I really have to ask!

[Kerilstrasz]

In phb, pg 151, "Equipment packs"


Scholar’s Pack (40 gp). Includes a backpack, a book of lore,
a bottle of ink, an ink pen, 10 sheets of parchment, a little
bag of sand, and a small knife.

I search every chapter 2-3 times... for the love of god.. "a little bag of sand".. why???
the only thing i could imagine a scholar would need it sooo much to be in this pack is because phb thinks that it can be used to soak excess ink from a fresh written parchment (which doesn't really work).

I'm not asking for the general or the imaginative uses of a bit of sand..
I'm asking for the reason a bit of sand would be important enough to be included in this pack.

The next reason i could think would be to use the sand in a bowl or something to sink candles in it so a scholar can study at night.. but.. why include the sand and no candles?
In the end, sand is a kinda easy to find material that cost nothing.. so i suppose there is of some kind of importance to be in this pack so the scholar don't have to go find it "out there"...

So...

Ideas?

[golentan]

In phb, pg 151, "Equipment packs"


Scholar’s Pack (40 gp). Includes a backpack, a book of lore,
a bottle of ink, an ink pen, 10 sheets of parchment, a little
bag of sand, and a small knife.

I search every chapter 2-3 times... for the love of god.. "a little bag of sand".. why???
the only thing i could imagine a scholar would need it sooo much to be in this pack is because phb thinks that it can be used to soak excess ink from a fresh written parchment (which doesn't really work).

I'm not asking for the general or the imaginative uses of a bit of sand..
I'm asking for the reason a bit of sand would be important enough to be included in this pack.

The next reason i could think would be to use the sand in a bowl or something to sink candles in it so a scholar can study at night.. but.. why include the sand and no candles?
In the end, sand is a kinda easy to find material that cost nothing.. so i suppose there is of some kind of importance to be in this pack so the scholar don't have to go find it "out there"...

So...

Ideas?

Sanding was standard procedure for removing ink from documents in ye olden days, yes. It's not perfect, but with practice and skill you can usually get a usable parchment from it unless you had a massive ink spill or something.

[akaddk]

http://aewlabode.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/banging-head-against-the-wall.gif

[golentan]

*snip*

Hush, my friend. Most people born into circumstances that allow them to tread these hallowed boards can't imagine a world without indoor plumbing, much less the arcana of scholarly practices that haven't been in vogue for centuries. It was an honest question.

[akaddk]

Hush, my friend. Most people born into circumstances that allow them to tread these hallowed boards can't imagine a world without indoor plumbing, much less the arcana of scholarly practices that haven't been in vogue for centuries. It was an honest question.

Hey! I grew up having to dig my own toilets in the outback! I'm an Aussie!

And please, tell me you didn't have at least a glimmer of the same reaction when you saw the OP's post?

[Dayman]

Pocket sand.

[golentan]

Hey! I grew up having to dig my own toilets in the outback! I'm an Aussie!

And please, tell me you didn't have at least a glimmer of the same reaction when you saw the OP's post?

Actually, I did kind of chuckle that they basically hit on the reason but managed to dismiss it.

[Inevitability]

And please, tell me you didn't have at least a glimmer of the same reaction when you saw the OP's post?

I did have that reaction when I saw your post... No need to be ridiculing others for asking a question. I didn't know why the sand was there myself either.

/snark

[Kerilstrasz]

The reason i dismissed the "excess ink soaking" is because for the past 12 years i m on Calligraphy courses with ink and quills..
The very 1st week we learn the methods of soaking excess ink (as it is a common problem for 1st year practitioners).
Sanding your script was mentioned as a very old method that quickly got abandoned as inefficient for many reasons (sand cant be reused, very often causes the opposite result, smudges etc)
So i assumed that it was included for another reason... anyways.. maybe the phb refers to the exact era that they haven't realize that a cotton cloth does a much better job (for those who had the money to buy them in bulk), or assumes that a calligrapher or an artist, that spends more than 8 hours on a page, can't wait for 15-20 minutes for the WATER-based ink of that time to dry naturally.

