forget to take breaks for them to recover?>>, the boy asked/answered with a wry smile while turning
around on his seat and checking the condition of their horses.
But the old man was not satisfied just yet.
<>, his speech was getting a bit
more stern this time.
<>
This time Mr. Altwald immediately answered, and even though Raylon did not like the attitude of
answering with the honorific ‘Sir’ he decided to let it go this time.
<>
The old man let out another sigh and concentrated on a bunch of wooden foldable boards.
________________________
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Different people use different production methods for their logs and scriptures.
While Chansa created ink and paper by using the inner materials from Lush-Cacti, there were other
methods such as chalk and tuff-rock( a smooth rock with high porosity) and the old-fashioned stone gravure-method of using rocks to carve permanently into your rocks.
My Master Raylon Hawkinson primarily uses tanned leather as his material for paper and he keeps a
highly viscous liquid in his pocket which blends really well into the leather surface, though I do not
know what the liquid is made of.
When it comes to longer matters like logbooks and long-term planning he likes to use the Astaros-tree
This tree is so special that it deserves its own cheat-sheet!
________________________
________________________
The Astaros-tree is a type of tree, that can be found in Estica and is purchasable at reasonably low
prices.
Its efficiency for fuel and thermal isolation for building resources is negligible for the economy and the
few uses this tree has are centered around literature and calligraphy.
Once the woodcutters prepare an Astaros-Log and rid it of its bark, they will get to see a fascinating
sight:
The tree is not actually a single tree but an assortment of 5 to 16 separate triangularly-shaped tree-
trunks, that are ordered in a way that creates a pseudo-circle.
But it gets even weirder!
Each of these triangular logs of wood is in itself a many-layered pile of thin wooden fiber.
Its like wrapping a blanket around your body multiple times.
It seems that at the three corners of the trunk’s base, there are stabilizing walls that loosely divide the
trunk into 3 separate areas.
By cutting off an arm-length worth of Astaros a person has a highly compressed scripture composed of
3 separate parts, each around the length of my notebook.
After inserting a wedge into a specific part of the intended trunk and slightly pushing it open, the
parchment slightly rolls out and provides space to write on.
Due to the paper’s natural tendencies this part will automatically roll itself back in if not weighted at its
edges.
This wood is light, cheap, space-efficient and it smells fantastic!
I love Astaros-Trees!
-The Astaros as a family-crest is a symbol for lowest nobility
-The tree’s light-brown color can be used as decorative mantling, though working with this type
of tree is a hassle in and of itself
-Astaros-Trees typically grow up to be really large
-Once they reach a certain age, they will split into parts and the area they split up into
-will become a giant sowing place for a cluster of Astaros, similar to the Lush Cacti from
-Chansa
________________________
As he was writing down his thoughts in a still and peaceful manner, his inside thoughts were constantly
revolving around each other in a high tempo.
‘Haja’s current education is too loose!’
‘Should I increase the information output on him?’
‘Am I overestimating the boy based on achievements and underestimating his mental immaturity?’
‘Mental education and development should be at the peak of our priorities!’
‘Oh dear Sage of Peace, why did Hamish decide to give this boy into my care?’
‘He is nothing like the determined yet clumsy Hamish, who had thrown away money for happiness.’
‘Is being a Merchant the right occupation for him?’
‘He is getting more shrewd and capitalistic as a Merchant. From this perspective he is an incredibly
talented merchant!’
‘No! Absolutely not! Haja does not actively appreciate the value of life in front of him. He seems to
ignore the circumstances around our customers’ lives in favor of his own. That is a terrible ideology to
grow up with!’
‘...Is he experiencing a trauma through your death, my old friend?’
The way Raylon Hawkinson viewed the world was deeply intertwined with his 78 years of experience
being alive on this world.
In his time as a merchant he had wandered throughout every nook and cranny of Gaia and seen, felt and
heard things most people did not bother to experience for themselves.
It was his talent as a merchant that gave him this chance as well as some other lucky coincidences.
From his personal experience a human confronted with trauma would only ever react in one of so many
ways:
1) They would fight against the trauma and overcome it with their personality or environment
2) They would fight and succumb to their trauma, being swept away in depression and/or death
3) They would not feel ready to confront their trauma directly and try to avoid it
In his opinion Haja seemed to be the last type of person. In their entire journey he had never really
spoken up about his grandfather’s passing.
Raylon had been told that the boy’s prior 4 months of preparation were strictly scheduled and left no
time inbetween for the boy to breathe.
Originally he had thought that it was the enthusiasm that left the boy wanting to improve in the
different areas but now he wasn’t so sure about that.
‘Now that I think about it, it seemed that little Haja’s farewell from the village and his recent revisit to
them always had large crowds gathering around.’
‘Maybe, just maybe it was not his charisma that brought these people together but rather his trauma.
Though I can see that the former is definitely present and well-developed, the latter should not be
ignored either.’
‘In that case what would be the best treatment for his current situation?’
<>, Raylon let out another sigh.
He was still occupying himself with writing up different plans for Haja’s future development and
occasionally cross-checked their current traveling route with his intended plans.
‘What would I have said to Hamish if it was him instead of Haja with me?’, he asked himself.
‘If it was the Hamish I knew, I would have tried getting him connected with some females around our
peer groups. I always knew he was not made to be a warrior or leader at heart. Inside he had always
been one thing: My kind and caring friend; he has been like a brother to me…’
The Old merchant had to stop his train of thoughts for a moment to wipe away a few stray tears from
his eyes reddened reddened by emotion.
‘Goodness me, it seems I have not gotten over his death myself by now.’
‘Maybe I should change my angle in that case.’, Raylon inquisitively thought.
This time his decision making was rather fast as he instructed Haja to veer off course in a slightly
altered direction.
Hawkinson-Company had not yet fully decided on their next location. Their original goal had been
wandering north and further into the center of Estica but due to their new excess materials their new
goal was striding around the neighboring villages to make their trades and stock up on provisions for
their journey.
Raylon decided to change course from their current destination to a different neighboring town.
Originally he had been getting uncomfortable of getting too close to the 2-day-apart from Hombredic-
City, the ‘City of the Dictator’ due to personal preferences but he judged it would be far enough away
for them not to be bothered by that place:
<>
And so the group of two decided their next destination: Jarabesa-Village!
