[OL - FB] Sutler's shop

[Keymonus]

El Oleonda, March 620, Fort Arltrees

Fort Arltrees is a small military outpost, nothing more than a rudimentary palisade surrounding some tents and a couple of large huts… this is how all the settlements begin: it strange to think, but even Breshaun, during its first days, was nothing more than that. Any real possibility of development, however, is delayed until the end of the hostilities, when the arrival of civilians, regular shipping of supplies and, in general, the construction of more permanent builds will be possible. Living in Fort Arltrees in fact, is something very, very dangerous: an attacker wouldn't do any distinction between soldiers and civilians. However, a place where soldiers have no way to spend their wages offers a lot of opportunities to merchants who are brave enough.

Sutlers are civilian sellers who follow soldiers almost to the battlefield. Sometimes they are hated and considered profiteers, but they also represent the only ones who can provide anything beyond rations, uniforms and weapons: tobacco, paper and writing implements, candles, a good knife or a whetstone, a linchpin or a mug, even some liquors… these little commodities are not cheap, up to five times their real value, but they can make far more comfortable the permanence in such a desolate place.

In Fort Arltrees the sutler's shop, actually a large stall with a few improvised tables, represents the only place where soldiers can spend their free time: it soon has become a sort of little tavern, a meeting point that the soldiers simply call "the store"... there is no possibility of mistake about which store, since it is the only one!

Soon a little kitchen was established too: soldiers have to pay, but food is by far better than ordinary rations.

Even if this little commercial activity drains money from the soldiers' pockets, it represents a fundamental step for the growth of Fort Arltrees: taxation on little activities like this one provides to the commander of the fort some extra funds for the development of further projects, such as attracting settlers and starting some little farms. This, however, will be only possible after the end of the Carno-Lotii war… provided that the settlement will survive that long!

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This is the first economically relevant build in Fort Arltrees. I wanted it to be a very simple, provisory build, and I think I achieved the result… now I think that the next step is starting building something a little more sophisticated, maybe a blacksmith or a real canteen! Any idea? What would you like to see next?

Edited November 10, 2020 by Keymonus

[Pdaitabird]

Nice build! The style really fits the backstory of a frontier establishment. 

[blackdeathgr]

Heheheh, nice little build. I was actually running such a "store" for a semester or so when I was in the Army  (before moving to a remote Comms outpost afterwards).

Edited April 10, 2020 by blackdeathgr

[Bodi]

It's good to see some variation to the routine soldier-related builds, nice job!

[LM71Blackbird]

A great addition to the fort façade! All the goods and trinkets for sale really give the build some depth and help the story quite a bit.

[Khorne]

Nice build! It's cool to see a fledgling settlement. I like the liveliness of the whole scene and the way it looks really "simple" and "basic". It reminds me of the first season of Deadwood, when the settlement was also mainly formed of simple tents.