The thatchery mod adds a new industry to your fortress: thatchery. This industry allows you to make wicker beds, chairs, bins, toys, and hats out of harvested materials. This activity is done in a new workshop called the "Thatchery". It also adds some new plants which are useful in the creation of wicker furniture and other products.

It should be completely compatible with any other mods.

Using this Mod

To use the mod, build a thatchery (b-w-T), and assign at least one dwarf to have the Plant Processing and Woodcrafting labors. Looking at the available options for the thatchery, you will see two classes of jobs: wicker preparation and wicker production.

In order to create wicker furniture and other products, you must first produce a bale of wicker with the Plant Processing labor. You can do this one of four ways:

* Dry wicker-capable plants (Sword palm, Golden Yucca, or Hagfinger Bush)
* Prepare wicker from a wicker-capable log (Strangletree)
* Bundle wicker-capable plants (Quarry Bush, Whip Vine, Blade Weed)
* Harvest wicker from a felled palm tree

(Because we didn't want to modify the core plants from Dwarf Fotress, they are treated differently.)

All of these are done from the thatchery, and produce a bale of wicker. The first two options (drying and bundling) require two plants to make one bale of wicker, but they drop seeds for the given plant used. Getting wicker from a felled palm tree only takes one log, but no byproducts are produced.

(You must obtain the plants or logs in the usual fashion. Plants must be either harvested or gathered, and palm trees must be chopped down to produce logs.)

Once you have one or more bales of wicker, you can start creating wicker items. Simply select the item you want to create, and a dwarf with the Woodcrafting labor assigned will produce the item. The items you can create are:

* Wicker chair
* Wicker bed
* Wicker bin
* Thatch doll
* Wicker hat

NEW PLANTS

This mod also introduces four new plants to the game to help support the creation of wicker items.

SWORD PALM - This spiny tuft of blade-like broad leaves with a spiky top grows in tropical areas. While its woody core is inedible, the body of the plant is edible, if unappetizing, when cooked. The seeds are colloquially called "dagger nuts" because they resemble smaller versions of the sword-like leaves. This plant cannot be used for brewing, but there are stories of it being successfully pressed for oil.

GOLDEN YUCCA - This hardy desert cactus is nothing but a giant mass of broad, spiky spines which, when properly prepared, are surprisingly strong and pliable, perfect for weaving baskets and other items. And while its seeds and leaves are edible if cooked, the Golden Yucca is best used for brewing, producing a tangy, potent drink called the "Golden Yucca Tequila". (Worm optional.)

HAGFINGER BUSH - This ugly, tenacious weed is one of the few things which can grow in the frozen wastes of the tundra. Dormant most of the year, it grows in a great spurt when there is a break in the cold, producing a cluster of twisted, gnarled stalks that resembles the fingers of an old hag, hence the name. The above-ground plant is totally unusable, but its more succulent lower part, normally hidden underground, is a delicious tuber connected to long, sinewy roots that can be used for wicker. The entire plant is a deep navy blue color, and when brewed, it produces a vibrant blue libation called "indigo ale", which, while delicious, also turns one's urine blue, making it the inspiration for much dwarven humor and poetry.

STRANGLETREE - This gnarled tree grows in the wet, swampy areas of the savage lands of the world. It gets its name from a legend about its long, ropy strands coming to life and strangling poor passers-by in the woods. In reality, it is a harmless tree, and its long, ropy tendrils are perfect for making wicker furniture.

See the README for installation instructions.