Huh, this thread is... you can pull it with ease and it expands instead of snapping. This is very interesting.

I know! This new fiber we discovered along the banks of the Rosorese, it was extremely stretchy. Me and my friends spun the fiber into this thread and it retained that unusual property.

I think we have made a wondrous discovery with this material.

...

This garment is amazing! It hugs your body tight and the cloth doesn't flap around! I can't imagine going back to regular robes after trying this out.

Yeah, that new uzasu'ere thread they used, I thought these robes I got for us were too small until the tailor put it on for me. And the best part?

Hm?

I can feel the wind caressing my body through these clothes.

Ah, yes! It's almost like a second skin, this one...

...

This new material is so handy! I can tie up my hair without having to fiddle with tying a knot with a ribbon.

Yes! I had to fasten a bundle of twigs, and with a loop of this expanding rope I was able to secure them with just a twist or two.

Oh? I was given a chair that had a heavy weave of the stuff, and it was the most comfortable piece of furniture I've ever had the pleasure of using!

Wow, tell me about it!

...

A weapon that doesn't rely on the spring of wood or steel, but of this strange extending rope. So compact, yet retains such amazing power...

Indeed. I was skeptical when they brought that prototype to the armory, but then they demonstrated its capability on the targets in the training range. They tore large chunks of the wooden targets they used, even snapped off a branch when they use that as a target.

And they were just using lead balls?

Yes. They also demonstrated their invention with crossbow bolts, but it wasn't anything we hadn't already seen with our crossbows

Except this tool clearly doesn't have much of a bow limb, yes. I think this system will be a valuable addition to our arsenal.

...

...

For the entirety of known civilization, string is among the most important materials, able to make everything from light woven fabrics and gorgeous embroidery, to weapons like bows and tools like nets, fishing lines, and fire-starters. Without string, civilization would struggle to hold itself together.

One problem of string that no one notices until they've seen it is that most types of string can't stretch very far. Most plant fibers and arthropod silk don't tend to produce highly elastic fibers that would allow the resulting string to stretch out and spring back, more often than not snapping from the resulting strain. Therefore, fabrics had very little stretch, and rope and string had very little give in tension.

That is, until the discovery of a new plant they called uzasoto found near a small village by the Rosorese river.

It produced fibers with wondrous material properties, having such incredible stretch beyond that of traditional plant fibers. Formed into string, it was capable of expanding up to twice its original length and snapping back to its original size without damage or deformation. Formed into a heavy rope, it could store incredible amounts of energy that could be delivered in projectiles as small as a pebble.

As soon as people realized its potential, it made its way in everything, from stretchy fabric formed into form-fitting garments and elastic hair ties, to comfortable furniture with a good spring produced by the elastic weaves, all the way to the invention of the slingshot, a novel weapon design that utilizes the stretch of the uzasu'ere fibers to its fullest in place of flexible wooden bows.

Producing uzasu'ere string out of uzasoto fibers is a delicate process due to the natural elasticity. While most spinning setups pull the string in tension, uzasu'ere spinners need to control this tension to avoid stretching the fibers too much and negatively affecting the stability of the thread. As such, uzasu'ere is more expensive than other kinds of fibers, with production limited to master spinsters around the Rosorese region.

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A List of Major Settlements in the Paroma Territories

===================================

Atema, the Beacon of Knowledge

• The “Brightest City” of the Paroma Territories, visible for dozens of miles
• The center of Magical Knowledge and Sky Navigation, with many aspiring magicians and explorers seeking scholarship here.
• Its landscape is decorated by tall stone structures spaced apart with wide plazas in between; many citizens live in condominiums, with personal housing a rare privilege due to its location.

Agabame, the Eastern Fortress City

• The warden of Paroma’s eastern and southern borders.
• One of many military cities found along the border; this fortress is home to Star Cities’ best flying scouts and airborne soldiers.
• Permanent residents of Agabame are expected to take up arms when under assault, assisting the soldiers in the defense of their hometown; there is nowhere within the fortress that is undefended and unwatched.

Basame, the Castle-Town

• One of the original fortress towns dating back to the Peson Empire, and the only one still active and maintained.
• This fortress is home to the hardiest mountaineers that form the backbone of the northern defenses.
• Governance is unusually relaxed for a military city, with residents enjoying similar freedoms as the inner star-cities. In exchange, Basame makes the most out of their fighting forces to produce the best-trained soldiers of the Paroma Territories.

