The Gypsy Code | Knowing the Valuable - by the GPWA

OneOfMany · 2020-02-16 08:26:23

We know the valuable and that knowledge has set us free. Food is the most valuable thing and food is free. It is our way to wander the land and she provides for us. She fills our bellies with the bounty of the Greens. She gives us baskets to hold her gifts. She gives us all the tools we need to be free. Free to wander, to visit, to talk and to learn. All we need to do is know the valuable and leave the rest.

If your hands are empty, fill them with food. Then make a basket to hold more food. With a basket full of food, you are now free. That's all it took to gain your freedom. You now control your own destiny. You have time to figure out what you want to do, who you want to do it with and where you want to go. Freedom is time. Time is food. For those that wander, food is plentiful and free. Although the best foods, always come in pie form.

Clothing is also valuable because it gives us more time. More valuable than clothing is the humble needle. For with a needle you can cloth a family. Collect string in the greens, make hats from wheat, sew up a water skin to save on a bowl (and store bait) and make skirts from reeds with rope. Always keep a string on the needle; it uses less room and it's good for emergencies.

After food, containers, clothing and the needle, there are a few very valuable things that will make your wandering easier. A knife, a bowl or two, an unshucked ear of corn, a bow and arrow, a bucket of water and fire making supplies (drill and hatchet) if you want. That's six containable things and two that have to be carried. This setup is ideal, but impossible for a single player without a cart. Oh the value of a cart. A cart on the road is a wonderful thing. Grab a cart if at all possible. Now let's go over each piece so you know the value of each.

The knife is infinitely useful. It skins rabbits, it chops meat, it's sharp to makes things and it kills. Most fear a knife. A knife is only dangerous when the wrong person holds it. In the hands of the wanderer it's incredibly useful.

Next the bowl. I know, right now you’re asking, “Why a bowl?”. It can be made in the wild, with only medium difficulty, but you only need one or two per group. A bowl has so many uses on the road. First off, you can fill it with berries and it holds more than a basket. The young are given berry bowls so they don't starve. When they are no longer young they graduate by making a basket and returning the bowl. When setting up a temporary camp, a bowl becomes very valuable. A bowl splits compost. A bowl makes flour, which refreshes empty pie plates back to yummy pies. A bowl also does water work. Both filling buckets and watering crops. The bowl will be used, over and over again. You really only need one if you have a water skin too, but if there is room in the caravan, two is much better then one. If you are using a water skin too, you can fill it with bait. It's not a bad idea to have some bait in reserve, if your family is growing. Bait can be knocked out and reloaded if you need to use the skin for water work.

This is my favorite part, the value of unshucked corn. Corn is this world's special treat. Everyone intrinsically knows the value of corn. "It calls to them" (to paraphrase a friend), but they know not why. The least valuable thing about corn is it's food value. It is a containable food that never goes bad, but eat berries over corn. Berries are plentiful and free. Corn is special. Because everyone knows, corn is valuable, it can easily be traded. A pie is better than an extra ear of corn. Not the last ear of corn, just an extra one. A town without corn will trade a basket of pies for a single ear of corn because, corn is it's own seed. When setting up a temporary camp, plant your corn and cook up some popcorn (because you know you have a bowl). When the corn is grown, it's time to move on. If you happen upon a dead town, an ear of corn can be turned in to a bucket of milk if a cow is alive. Everyone should carry one unshucked corn as a food item. A food item of last resort. Corn is most valuable when carried rather than when eaten.

We will call the next few things, rich things. Only the rich have these, for these are things that replace a basket. Rich things are not for lone wanderers. Rich things are for families and carts. Food is most valuable. Rich things help to get more food. If you have rich things but no food, you are poor and about to die. Rich things are for the rich because, they can afford them. If you are not rich, do not have rich things. To be rich, be rich in family, or in carts.

The first rich thing is a bucket. Fill the bucket in any swamp and you have a bucket of water. Only the most skilled can make a bucket in the wild. It takes at least four iron to make one in the wild (smithing hammer, adze, saw, axe... something else, maybe?), not to mention bowls, plates, adobe, rope, fire and more. Buckets have value upon value and are worth the effort. On the road a bucket of water can revive a dead town or fuel a temporary camp site. Towns die because they run out of water. With a temporary water source it is possible to exploit a long dead town to the fullest. If there are no pies, make pies. Rich pies. Yummy pies. If there are no crops, water some. Is there a cow? Use the water and fill the bucket with milk before you go. No one knows the value of a bucket of water more than a wandering family in a dead town. It's a commitment to carry a bucket without a cart, but it can be worth it with enough people.

The next rich thing that is just valuable enough to replace a basket is a bow and arrow. This is a free item and easy enough to make in the wild. If your family carries one of these you are truly rich. The bow can be used for protection, but the value of the bow is for food and animal defense. With a bow, pork and mutton are free. When setting up a temporary camp, a bow allows you to increase the food supply and offer protection from boars. Since you already have a bowl and knife, carnitas are a real possibility. Carnitas in the wilds, who would of imagined.

The last item of real value is fire. Fire makes rich food. Fire is a temporary home. The good news is, fire is free too. You need a fire bow drill and a stone hatchet, but that takes only two rope, easily made in fresh Greens. In long dead towns, convert a flint tipped drill to a fire drill and look for an axe. The exceeding rich take their fire making tools with them.

The making of fire is easy. Letting it turn to ash and walking away is hard, but that is our way. We move on. We sip off the land without asking too much and She rewards us with freedom. We can always come back if we wanted to. We move on because we are free. Free to be. She provides and we listen. She makes us free. Praise Be! Praise She!

JasonY · 2020-02-16 12:35:48

My code: Ask for content until I get it.

OneOfMany · 2020-02-17 00:57:15

JasonY wrote:

My code: Ask for content until I get it.

And your prayers were answered. If you want new content, turn Gypsy. It's incredible.

Now on to important business.

To my daughter, Hopelynn An.
You did well, but you learned a hard lesson. The swamps are dangerous. We stick to the Greens and the Yellows. We avoid the mountains and swamps, if at all possible. We do go through them, but only with caution. Remember, standing on an item makes you immune to animals. If you are a wanderer then you have a basket. Drop your basket and stand on it. We do not die of starvation. We do not die by the hands of another. Murder is forbidden (even for murderers). We die in our own time or by tooth and claw. Even though we are free, beware of dangers. You can avoid dying by tooth and claw by keeping an eye out, watching your step and heeding caution.

To my son Free, and others like him:
You were a good son. You did well. Our life style is not meant for all players. People love their towns. There is no shame in not being gypsy. I love you all the same. I hope you enjoyed the experience. At least we were in the tutorial area, try and beat that.

- Katey An, Died of Old Age

One Hour One Life Forums

#1 2020-02-16 08:26:23

The Gypsy Code | Knowing the Valuable - by the GPWA

#2 2020-02-16 12:35:48

Re: The Gypsy Code | Knowing the Valuable - by the GPWA

#3 2020-02-17 00:57:15

Re: The Gypsy Code | Knowing the Valuable - by the GPWA

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