Stockyard

This is something of a more elaborate table, presenting a wide variety of animals and services that would be generally available in that part of town that would include stockyards, but would probably not be limited to them. For players in my world, I have included the cost of things an abattoir might provide, such as a side of beef (as opposed to the much higher price at the grocery/inn) which, while a cheap source of meat, does require some care in keeping fresh. Obviously, the cantrip freshen is of great use there, though continued exposure on the road might yet contaminate the meat in a manner that doesn't include the meat actually rotting (a parasitic infestation from fresh meat is still possible).

The 'stun price' merely means the fee asked for to have some other fellow kill your cow or your pig for you (if that sort of thing is beneath your character's dignity). It's cheap, but since it's a few coppers or silver for one swing of the hammer, it's a good deal for the young fellow who's been contracted. Nor do you have to kill your own dog, as Steinbeck suggests ... here's a price to have someone do it for you. I would imagine, though it's not included, that an additional price might be needed if the dog is rabid; I preferred to leave that up to the haggling process.

And yes, if the player is prepared to give over their time, they will be paid a copper apiece to stun 35 pigs, or ten sheep, or 8 s.p. for four cows. As ever, the table indicates the total week's availability, so for casual labor that's all the player can get each week. It is necessary that the player be capable of doing a good job ... so those without prior experience may find themselves paying out the cost of a whole cow if they don't know how to hit the thing right.

I do mean to add many more features like that as I go on; I still want to get through the whole list of marketable goods, going back to work on the lapidary & jeweller, then increasing the number of services and features of that nature. There's nothing final about any of these lists. As ever, players in the game who request something be added are always appreciated.

Occasionally there's a glitch in the program that produces a zero price, such as the 0 c.p. the shop is willing to pay to have you provide slaughtered meat. I do try to program these things out, but they're easily ignored. In this case, since the shop is buying, the price really would be nothing. On the other hand, if the price were 0 in the selling to the character section (gray), then it is always read as 1 copper piece.

Wild animals are kept in a pen or cage (such as in the case of the wild dog), but the cage is not provided in the sale. The character must provide their own halter, harness, muzzle or cage if they wish to buy that particular creature. Obviously the benefit is that its cheap, and can be trained by the character if the effort is made. So rarely I find, however, that characters are prepared to simply say, "We remain in town for three months and train our animals and followers, and get to know the place." It is perhaps a habit from the modern world that players are always in such a hurry with their characters.

I'm particularly proud of the ritual slaughter prices.