Baker's Journal

Titel: Baker's Journal

Autor: Antony Bath

The past few months have been horrid for business with the rising cost of goods and the lack of large farms nearby the city of Trinsic. My wife has been pestering me to sell out my ownership and to retire on the coast for a few years now, but with the harsh business climate I fear it may be some time before that's possible.

Another rise in the cost of flour imported in from Yew is causing my prices to have to be raised... and I've already seen the protests that happened at the weaponsmith's last week.

I hope that things don't continue in this vein.

I had to lay off one of my three assistant bakers today, to keep us afloat. I don't want to close down this shop, as it's been mine for over two decades now. One of my friends who works for the butcher was attacked and beaten badly last eve, and had his belongings stolen. The guards managed to arrest one of the suspects but the others got away.

I had to close the shop early as we ran out of flour and the next shipment isn't for three days. The shipping lanes have been fraught with piracy over the past few weeks, and our shipments only come biweekly now by sea due to this danger. Supposedly there will be new caravan shipments to offset this, but there haven't been any yet.

Flour costs rose again after an entire shipment was stolen by pirates. I've had customers I've known for years come in and ask me how I can justify charging so much for things that just a year ago were almost half this price. I tried to make Jeffrey understand but he just sneered at me and left. Everyone's been on edge lately, and the increase in arrests hasn't made the tension lessen.

As we tried to close this evening we came outside into a group of people armed with torches and various weapons. Almost before I could think they assailed myself and my assistant, and I just managed to yank her back inside before Virtues know what might have happened. I managed to scream for the guards loud enough that the mob beat a retreat, and the guards had to douse a fire that they had hastily set... what is happening?