Anyways.. maybe the reason is a bit off.. but it was a reason i wanted and now i have it.. thank you all for your time :smallsmile:

[akaddk]

The reason i dismissed the "excess ink soaking" is because for the past 12 years i m on Calligraphy courses with ink and quills.

This isn't the issue I have with your post. It's the fact that you're looking for a purpose or reason for something that is patently obviously nothing more than a flavour item put in there to give you something "neat" about your character. Not only that but it's also just a pack, meaning you only take it if you don't want to do the busy work of choosing your own items.

The entire notion of asking for a purpose for it was ridiculous and unnecessary. It's like asking, "Why does my character have shoe?"

[1of3]

And please, tell me you didn't have at least a glimmer of the same reaction when you saw the OP's post?

No. In fact, my reaction was: How clever the authors were!

[Theodoxus]

This isn't the issue I have with your post. It's the fact that you're looking for a purpose or reason for something that is patently obviously nothing more than a flavour item put in there to give you something "neat" about your character. Not only that but it's also just a pack, meaning you only take it if you don't want to do the busy work of choosing your own items.

The entire notion of asking for a purpose for it was ridiculous and unnecessary. It's like asking, "Why does my character have shoe?"

I love lamp!

[golentan]

The reason i dismissed the "excess ink soaking" is because for the past 12 years i m on Calligraphy courses with ink and quills..
The very 1st week we learn the methods of soaking excess ink (as it is a common problem for 1st year practitioners).
Sanding your script was mentioned as a very old method that quickly got abandoned as inefficient for many reasons (sand cant be reused, very often causes the opposite result, smudges etc)
So i assumed that it was included for another reason... anyways.. maybe the phb refers to the exact era that they haven't realize that a cotton cloth does a much better job (for those who had the money to buy them in bulk), or assumes that a calligrapher or an artist, that spends more than 8 hours on a page, can't wait for 15-20 minutes for the WATER-based ink of that time to dry naturally.

Anyways.. maybe the reason is a bit off.. but it was a reason i wanted and now i have it.. thank you all for your time :smallsmile:

Sanding was in practice for parchment for centuries. It's a completely different animal from paper, you see. The way you'd do it, you'd scrape with the knife and abrade with the sand, and the whole top layer of the parchment would be removed, ink with it. No soaking, no absorbing the ink, literally abrading it off. The process resulted in what's called a Palimpsest, a reused document, and sanding was actually the height of the art of palimpsest (older techniques resulted in still visible ink that you would write over).

[Totema]

Pocket sand.

Sh-sh-sha!

[SaintRidley]

Medieval lit scholar, confirming what golentan just said. The sand (and knife) was important for helping remove layers from the parchment. This was how you erased back in the day.

[Kerrin]

backpack - for carrying yer stuff
a book of lore - improv shield
a bottle of ink - for marking your attacker for later identification
sand, pen, knife - throw sand in eyes of attacker, then dual wield pen/knife to stabbity-stab them
parchment - for drawing wanted posters of your attackers (if they got away)

:smallbiggrin:

[Naanomi]

It's to quickly put on the pedestal that had the golden statue on it to try and avoid the boulder trap, of course. You know... standard scholar stuff.

[unwise]

Well I had read the little bag of sand as a shout out to Indiana Jones. That just could be because I was making him up as a Bard with the Sage background at the time. I actually used it to disarm a trap in his first adventure.

[TheOldCrow]

Sanding was in practice for parchment for centuries. It's a completely different animal from paper, you see. The way you'd do it, you'd scrape with the knife and abrade with the sand, and the whole top layer of the parchment would be removed, ink with it. No soaking, no absorbing the ink, literally abrading it off. The process resulted in what's called a Palimpsest, a reused document, and sanding was actually the height of the art of palimpsest (older techniques resulted in still visible ink that you would write over).

Hey, cool. I learned something: The knife and sand were the pink eraser of their day.

[Sir_Leorik]

The entire notion of asking for a purpose for it was ridiculous and unnecessary. It's like asking, "Why does my character have shoe?"

No, it's more like asking "Why does my character's shoes have aglets on the tips of the laces?"

The answer is:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLlk0ROvcKA