Less a plan, more a loose idea, [ apologetically, but hey, a loose idea is better than nothing, right? ]
With the eluvians opening up access to more cities, we must be closer to some new logging sites, or even paper mills. We can do some investigating of the areas around each of our eluvians, and if there's a paper mill nearby, you can negotiate a contract with them, and if there's a logging area, we can work on convincing someone to make a paper mill. We're not insignificant business, after all, not enough to support a whole mill but enough to start one, surely.
Until then, we can use our scrap to make our own paper, but we'll need specialized equipment. It won't be good quality, nor enough to support us in the long run, but better than nothing.
My first thought is that convincing somebody to make us a paper mill will require more coin than it could be worth. We may have to argue for the funding. And I wonder β we have many people here who like to make complicated things by themselves... (that's what Research is for, right?)
But, I must confess, I don't really know what goes on to make paper. I presume trees are involved? It is very difficult?
[ a hum of considerationβgela raises good pointsβand then an ah! of epiphany. ]
It mightn't be as difficult to convince anyone as you're imaginingβI wasn't here at the time, but when Tantervale fell to the Venatori, didn't a number of refugees make it here? There is the Planasene nearby, we may be able to induce them to restart their business, I imagine that would be preferable to whatever they're doing now. I wonder what they would need...
As for what goes into it, I don't know how it works as a business, but I know the basic process! Wood pulp is suspended in water, then pulled up through a screen. Once that screen dries, you have a sheet of paper! That's what I meant by using our own scrap to make new paper, we can turn anything we have that we're not using back into pulp and then screen and dry it for new paper. It's not difficult, just time-consuming.
There is also parchment as a possibility, we could talk to butchers and see about contracting for cow and pig skins!
Oh, I β yes, that does make sense. You do have a plan in mind!
(And now she is trying to imagine this process for a moment, hence the silence. How is the wood pulp 'pulled up'? How do you get the pulp...? Maybe it doesn't matter. Gela gathers her hair back from her face as she's thinking, twisting it, bringing it against her neck.) If you understand the process well enough to teach it to someone else, I could... find some volunteers, or set up a roster.
How much would they all hate us if we made it mandatory, do you think?
That would encourage people to be more succint in their writings...
How about: we see how many volunteers we get for now and deal with the idea of a roster later. People could be more interested in the process than we think.
As for new contracts, how did you want to proceed? That's more your purview than mine, so I'm happy to be directed however you wish. I think we have quite a few good options available to us!
A perfectly equitable division of labor, I think! I can have a suite of pitches ready in... oh, probably two weeks? Maybe a month? Depending on how aggressive we want to be about resolving this.
[ ness would like to be Very Aggressive, but she won't hold gela to her standards. ]
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Less a plan, more a loose idea, [ apologetically, but hey, a loose idea is better than nothing, right? ]
With the eluvians opening up access to more cities, we must be closer to some new logging sites, or even paper mills. We can do some investigating of the areas around each of our eluvians, and if there's a paper mill nearby, you can negotiate a contract with them, and if there's a logging area, we can work on convincing someone to make a paper mill. We're not insignificant business, after all, not enough to support a whole mill but enough to start one, surely.
Until then, we can use our scrap to make our own paper, but we'll need specialized equipment. It won't be good quality, nor enough to support us in the long run, but better than nothing.
So... what do you think?
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But, I must confess, I don't really know what goes on to make paper. I presume trees are involved? It is very difficult?
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[ a hum of considerationβgela raises good pointsβand then an ah! of epiphany. ]
It mightn't be as difficult to convince anyone as you're imaginingβI wasn't here at the time, but when Tantervale fell to the Venatori, didn't a number of refugees make it here? There is the Planasene nearby, we may be able to induce them to restart their business, I imagine that would be preferable to whatever they're doing now. I wonder what they would need...
As for what goes into it, I don't know how it works as a business, but I know the basic process! Wood pulp is suspended in water, then pulled up through a screen. Once that screen dries, you have a sheet of paper! That's what I meant by using our own scrap to make new paper, we can turn anything we have that we're not using back into pulp and then screen and dry it for new paper. It's not difficult, just time-consuming.
There is also parchment as a possibility, we could talk to butchers and see about contracting for cow and pig skins!
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(And now she is trying to imagine this process for a moment, hence the silence. How is the wood pulp 'pulled up'? How do you get the pulp...? Maybe it doesn't matter. Gela gathers her hair back from her face as she's thinking, twisting it, bringing it against her neck.) If you understand the process well enough to teach it to someone else, I could... find some volunteers, or set up a roster.
How much would they all hate us if we made it mandatory, do you think?
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Hmmm.
[ oh no, ness has amused herself. ]
We could say it's not mandatory, but whatever paper one wants to use beyond a certain ration, one must make for themself.
[ this kind of mostly hurts ness and hermione... but it's also a funny way to get everyone to pull paper making duty. ]
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How about: we see how many volunteers we get for now and deal with the idea of a roster later. People could be more interested in the process than we think.
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That sounds fair, yes.
As for new contracts, how did you want to proceed? That's more your purview than mine, so I'm happy to be directed however you wish. I think we have quite a few good options available to us!
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[ ness would like to be Very Aggressive, but she won't hold gela to her standards. ]
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