Cobbling Guide
Primer to the Cobbling Artisan Guild
So, you want to be a cobbler? Make fancy footwear? Just follow this guide.
Getting Started
Take yourself to the nearest cobbling workshops. There are three in the lands:
- In Wehnimer's Landing, in a warehouse on the east side of town.
- In River's Rest, outside of town along the banks of the river.
- In Cysaegir, near the furrier.
Find the foreman and ask him about joining. The foreman will give you instructions, but we'll review them here, too. The foreman is the master cobbler of the guildhall, and among his responsibilities is that of teaching new cobblers. Since you're just joining, he will demonstrate the first pattern, how to make a basic pair of shoes.
While you are a novice or apprentice cobbler (fewer than 200 ranks), your path is tightly constrained by guild training rules. You will first start off making basic shoes, then move on to boots, and so on, until you have achieved sufficient basic skills. When you gain skill by practice, you may also be told that it's time to check in with the foreman, who will review your work and may advance you to the next stage.
Patterns
You will need a book to hold the patterns, so find the registrar and ask him or her about that. The registrar will also give you new or replacement patterns, keeping track of those you have learned. (The registrar will also keep track of the individualized hallmarks of master cobblers, once these are developed.)
All registrars have the basic four patterns available: shoes, boots, slippers and sandals. Each will also have a selection of other patterns for more advanced cobblers. You can see what patterns are available in a particular guildhall by flipping through the book of patterns in the registrar's office.
- The command FLIP allows you to turn the page in a pattern book. You can specify a page number (FLIP PATTERN 2), or just flip to the next page (FLIP PATTERN).
To use a pattern, you will need to have a copy of it in your book. Each pattern costs 1000 silvers and will last between 40 and 70 uses. To select a pattern, flip the registrar's book of patterns open to the pattern you want, and TAP it. Then ask the registrar about patterns to have the pattern put in your book.
- While you are a novice, you can only get the basic patterns added to your book, and only those that the foreman has taught you.
- Once you are past the novice stage, you will be able to choose to learn a new pattern from time to time. Master cobblers can know as many as 24 additional patterns, in addition to the basic four.
Now you should have a book of patterns with your first pattern in it, for basic shoes. You will need to pick up the rest of your cobbling supplies from the storage room in the guildhall. You will need three things: some marking chalk, a cutting knife and a measuring cord. The knife and cord are tools you will buy once and use for the rest of your cobbling career. The chalk is slowly used up.
Gathering Supplies
Shoes require at least an "upper" piece of leather. While you can avoid using a second piece of leather for the sole, taking this short-cut significantly reduces the quality of the shoe and skips an opportunity to become more skilled in cobbling. Each cobbling attempt fully uses up the piece or pieces of leather you used.
You have two choices for getting leather:
- Bring pelts (hides, etc.) skinned from creatures to the tanner in town. In Wehnimer's Landing and River's Rest, the tanner is located in the furrier's shop. In Cysaegir, you will find the tanner downstairs from the storage room in the guildhall. If you GIVE your pelt to the tanner, she will assess its suitability and ask you some questions about how you want the pelt tanned. You can safely choose the lowest quality tanning process; it's cheapest and quickest, but will markedly detract from the quality of your cobbled goods. On the other hand, if you're just starting out, your shoes aren't going to be very good anyway, are they?
The quality of the tanned leather depends, as you might expect, on the quality of the pelt, so if you are trying to produce best-quality shoes, seek out skilled skinners who can provide you with magnificent pelts.
- Buy leather from the storage room. The supplies there are ready to use, but they are more expensive than having the tanner tan a pelt for you. Although there is a range of pelt qualities available, none are as good as you can obtain from a top-grade pelt and the best tanning process.