your own instrument there. Where does _it_ come from?"
"My flute?" Ossian has a small wooden flute; its sound is somewhat piercing if you don't play carefully. You can still see the shape of the branch it was carved from. "It was carved by a very good friend of mine last time I was there.
"In her shadow, I mean." Ossian adds with a sad look on his face. "I don't know if she has survived this turmoil in the Shadows."
Robin takes Folly up on pub-hopping invitations. Every now and then she looks around, expecting her father to appear and drag her off, but it (presumably) doesn't happen.
"I could never understand paying for booze," she says, contemplating one particular glass of tan liquid, "but it's starting to make sense to me."
Robin explains that among the rangers a great variety of homemade stuff was to be had; indeed, _she would have said_, enough for every possible taste. Little, she says, knocking back another swallow, did she know.
As for meeting cute musicians, Robin seems interested but apprehensive. Finally she confesses in frustration.
"I don't know if you have this problem, Folly, but I find that when I'm with a" (slight hesitation, Folly will know she almost says, 'boy') "man, I have to be...careful. Physically, I mean. Not _breeding_ careful. I mean so I don't hurt them."
She takes a swig. Tonight being musicians night, it's from a wineskin.
"I don't _like_ being careful."
Folly nods sympathetically. "It's a different kind of hurt that I'm usually guarding against, but I know what you mean." (Robin may have noticed that Folly is among the least-tough of her cousins.)
After a moment's thought, she says, "Maybe we should find you a nice
bagpiper. They're bound to have a higher-than-average pain threshold,
right?" [And no one minds if you break one....
Folly engages in a chummy sort of flirtation [uh, that's 'chummy' in the "friend" sense, not in the "fish bait" sense] with her musician friends, but it's pretty clear she's not physically intimate with any of them.
Vere treats Robin as though her sudden appearance in Amber were no surprise at all. She receives the same polite regard that he gives all of his cousins, although he does not seek her out nor initiate any conversations with her.
Robin, having plenty to occupy her time, takes Vere's indifference in stride, though she certainly notices it.
Depending upon how perceptive she is, she may or may not notice that he treats his other female cousins in exactly the same manner....
Martin seems to feel somewhat responsible for Robin, and makes sure he is at her disposal for the first few days she is in Amber, until she becomes accustomed to the routine at the castle and learns a bit about the city. As mentioned elsewhere, he introduces her to Vialle the first night, and to other family members as the opportunity arises, e.g., at meals including family dinners.
Robin is curious about Martin and is interested in sussing him out during the early days. After that, other interests beckon. She'll ask Brita and Folly about him. He tends to get a little longfaced now and then, just like her father...
Martin is happy to answer general questions about himself or anything else. The short version of his story is that he was born and raised in Rebma, walked the Pattern there, messed around in Shadow for a while, nearly got murdered by Brand, and ended up working for Oberon. He ended up back in Amber when the war started, and ... here he is.
More details are available on request, as are answers to other questions Robin might be considering asking him.
Folly, it turns out, considers Martin one of her best friends. Perhaps as a result, she's a bit guarded when talking about him, like she's afraid of accidentally betraying a confidence. Martin is, she says, a very private person. If Robin has specific questions about him, though, Folly will do her best to answer them.
Vialle, as the chatelaine, arranges for a permanent room and some clothes for Robin. If Robin seems interested in fashion, Vialle refers her to Lady Solace, Lucas' wife (who is in the early to middle stages of a difficult pregnancy), her female cousins, particularly Paige, and Felicity, Lady Hardwind, whom the cousins all call Aunt Felicity.
Robin is interested in fashion, less as an art than as a craft. _Plumage_. Her eye for her own appearance is appraising rather than besotted. She does have her limits. [Anything that would call to mind Auden's "Fantastic grow the evening gowns" from "The Fall of Rome" meets with rejection.] She likes daring lines and is okay with puffy sleeves, though she also likes clothes that will hide a weapon and convert into something in which one can run with a couple of quick tears.
[GMs]
[No butt bows.]
