Mazmatra and the forests of Malossi

During this winter, I traveled throughout southern Paratorna in the company of the Helterhelm accountant, the Marsh man Casimo Hruckert.

He followed the great volumes of sylvoleum from the Gomba forests across the Lake Malossi to be sold in Mazmatra, which is closest to my heart of all Paratorni towns, as it has an honesty and competence that otherwise is lacking. The people there have great love for the forests along the lake's shores, which are the basis of the local economy, which includes oil refinery, shipwrighting, carpentry and hunting.

This area is the home of the Tree Hugger sect. These druids walk the lands hugging the trees they love the most. Otherwise, they spend their time stopping snakeweed from invading the Kryffer Forest. This weed is strange. It grows quickly both in forests and on plains, clinging along branches in the woods. Both there and on the plains, it chokes all other plant life. When processes and weaved, it can be turned into asbast, which are woven mats of the weed's fibres. These are very useful, as they are fire resistant, and the mats cover both noble houses and ship hulls throughout the empire. However, that also means that the weed, once established, cannot be burned away. The invasion of this weed has all but destroyed agriculture in Karramack, so the Princes of Bralorge are putting up great sums to stop its further spread in the Empire's heart lands of langock production.