Brittlebark

The Brittlebark tree is the only tree native to the rocky terrain of the high mountains in the Throat of the World. The tree is often mistaken for a dead one at first glance and in fact, does resemble petrified wood. Knowledgeable Herbalists will know a living specimen by the wispy strands of gossamer fiber that collect water for the tree from the air. I spent days studying the properties of the wood and found it to be incredibly nonabsorbent, blatantly repelling water from its surface. During the winter the trees namesake bark becomes brittle and crumples, when harvested it can be boiled and mashed into a pulp to create paper. These sheets of paper are remarkably water-resistant and require special inks to write on but a scholar need never fear their notes becoming tarnished by an errant storm or some other form of liquid misfortune. I have vowed to make all my future journals out of this remarkable substance, to think of how many studies I could have saved if I had discovered this five years earlier.