Probably Robin's best bet for clothing assistance is Paige.
Dressmakers in the city will certainly vie for Robin's attention. If she accepts any of the invitations that come her way (the Royal family gets a fair number), she will find that she is something of a trendsetter.
Cambina seems not particularly interested in Robin, since she can't put her to work immediately and she has no obvious spooky metaphysical interests about her. Gerard is pleased to have a relatively happy soul in the castle for a change, and is pleased to visit with Robin when she wishes to keep him company.
Robin will spend time with Gerard, because she recalls that he was closer with her father than most of his other siblings. She'll also make time to ask Vialle what it's been like in Amber/Arden since the late unpleasantness, and also, well, who the hell is she anyway. [_Politely_.]
Martin will have explained that much. She's his father's wife. (In exactly those words, too, no shilly-shallying with this "stepmother" business.) She also seems to be acting as chatelaine in the absence of Gerard's daughter Solange.
Vialle hasn't really spent much time in Arden. In Amber, she has a circle of lady friends, including the girl cousins, from whom she hears much of the city. She shares stories of the Sundering, tales of the hardships in its immediate aftermath, and rumors and gossip. Despite her blindness, she has a small collection of books, which she encourages Robin to read. (Several of them are the notorious Ladies' Guides, mentioned elsewhere.)
Gerard enjoys company and cardplaying. He is happy to ooh and ahh over new clothes, although Robin thinks he misses oohing and ahhing over his own daughter. He spends a fair amount of time on the Regenting business, although he seems to let the cousins do most of the actual footwork. He does take some time to explain aspects of various business of Amber to Robin in an effort to see if there is anything besides Arden that might interest her. He also tires far more easily than Robin might expect, and Robin concludes it's the pain and the medication he's on.
How are Brita and Robin dividing up the leadership of the Rangers? What are they doing about what each of them perceives as the problems the Rangers have?
Robin is oddly unhurried about getting back to Arden. She makes some effort to meet her cousins, she attends family meals, asks questions and takes an interest in her room. It's only when Gerard and Brita start sending Don't You Have Somewhere to Go messages that she bestirs herself to leave, for all that, beforehand, she talks freely about how she "will be" helping out with the rangers. She even begins, it develops, something of a wardrobe.
Your sensitive or cynical sorts might conclude that Robin is acting just like a poor relation gratified to have finally come into her birthright. But when Gerard makes it clear that she's on the verge of overstaying her welcome, she departs quite smartly.
Brita is likely to send "don't you have somewhere to be?" signals before Gerard, I think. [Monica?]
Actually, no, Brita would let Robin come back to Arden at her own pace. Brita would send missives to Robin to keep her informed, using a variety of Ranger messengers and instructing them to deliver their messages to Robin directly (and get their responses directly from her). She wants to ensure that the Rangers don't start to question that any directives coming from Robin truly came from Robin. Brita will make sure to dictate her messages to Robin (at least those concerning Ranger business) in the presence of others as well.
Messages tend to be along the lines of: "Cousin, Some progress is being made on marking the path that Bay's patrol took when they were lost."
"Cousin, Do you have any suggestions for the Rangers to prevent the loss of patrols?"
"Cousin, Training of the recruits continues. We are setting up Post #8 at the old hunting lodge farther into Arden [see the map] in order to set up another message relay point. Do you have any suggestions for speeding up message delivery from remote patrols? Maybe we can incorporate bird messengers since Kina was helpful in finding the lost patrol."
[OOC - yes, I know Kina didn't find the patrol, but her getting 'lost' indicated something to Martin and Brita...]
The missives will have details about what is going on to keep Robin up to speed. Brita never says anything directly about Robin coming to Arden. She will add personal notes that say things like:
"Hope you are enjoying visiting with the cousins. It is nice to have family about. Speaking of family, I have a brother!"
That note causes some eyerolling, though not at Brita - at _brothers_.
"I suppose you have met Conner. I was thrilled when he came to visit. We had much to catch up on."
[_Has_ Robin met Conner?]
