Timestamp: 35 of Fall, 516 AV
Nya knew there were a lot of things she needed to accomplish in this lifetime. But her plans had gone so far aside that she felt maybe just maybe there was no redeeming the timeline. As Nya, she thought she’d been born stronger, faster, more able to handle the world. But Aressa had opportunities that Nya hadn’t had. Born in privilege and allowed to study rather than work or even survive, the world before the Valterrian was vastly different than the world Nya inhabited.
Nya looked around with a smile over that thought. How would Aressa even relate to Syka? The warm wind of the fall blew across her face swirling the sand on the beach where she sat on a blanket… a crate next to her. The crate had been delivered off the Veronica. It was a small one though the bundle that rested next to it was far larger. The bundle was a giant roll of leather already cured. Nya had sent her order to James Chaliva who was making another run with the Veronica. It seemed the settlement was doing a tremendous amount of profitable trading just keeping Riverfall in fresh fruit and exotic animals – especially the parrots she’d seen him trading – which meant Syka got fancy things like a saw mill in exchange.
Such improvements had made all the difference for the settlers. Having actual lumber to build with instead of just hacked down trees had made all the difference in the world and had improved the qualities of their buildings tremendously. And it also meant that Captain Chaliva took orders and traded in Riverfall for the specific specialty things the Syka Settlers needed. Nya knew she needed a trade, other than magic, to support her efforts here in the new city. Choosing one had been difficult. She wanted to get away from anything she’d known before and do something that would really help others.
The idea had come to her when she’d broken her belt and had no way to replace it and there was no one available to repair the thick leather that had cracked under the rain and saltwater exposure that kept things damp. A good leatherworker could have sold her conditioner and could have spliced the belt to make it usable. But there wasn’t a leatherworker in Syka. Instead Nya had replaced her leather belt with a woven contraption of braided grasses. It wasn’t nearly as strong and it hadn’t remotely compared to the strength of her previous belt. That fact alone decided Nya that perhaps learning to work leather would be her contribution to Syka. And with that she’d ordered some leather, a toolkit, some dyes and a book on leatherworking from the Captain.
The delivery of the crate had told her that he’d been successful in his search for exactly what she’d needed.
Nya reached into the crate, while the sun was high and there was no threat of rain, and pulled out the book. The Kelvic had always been far more scholarly than most of her race, so spending the afternoon reading was no chore. She ran her hands over the fine leather cover, and smiled slightly. Maybe someday soon she’d be able to make such a cover. With that thought in mind she cracked open the book and started to read.
The handwriting that filled the book was easy to read, much to the Kelvics relief, and launched right into the subject with unabashed joy.
The book started out with a lengthy blurb on tanning and what it consisted of. Evidently tanning leather was a process that involved removing volatile natural oils from the hides of animals and preserving them with tannins and stable oils that gave it flex and suppleness. Nya didn’t pay too much attention initially to the processes of tanning the book outlined because she’d also ordered leather already processed. The supply wouldn’t last forever, but it would give the Kelvic some breathing room to do some learning.
Next it worked into why leather was important and useful. Nya already knew that it was easier to form than wood and sturdier and longer lasting than fabric. What she didn’t realize was that it was unique among all other possible materials for its combination of strength, flexibility, and durability. There was a brief history of leather in the book, mostly going back to how leather was dealt with post Valterrian when everyone was still underground. The chemical process was slightly smelly and complex so it had to be created away from the main underground populations. It was, however, important because so many materials like cotton and silk were all but unheard of to the subterranean dwellers that had no access to plant life above ground.
In those days it was valued as much as gold. Gloves saved lives digging in the stone, while leather on the body protected it from cold and exposure where Syna’s light never shown. Nya stretched her legs out, off her blanket and into the sand, looking around. She felt sad and thankful both. If her ancestors hadn’t endured what they had endured, none of them would be there to enjoy the Syka sun. And it was a beautiful day. Nya skimmed the rest of the chapter and blinked as the book immediately launched into the types of leather there were.
The first type was Garment Leather. It wasn’t so much as a kind, per say, but a way of tanning that was quick, easy and made the leather soft and fabric-like. It was, however, not suitable for Syka, because as she read further, the leather was not colorfast. The colors would fade in the sun and bleed in the rain. The dyes tended to stain what was underneath them. It was a wealthy class commodity and not something she was interested in messing with in Syka.
Bridle leather, on the other hand, seemed far more interesting.
1013 = 1013/50,000 words
Expense :