Master WoodSmith Cenita

Colors: Forest green and white.
Emblem: Forest-green conifer on white background.

Main Crafthall Location: Paradise River Hold.

On SouCon, the WoodsmithCraft is based in the Unified Crafthall and is under the direct auspice of the Craft Wizard. To become an Apprentice, Journeyman or Master please read through NEWS CRAFT JOINING. Characters may also request a posting to any open Hold or Weyr.

Until the previous Pass or so, wood was considered rare on Pern, the only hardwood being that which was brought by the original colonists. With Threadfall decimating the plant life 1/5th of the Turns hardwood trees simply failed to evolve.

Sky-brooms, native trees that stand many dragonlengths high were the only hardwoods on Pern, the other trees being softwoods. The giant trunks terminate in bushy crowns of tufted needles, similar to an Earth Cedar. The wood is extremely dense and metal-hard, covered with a rough mat-like material that protects it from Threadfall. Although difficult to work it is much prized within the WoodCraft. For many Turns, Sky-broom was the wood of choice for supporting the roofs of freestanding buildings.

In the Eighth Interval, oak trees were planted, and the Lemosan Holders propagated the forests in an effort to increase the supply of useable wood. Pine, Deal and Spongewood were trees that grew quickly, vastly improving the stock over the long Interval. During the Ninth Interval a number of Hardwood types were planted in the Southern Continent. The WoodCraft moved their Hall during the Tenth Interval to Paradise River, astonished by the quantity and quality of wood, for even some of the Fellis trees had grown to more than eighteen feet in circumference and the Mandamo's, the big hollow trees, were plentiful.

Wooden furniture has gradually become more common, although pieces are still passed from family to family, rarely ever seeing a bonfire. Upholstered chairs, settees, chairs made with wooden frameworks and leather slings are popular, as are canopy beds and pigeonhole desks. Styles are varied, depending much upon what's been commissioned, and the imagination and skill of the woodworker.

In the Southern Continent a furniture style has become popular uses a local resource -- bamboo. Wicker-style casual chairs, tables and even beds, are made by weaving bamboo together to form stable structures.

The WoodCraft also supplies the blanks for marks, and ships stock to the Harper Hall for instrument constructions. Wood is also sent to the SmithCraft to use as tool handles when a non-slip grip is required. The WoodCraft also formulates varnishes and oils for its care, as well as stains and dyes for tinting it.

Although rare in the previous Pass, paper is now much more common, though it is not available for doodling or scribbling, sand and hide still being used for those. Paper is also no longer exclusively produced from wood, the majority of it harvested from a swiftly growing plant found only on the Southern Continent, but those who specialize in its fabrication within the Woodcraft are still responsible for its manufacture and distribution.

SubCrafts

CrossCrafts

Wood is an important component of everyday life on the Southern Continent, giving the Woodsmiths a variety of ways in which they might easily crosscraft. Papermakers can be found working with Archivists who use their papers, and the Weavers whose scrap cloth helps make it. Carpenters work with shipwrights and traders, refining the construction process of wagons and ships. With Engineers they study new architectural concepts, and with Vintners, new types of barrels in which to age wine and beer.

Cenita was born at the Seacraft Hall at Island River, daughter to a pair of shipwrights there, and in fact showed every sign of following in her parents' footsteps. As an apprentice sailor, though, her focus shifted away from ships to the material with which they are built. Her parents weren't quite sure what to make of this switch, but with some amusement they allowed her to apprentice to the Woodcraft instead, certain it was a passing phase. It wasn't. Cenita excelled in her newly chosen Craft, though she still harbored enough lingering loyalty to concentrate on those woods employed in shipbuilding. Still, her path was set. She made Journeywoman in good time, followed by marriage to her apprenticeship sweetheart, and somehow managed to give equal time to Craft and family. Tapped by her predecessor as his special assistant, she was elected to his post when he succumbed to the plague.%r%rCenita is a strong woman, well able to hold her own among her peers. At the same time, she is quite feminine, delighting in soft swirly dresses and taking great pains with her long, blonde hair. A gracious and capable hostess, she nonetheless carries herself with a steely air that brooks no insolence from her Crafters or her five children. Cenita still loves the sea, and her clothes and jewelry often bear the images of fish and other seaworthy decorations. She's known for her hobby of crafting tiny model ships, which are often gifted to others.

Cenita, while perhaps not fully beautiful, is still a lovely woman even at her age. Long locks of honey-blonde hair tumble past her waist when it's not bound into a net during woodworking, and her tall, lean body is as slender as that of a girl of seventeen turns.