Conner arrives in Amber several weeks after Robin does. I expect Robin meets him before Brita does.
Well then ladies, shall Conner encounter you on one one of your bar-hopping expeditions? If so kindly set the stage, and let's get to know each other.
One evening while Conner is kicking back with a pint at a local pub, three musicians walk in and start setting up in the corner. A few minutes later, Folly enters, with Robin in tow.
"Conner!" Folly says enthusiastically when she catches sight of her cousin. "Are you here for the music, too?"
Conner smiles back. "Hello, Folly. Robin." He nods his head in greeting to them both. "I wasn't originally but I am now." He smiles. "Please come and join me."
Folly is happy to do so. She orders a pint and brings it to his table, taking the seat across from him.
"We should be in for a real treat tonight," she says, glancing at the musicians. "Verge is kind of an ornery old coot, but he's a damn good fiddler, and a walking encyclopedia of folk music. I'm glad to see he's finally hooked up with someone who can keep up with him."
"I've missed fiddle music." Conner smiles. "Strings don't work well underwater."
"That's gotta' be a weird way to live," Folly replies. "So how come you picked Rebma, anyway? Or did someone else pick it for you?"
"I like fresh seafood."
"Me, too, but I don't need to live with it before I eat it," Folly says with a lopsided grin.
Conner chuckles. "Seriously though, that is where the Diplomatic Corps placed me and I was glad of the assignment. It is not the most desirable position because of the living conditions but it is one of the most important and prestigious."
"How long were you there?" Folly asks. "I take it you knew Vialle before she came to Amber."
"I have been in Rebma since before Random's one year imprisonment there." Conner nods. "I got to know them during that time."
[OOC: Random didn't stay for the whole year, though, right? I thought his assassination attempt on Eric occurred just a few months after he arrived in Rebma.]
Folly takes a moment to stare into her beer, as though this subject is suddenly making her uncomfortable. When she looks up again, though, she's all smiles. "That would be, what, over a decade, then? Was that enough time to make it feel like a second home?"
"Not really." Conner shakes his head no. "Too many Rebmans view Amber as a threat at worst and annoyance at best for it to ever feel like a home of any number." Conner sips from his tankard. "What of you? Where was home before your purple locks graced Amber?" He smiles.
Folly takes a sip from her beer before answering, "Far, far away from here. A big city by the sea, like Amber, but warm, and full of things you can't get here. Motorbikes and fries. Electronics and democracy. My band." She smiles, a little sadly. "I miss it. As far as I'm concerned, it still is home -- even if it doesn't exist anymore."
"The Shadow storms wash all clean." He nods grimly. "It may still be out there you know. Or a place so much like it you'd never know it was different."
"I'd know," Folly says glumly. It occurs to Conner that what she really misses are the people there, rather than just the place itself.
Conner sighs, knowing he can't argue with that. "We'll just have to have hope." He smiles and impulsively reaches out a hand to squeeze the back of hers.
Folly smiles back in gratitude for the kind gesture and hooks her thumb around his to return the squeeze.
"In the meantime, Amber's not such a bad place to be, I guess. I kind of like having all this family around, which is a new thing for me -- I mean the having family and the liking it. Back home it was just me and my folks, whom I didn't especially get along with, plus a grandmother who died before I was ten and a couple of distant cousins that I met maybe two or three times. It's nice to have so many cool cousins who'll play music and go drinking with me." She smiles warmly at her companions.
"I find myself pleasantly surprised by this crop of cousins too." Conner smiles back. "As I was incognito, I never got to interact with the family much, except for Gerard and Caine in the Navy. They were always aloof figures I heard news about. It's nice to just be with some."
"I'll drink to that," Folly says -- and does. Then she asks, "So you were born somewhere else, then? Or does your mum just hide her pregnancies really well?"
Conner chuckles. "I was conceived and born in shadow."
"What sort of a place?" Folly asks. "What was your childhood like?"
