>>22389196Paper and printing industry of the Republic:
Influenced by the Nameless One's commandments, the Republic practices archive keeping keenly. This led to a higher standard and volume of paper making even during the establishment of the Republic compared to other nations. This trend is maintained by a robust state-funded education program and a large population of avid readers in the Republic. The Republic's papers are mostly made from flax and cotton, though research into cheaper paper production using wood pulp is underway as well.
Newspapers run daily in cities and most towns, and the demand for books consolidated the publishing scene of the Republic into several prolific publishers. The most famous and oldest newspaper is the Weekly Owl(Unrelated to the most circulated paper, the Daily Owl). Due to the large market and experienced publishers, many foreign authors from the region would choose to publish their works in the Republic. The surplus of printing capacity means books and papers are one of the most important exports for the economy. Maps are another famous paper product of the Republic. While military maps are of course strictly forbidden from exportation, the Republic's maritime maps are famed for their accuracy and quality.
To satisfy the hunger for more paper, each city has large paper mills and printing presses. But due to the unreliability of early models, and the somewhat sacred quality of papers, early hoomans learned to hate the printing machines. "Printer" became the popular slang for an irritating person, and evolved into the word meant for heretics sprouting disparaging information against the Nameless One use today.
