Canarde Logging Camp
Skirting the Triste Woods along the western edge of Bastique, the Canarde Logging Camp has been established. The cabins that make up the camp were built many years ago as part of a Dublean sponsored effort to expand the city by building new homes, as well as to outfit their army with better bows, arrows and spears. Today, the Dubleans, the Sylvahni and even the Tupaulian Church sponsor the logging camp, as they are the only people willing to brave the infamous Triste Woods in order to chop down the precious Iron Wood trees.
The logging camp itself is made up of 2 long cabins in which the workforce sleeps, a cabin used as a mess hall and meeting room, the Matron's cabin and a large warehouse made of wood to store the logs that they chop. Both of the living quarters are built and furnished identically. Small square windows, enough for approximately 3 burly lumberjacks to crowd around to see through, line the walls of the cabin, providing natural light throughout the quarters.
There is only a single door to the quarters that, like the rest of the living quarters as well as the other cabins in the camp, is made out of simple wood taken from the forest. The door itself does not lock, however, there is little risk of anyone stealing from the lumberjacks as no one but those willing to work at the logging camp would dare to go anywhere near Triste Woods.
While the lumberjacks themselves could, indeed, steal from their colleagues, they would soon find themselves being dragged into the woods in the middle of the night and left there alone. Without food, warmth or any sign of the way back to the camp, the thief will often get lost in the misty forest and are often never heard from again. The thieves that make it back to the camp return changed, having learned to never take what doesn't belong to them.
Inside the cabin, from the right of the door, several wooden bunk beds are set throughout the room at regular intervals, between which are footlockers belonging to the lumberjacks. There are 20 bunk beds in each of the living quarters, many of which see sporadic use as the turnover rate for lumberjacks is quite high. Heavy green, woollen rugs cover the wooden floors of the cabin and encourage the residents not to traipse mud through the living quarters. Directly ahead of the door is a lounge area, filled with wooden chairs and tables, and a few old, comfy green sofas, all positioned around a fireplace that is normally kept lit at all times.
The mess hall is built similarly to the living quarters, however, it is much longer to provide enough room to allow all employees at the Canarde Logging Camp to attend at once, even when slightly over maximum capacity. Most of the room is filled with long tables with benches on either side of them. At the end of the hall is the servery counter, from which all lumberjacks collect their food from the resident chefs. The food served at the camp is far from the high-quality fare available at the restaurants in Duble or Sylvahn. Most meals consist of large bowls of porridge, plates of meat and bread and, on days when the camp has had a good haul of Iron Wood, bread and butter pudding. Behind the counter is the kitchen itself, which is largely ill-equipped, with only basic ovens and cauldrons and surfaces to prepare ingredients on.
The Matron's cabin is much smaller than the other two cabins, yet it only has a single resident. The current owner and Work Matron of Canarde Logging Camp is Madame Canarde. Born and raised at the camp, she inherited the camp from her father after he passed, and now runs the business better than he could ever have dreamed. Running the camp with an iron fist, many lumberjacks joke that Madame Canarde is actually the real Witch of the Woods, though none dare do so to her face. Not deeming it necessary to redecorate after she moved into her father's old cabin, the rooms are largely spartan, with only the most necessary furnishings available, suiting the personality of the buildings former inhabitant.
The only part of the cabin that deviates from this style is a corner in the living room where a decadently comfortable chair is positioned, looking at the open fireplace. A drinks cabinet lies next to the chair, filled with expensive alcohol, and on the other side of the chair is a small table, on which sits a drinking glass, a box filled with expensive cigars, a small pile of 4 books from a nearby bookshelf and a candle to read them by. The topmost book is actually a journal, written in a steady hand, detailing the life and innermost thoughts of the previous owner and Work Master of the Canarde Logging Camp, Madame Canarde's father.
The last building, the warehouse, is massive and is almost always at capacity for storage. This is due to the efficiency with which the lumberjacks cut the trees of the dense woods to ensure that they meet the demands of the 3 great superpowers of Bastique. Wood is not the only thing stored in the warehouse, though it is mainly what it is used for. The camp supplies are also stored here, along with any spare wagons for shifting wood around the camp and ferrying it over to their customers. Built as an extension to the warehouse on the side of the building, a small and simple stable has been erected where the camp keeps its horses. Most belong to the camp and are merely workhorses, however, some of the wealthier lumberjacks have travelled in on their own mounts and keep them here with the rest.
The main duty of the lumberjacks is, as one would guess of a lumberjack, to chop down trees for their wood. As the lumberjacks get a bonus based on performance, however, most of them will specifically stay on the lookout for Iron Wood trees, as these provide the most sought after wood and therefore come with the biggest payout. As well as their usual duties, all lumberjacks are placed on a rota for the night shift. It is the responsibility of those on the night shift to keep watch for anyone who attempts to steal from or raid the camp and to walk along the forest's edge, planting Iron Wood tree saplings to ensure that they do not do too much damage to the Woods and so that they never run out of the special wood. The most important duty performed on the night shift is to keep an eye on the Woods as a whole, to ensure that nothing comes out to snatch any of the employees. It is on night duty that the camp loses most of its newer staff, as they hear the howls and remember the stories of the Witch of the Woods, they decide to leave before becoming her next meal.
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