"Like I was in a boarding school of one student." Conner replies. "With Mother alternating between stern headmaster and motherly matron. It was a pleasant place. Da Vinci style arts and sciences. Spent equal time in libraries and labs as I did among woods and herbs. All in all, a decent place to learn and grow."
"Sounds both better and worse than my boarding school of hundreds of students," Folly says. "That much individual attention was probably quite nice -- but I'm sure I had a much easier time breaking curfew than you did, especially once I got booted off campus." She flashes a sheepish grin.
Robin finally gets the hint. She tells Folly they need a big, big night out. The next day, bouncing painfully through flashes of searing fire - oh, that's dappled sunlight through the trees - she rides out into the forest, politely suggesting to the birds in their languages that they should either shut up or go sing somewhere else.
At length she reaches Brita's command center and hears the Brita Plan.
"I can do that," she says to Brita's suggestion that Brita actually continue to run the rangers while Robin rides off by herself for awhile. "A shame we don't have those cards like father had of his brothers and sisters - then we could keep in touch."
What role does Conner take up in the new regime?
[Connor]
Conner gets to choose eh? Well while in Amber he'll gladly help with
mollifiying the Ambassadors since he knows many of them and how they
think.
[Paige]
Have at them, Conner! Give the sheets some slack and run up the battle
pennons...
Folly is glad he's willing to help. She brings him up to date on the situation and introduces him to Baron Kaliq.
Conner will gladly take up his rank in the Navy once more if needed or lead the trading missions to free up other royals.
Conner makes a point to visit the sheep herders and look into this disease of theirs. He's been itching for a chance to put his scientific skills to use.
Assuming their first meeting goes well, Conner also travels to Arden fairly regularly to visit with Brita.
Other than that he spends time in the library or the Naval passing the time until additional tasks fill his plate as he knows they will.
What is everyone else up to these days?
[Lucas]
Same shit, different year.
Vere is continuing with his various research projects and waiting patiently for the results.....
Folly's recent conversation with Vere about rights and government, together with her experience in teaching Sandra, has convinced her that Amber needs a more comprehensive educational system. What is currently in place? I know the wealthy probably hire private tutors for their kids, and the poor probably aren't getting much more than trade training and whatever they can pick up from their parents, judging from the low literacy levels. Are there any sorts of public or private schools?
Most of the children of the wealthy and middle classes are tutored (some by their mothers). Children of the poor are often working in their family's trade, or apprenticed out. There is no formal system of public education.
Folly wants to help the dockside community set up a very basic community school to teach reading and writing, a little bit of music, and basic arithmetic. Since Connor is helping with the Ambassadors, she'll spend less time doing that so she can devote more time to her dockside work.
Does Folly plan to pay the teachers? Again, where is the money coming from?
For covering startup costs, including buying a suitable building, Folly seeks charitable donations. In her view, starting a school improves the welfare of Amber's children, a cause that the ladies of Amber are usually willing to support.
Folly finds that the ladies, while willing to subscribe, contribute less than they have in previous years. Aunt Felicity tells Folly privately that a number of ladies' husbands have fallen on hard times, and there's less money to go around. She's sure Folly understands that under other circumstances, everyone would be more generous.
Teachers' salaries are a trickier issue, and part of the reason I was interested in the current tax structure. In Ever's opinion, would the docksiders welcome a school enough to contribute to some sort of fund from which teachers could be paid? If not, is improved literacy a worthy enough cause that the Crown would allocate money for teachers? Folly brings the issue before the Council for opinions.
Depends on how much it would cost I suppose. How many docksider children and how many teachers are we talking about? As a personal contribution to the program however, Conner on his next trade mission looks into buying chalk and slates, parchment and quills for their efforts.
The numbers would be in the low thousands of children. I tend to think of the docksides as having a lot in common with the tenements of late 19th century New York, but with far fewer children given the somewhat prolonged childhood and lower fertility rates of Amber locals. Any family would only have one child, at most two, at a time, unless they weren't native.
And for about the millionth time, Folly wishes Solange were here.
Ever thinks Folly could do worse than to suggest the matter at the Pickled Grouse.
