Just to add to what OBD said...
If you go back to your wholesaler society, you can purchase the Apothecary and Timbercraft books to make your own ink, quills and paper. That's the one you were able to join right away, not the scholar society where you buy your scholar/sage books.
Your apothecary and timbercraft skills will be very low at this point, just keep spamming your reactions and they will go up in no time.
Edited, Sun Mar 26 09:24:51 2006 by Dellannah