Maple Cart

As the popularity of the Blue Maple grew, the industry surrounding its harvest started to evolve. With it came the construction of specialized carts created to transport the leaves. Ordinary carts were built to hold barrels, crates, or other items that were easy to stack under their own weight. But transporting leaves requires their bags to be weighed down or else one risks dropping some of the cargo, especially when trying to move large quantities at once. At first, most farmers solved this issue by placing a large cloth over their ordinary carts to keep the leaves in place. They would also make sure that someone was traveling behind them to collect any stray sack of leaves that might fall off in the process. But to move a decent amount of products, this meant one needed to stack the leaves very high, thereby risking a very unbalanced load. And it expensive the hire more people to complete each delivery.
The carpenters guild of Ravesna created the first cart specifically made to transport Blue Maple leaves. It uses a system where leaves are placed directly into the cart and then a wooden plate is placed above them. A mechanism on the side of the cart allows the farmer to then press the plate down upon the leaves by turning a large crank, which then locks it all in place. The cart has two of these systems, built on either side of it, and by using these intermittently a farmer can make sure that they press as many leaves into the cart as possible. Small hatches are built into the sides of the cart and can be opened to access the leaves on the bottom level, making it possible for the farmer to divide the delivery into smaller parts. Over the years there have been many types of Maple Carts produced, and most farms have their own modifications of them, but the basic principle remains the same all throughout the continent.
A secondary perk of the carts is that it significantly lowers the risk of being robbed during a delivery. Since the leaves hold almost zero value as stolen goods, most brigands will avoid attacking someone riding one of its designated carts. They will, however, still be on the lookout for carts that are returning from delivery to try and steal the money obtained. Smart farmers avoid this risk by not traveling with the money, rather keeping it in a bank or having the buyer come by with the cash.

Nickname

Blue-bearer

Price

30 gp

Rarity

Common

Beam

2 meters

Length

4 meters

Height

1,7 meters

Weight

200 kg

Complement / Crew

Can be pulled by a single horse, or any creature of the same size. Requires one driver.

Cargo & Passenger Capacity

Can hold up to 100,000 leaves