Gerard doesn't think much of increasing literacy among the lower classes. It's not that he's opposed per se, just that as someone who's spent a lot of time in the Navy and on merchant ships, he doesn't see the use of literacy among sailors, and that's how he thinks of Amber's lower classes.
To Paige, Folly says, "There are all these gentlemen's clubs in Amber. Don't you think there ought to be some sort of gathering place for women, too?"
"You don't know how often I've considered it, dear." Paige strokes a purple lock from her eyes. "I'm sure you could open one, but I don't know if other than you, myself, and Reid's friend Darling, we'd have any business."
Folly grins. "Well, it couldn't be exactly analogous to the men's clubs, of course. I don't think this city's ready for male courtesans, for one thing. I do wonder, though, how something a little more low-key might do -- you know, for getting together, having tea, talking about... stuff. Whatever. I s'pose most women do that sort of thing in their own homes, but I guess I've always been partial to going out, y'know?"
The Council is still waiting on a report back from Folly, who is working with Nestor (and his assistants Google and Teoma) on deciding whether she wants llamas or maple syrup if she can get it. Gerard's comment on the maple syrup is you're less likely to get syrup than molasses rum, with this many sailors in the city.
Paige will leave this sort of thing to the more agriculturally minded, like her Folly. She'll be glad to pickup what she can to help on her passage to Heerat, including but not limited to llamas...
Folly's Research, or, Attack of the Google Queen
...wherein Folly examines the viability of Tobacco Growing, Maple Syrup Making, and Wood-Pulp Papermaking
Tobacco Growing:
From www.coffinails.com/growing.html
Tobacco seeds need to germinate in a somewhat warm environment (70-80 degrees F) for the first seven to ten days -- a covered seed tray in a warm cupboard will suffice if the crop is to be grown in a cool environment -- and afterwards the seedlings do well in cool (but frost-free) conditions. It is suggested that "the British climate is ideal for tobacco growth and warmer climates present no problem."
Soil-wise, they do well in anything but heavy clay, even thriving in "poor sandy soil where other plants often fail" (which is why the subject came up initially -- the player's ancestors farmed tobacco in the poor sandy soil of eastern Kentucky), so long as the crops receive enough water. Further, "your second year's crop will adjust to your soil and conditions and often produce better tobacco."
In terms of yield, a soil area of about 1 m by 8 m sustains about 50 plants, producing enough tobacco for over 5000 cigarettes.
Conclusion: Unless the player has grossly misjudged the climate of Amber, growing and curing tobacco will be viable.
Nestor's comments: The major problem I foresee with tobacco as a crop is that it is extremely labor-intensive. I am not convinced that there is a sufficient pool of labor in Amber that will be willing to perform the hard labor associated with tobacco farming.
Possibilities include making this a Crown enterprise and putting indentured labor to work on tobacco farms, but that will limit the availability of indentured labor for other public works, such as Cambina's aqueducts. Those could be converted to pay projects if the treasury allows. Another possibility would be to import labor.
Further, it will be difficult to produce tobacco for export beyond that needed for local consumption.
Maple Trees:
Taken in part from www.dnr.cornell.edu/ext/maple/Life%20as%20a%20maple%20tree/life_as_a_maple_tree.htm
Maple trees and tobacco can coexist in the same climate, as they do in the player's hometown. :) In North America, the range of the sugar maple habitat extends from Nova Scotia and Quebec west to Ontario, southeastern Manitoba, and western Minnesota, south to southern Missouri, and east to Tennessee and northern Georgia. Again, I'm guessing that the climate of Amber falls somewhere within the acceptable range.
If sugar maples occur naturally in Amber, they are almost certainly in the fertile soil of Arden and Garnath, and not in the scrubby land to the north of the city, since "for maximum tree growth and sap production, soils should be deep, moist and well drained," whereas "[a]reas generally not favorable to sugar maple establishment include swamps, dry sandy ridges, and thin rocky soils." Getting permission from the Rangers to tap the sugar maples in Arden might be tricky, especially with Ranger/cityfolk relations being so tenuous.
