Writer's Wednesday XXIII

Hello Layonaran fans and other interested sorts!

Up to now we have shown

you items, creatures and lore as well as given some samples with brief

explanations of the crafting available. We'd like to throw one more sample

into the mix, but this time it has to do with harvesting.

So how does

one go about retrieving those needed resources? Well in a skill based

system, with another skill of course! Today we are offering a look at

Forestry to offer a sample of how wood is made available to the player who

wishes to pursue the various crafts that require it.

Forestry is more then a

simple skill to collect wood for crafting however. Knowing what sort of wood

is best for each project, knowing when and how to harvest the wood, and how

to tend the groves from which the wood is taken are all part of the

knowledge accumulated by a learned lumberjack. Forestry also gives

specialized knowledge of tree types and condition. Tree specific diseases

might be identified as well as potential treatments. The very

experienced forester holds knowledge of the different types of wood in

different climates, and potentially how to

graft the plants together for best results.

As you can see there's

more to the skill then just the obvious. The players who choose to pursue

the path of Forestry may find many creative uses for the skill in an RP

environment. The following is a sample of what the basic forester would be

able to know and use with relatively few points in the skill.

“The

most common wood used by foresters is hickory. Hickory is well liked for

its versatile nature. Its uses range from complicated shapes of bow to

withstanding the rough treatment of a wagon wheel. Yet, hickory is still

flexible enough to be used for a driving switch and is often used in long

burning fires. There are many different kinds of hickory, surviving in a

wide variety of climates. It is a deciduous tree, and breeds small kernel

nuts in the fall that, when ripened, is edible to most species of

herbivore.

This wood is the most common wood used in crafting nearly the

world over. Its versatility includes being a great wood to learn the arts

of carpentry, bowing, fletching, musical instruments and general

woodworks.”

Hope this new sprouting of information offers some new

insight into what may be ahead for Layonarans in the MMO. We hope to bring

you more samplings of harvest skills in the rotation of offerings on

Wednesdays.

~rowana, on behalf of the writing team