Barkweave Softclothes

A result of necessity, and simple experimentation

Gifts from the Tree

Years after the Breaking of the Fifth Floor, due to the War of the Fracture , the people of the floor were running low on clothes. Clothes still wear out in Synthacrosia, even if the ones wearing the clothes don't age. The denizens of the Fifth Floor who relocated to The Great Tree were forced to find new sources of material for their clothes, and they naturally turned to the Great Tree its self in their search.

History & Usage

History

The great tree hides us in is shade. Rrrk. It gifts us our homes, our bark, our everything.

— Izz, Tree-Woman of Branch

Gifts From the Tree

Barkweave

The Great Tree was not a comfortable place to live at first. The rough bark of the tree was hard on people's skin and clothes. As clothing deteriorated, they began to turn to the tree its self to source new material for their clothes. The began initially by pulling long strips of bark away from the massive branches they lived on -- they generally only took the bark that was worn from hundreds of feet traveling across it. The bark they took this way was more broken down, and flexible.
Innovative craftspeople took the bark, and worked it, weaving it together into a single piece. This they tied together with yet more strips of soft bark, forming into shirts and pants, skirts and jackets, and whatever else caught their fancy. The people of Branch had begun wearing Barkweave clothing.

Softclothes

There was a problem with Barkweave however; despite the bark being broken down, and comparatively soft, it still was rough to the touch, and not comfortable to wear. The residents of Branch put up with it however, as it was all they had, and they respected whatever the Great Tree gave them.
That is until Kals, a middle aged Gnomish Tree-man, fell into a pool of tainted water while exploring The Down Deep . His companions quickly pulled him from the water, before the taint could take hold of him. As they grasped at him, they inevitably put hands on his barkweave clothes. To their surprise, they found the previously rough bark fabric soft to the touch. Drenching the barkweave in tainted water had broken down parts of the bark, softening the clothing to an unbelievable level.

Once More Into the Deep

Residents of Branch had found more reason than just Dark Root to head into the Down Deep. Intrepid explorers were soon carting down armfuls of bark into the caves, searching for tainted water to soften their clothes. Many injuries, losses, and accidents happened after the first few weeks of discovery.
A certain set of guidelines was soon set, to help protect people. People soon figured out the optimal amount of bark to carry down, when best to go to as to avoid the Clockwork Horde of Stone Castle Invictus , and how best to wash the bark in the tainted water, without becoming tainted themselves.

Brown issa good colour. Wes got bark browns, wood browns, and all browns between. Brown is strong! Strong like the Great Tree. Anything that stands like the Great Tree is good to me.

— Unnamed Tree-man

Type

Textile

Odor

Earthy, heavy, and musky. Masks bodily odors.

Color

Varying shades of brown

Density

Lighter density than standard bark

Related Species

• The Great Tree

The "Kals Softness/Hue Scale"

It was quickly discovered that the amount of time bark is left in the water changes the softness, and coloring, of the barkweave softclothes. The longer bark is left in the water, the darker it's hue will become, and the softer the clothes. If the bark is left in the water for too long, it loses all of its strength and simply falls apart.
The bark of the Great Tree is a fairly consistent medium-dark brown. This fact means that the softest barkweave softclothes are often the darkest; starting from a medium dark brown, and rinsing the clothes in tainted water for a long time, results in very dark but very soft clothes.
Occasionally someone will find a new patch of much lighter bark, near the top of the Great Tree. This lighter bark provides a chance for newer, lighter hues, while still having very soft clothing.

<- HARDER
<- LIGHTER

SOFTER ->
DARKER ->

Various articles of Barkweave Softclothes