If sugar maples don't occur naturally in Amber, finding some, planting them, and waiting for them to get big enough to tap will be a several-year undertaking.
Conclusion: Growing maples in Amber seems feasible. Turning syrup-making -- or rum-making -- into a viable business may require considerable startup time and/or the cooperation of the Rangers.
Nestor's comments: While maples are a valid short-term crop for Amber, it will be difficult to produce syrup or rum for export beyond that needed for local consumption.
Papermaking:
Taken in part from inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blpapermaking.htm and the links therein.
Papermaking using rags and fibrous plants -- mulberry bark, hemp, bamboo -- originated in Asia in about A.D. 105. Papermaking using wood is a much more modern process, requiring some rather nasty sulfur chemicals to "digest" the wood into wood pulp. (As a result, paper mills don't smell very good -- yet another thing the player knows from personal experience, as there was a Mead papermill -- all together now -- in her hometown. One might suggest that the player's hometown sprang into being as Folly tried to picture her ideal Amber -- except that Folly would never have put an enormous chemical plant in the middle of town.)
Now, science and engineering in Amber being what they are, Folly suggests that some less-stinky-chemical-based process could perhaps be devised in Amber that wouldn't necessarily work elsewhere, hence her interest in bringing Conner on board. Or, the docksiders could stick with making paper from other materials, in particular hemp: it is a good rotation or companion crop for farmers, and it adapts to many different environments. Producing a good crop would require a richer soil than that in the scrubby land north of the city, but perhaps some Garnath farmers could be persuaded to produce some in conjunction with their other crops, if they aren't already. Planting some hemp as a companion or rotation crop with tobacco north of the city will yield a sparser hemp crop than that grown in good soil, but will improve soil conditions for the tobacco, thus making it worthwhile.
Conclusions: Papermaking from hemp and rags is feasible if we can get the raw materials. Papermaking from wood isn't viable unless someone succeeds in developing a new method of pulping wood.
Nestor's comments: Again, with the burgeoning local book industry, it will be difficult to produce more paper than can be consumed locally.
Inkmaking:
Taken in part from http://members.tripod.com/~quillpen/
Low-tech inks can be made from a mixture of lampblack and linseed oil (Gutenburg had his own special recipe for his printing), or lampblack and animal glue. Historically, inks have also been made from berries and the inky secretions of marine animals such as octopus, cuttlefish, and squid. All these materials should be available in Amber.
Conclusions: Inkmaking is a viable Amber trade.
Nestor's comments: Again, probably not for export.
Overall recommendations:
We should definitely find some tobacco and hemp to plant in the crappy northland.
If the docksiders can get access to sufficient hemp -- probably through a northland crop supplemented with stuff from Garnath -- they ought to try papermaking.
If maple trees exist in Arden, Folly will talk with Brita about getting permission to tap some of them so the docksiders can try making rum.
And llamas are always a good idea. If we find some, we should also trade for some hardy maize-like plants indigenous to the same sort of hardscrabble land. True, the food situation in Amber is not nearly so dire as it was -- and not even so dire as it ought to be -- but Folly would really like to see Amber's people be able to feed themselves even if there are problems with the trading voyages.
(Speaking of which -- I take it the spud experiment is going better than the sheep experiment?)
(Yes. No Amberish Potato Famine -- yet!)
Nestor's overall comments:
Folly's ideas are generally very good, but none of them will provide much in the way of export goods due to the high consumption of goods in the city itself. I believe that it will be difficult, if not impossible, in the current climate to reduce consumption of goods to allow successful exports without a significant reduction in the population. In particular, I believe that it will be difficult to produce tobacco due to labor considerations. However, all of these products will reduce Amber's dependence on outside sources of trade goods, and as such have merit.
Also, Amber has traditionally been a consumer economy. I am not certain how quickly a shift to a production economy can be managed. It may be easier to take the time to rebuild the trade routes on a more permanent basis than to redirect Amber's economy.
Last modified: 14 Feb 2002