Domosuname, the Southern Port Town.

• Of the many coastal towns, Domosuname is the most influential one in the south in part due to its status as a Star City.
• Fishers and merchant ships alike gather in the city’s extensive network of piers capable of supporting many ships at a time. Its Star Spire functions doubly as a lighthouse, albeit poorly due to the artificial star’s low luminance.
• Many of the port town’s residents are avid pescetarians, and they have made fishing their biggest industry with seafood being their biggest export.

Hene’agaba, the Northern Fortress

• The guardian of Paroma’s northern borders
• One of many military cities found along the border; this fortress is home to the sharpest marksmen in the Territories.
• Hene’agaba is very thorough with its security with every guardsman trained to spot the slightest hint of subterfuge and deception. No one is allowed to enter the fortress without the appropriate documents and a valid reason for entry, lest the people risk bad actors slipping through the cracks.

Henesuname, the Northern Port-City

• Of the many coastal towns, Henesuname stands out by being the core of the small Paroma fleet.
• The city is home to Paroma’s largest shipyard, and the only naval shipyard. They produce both the biggest merchant vessels in the Territories and the only fighting ships.
• Due to its strategic importance should conflict arrive at their doorstep, they function more like a fortress than a regular city despite seeming like a regular port town on the surface, and thus maintain a small military to guard the coastline.

Oro Ka’esatame, a Remnant of the Past

• One of, if not the oldest cities still standing. Oro Ka’esatame is the former capital of the Peson Empire, its status as the center of governance lost with it.
• Being a former capital, it is among the largest cities in terms of livable area located near the center of the territory.
• Despite its historical importance, many old Peson structures both ruined and intact have been torn down by the Paroma settlers. Among the remaining Peson structures left are its Star Spire, the Yellow Palace that once housed the imperial families, intact plazas that needed only a little bit of refurbishment, and various assorted structures that were either found in pristine livable condition, are found to be inconvenient to tear down, or were far enough out of the way to be ignored.
• Oro Ka’esatame has found a new lease in life with Paroma as a center for commerce, with merchants and sellers from all over the Territories and beyond looking to trade goods in a safe and secure manner. Anything you might want or need can be found in the former capital, provided you have the time and money to spare.

Resekame, the Fertile Riverhome

• One of very few places in the lands that is fertile enough to produce an excess of food without special accommodations, Resekame is the lifeblood of the Paroma people.
• It is among the smallest of the Star-Cities, with most of the land reserved for crops and livestock. Regardless, its importance to the Paroma as a whole has made it the most important Star City in the entire land.

Serakana, the Eastern Lookout

• Once a small mining town, it expanded to become a lookout watching the north-eastern lands past the border.
• The mines and quarries located here produce plenty of metals and minerals, and are a major source of star stones.

Tahenome, the Mountain City

• One of the largest cities in the Territories in terms of population; the city is host to several homes and buildings built on and inside the mountains
• Several mountain paths have been constructed as the city grew in order to accommodate land-based supplies and heavy-laden travellers. Most transit to and from the city is by air, bypassing the inherently difficult terrain.
• It is the center of Physical Knowledge, with academies dedicated to teaching about the physical world and its peculiarities.

Tapome, an Ancestral Dwelling

• The oldest known settlement of the Paroma people’s ancestors according to historians; the modern Paroma continue to make the rocky cliffside their home.
• Its proximity to the sea makes the city uniquely suited to spotting maritime vessels in the distance; several perches have been built to accommodate maritime scouts that deign to take a closer look or guide the sailors to port.
• Its Star Spire is specially designed to act as a lighthouse to not only aid flying paroma looking for a way home, but guide ships in the dark or the fog.
• Tapome architecture is unique in that many houses and buildings hang off the cliffside directly, with important structures remaining firmly on flat ground.

Tokogabo, the Coastal Rockfort

• A coastal fortress city overlooking a difficult rocky shore that hinders most maritime activities. Many young residents like using the boulders as a playground.
• Tokogabo trains guards that excel at navigating and scouting in the open sea, assisting sailors in avoiding its difficult waters and charting safe passage.

 

Zumume, the Young City of the Valley

• Zumume was once a collection of several minor settlements that recently banded together as a way to defend themselves from the Star Cities that stood on either side of them.
• The city is too young to have found its niche. In spite of this, the residents have been able to transform their loose union into a respectable-looking fortress, complete with a Star Spire of their own.