Reeve
A reeve is the person in charge of a local granary, silo, warehouse, or the like. Establishing a granary to have the central location of foodstuffs and raw materials really helps a hamlet grow into a village or small town. Families often prefer to gather all their food needs at a granary instead of dealing with different farmers and hunters.
Career
Qualifications
Reeves need to know how to safely store a variety of materials. Being able to remember or keep notes on which types of containers work best for different goods is essential.
Reeves work with a great wealth of people. Those who bring raw goods for storage (farmers, ranchers, hunters), and the artisans and villagers who wish to partake of the granary stores. Thus, reeves need to have good social skills.
Reeves should maintain strength-building exercises, as thet will be expected to move sacks, crates, or jars of foodstuffs within the granary.
A strong part of the reeve's time is in trade. Negotiation is important, as is being proactive with producers to change to a different crop or direct hides for export to other towns and villages.
Reeves in an area that has established currency often work on consignment, taking a portion in coin from the selling price of the item, with the rest going back to the original producer. Here, record keeping and mathematics are of increased importance to keep track of purchase prices.
Career Progression
Apprenticeship
As in most professions in the land, reeves are trained through the apprentice system, and often the children of existing reeves. During this time, they are titled "Apprentice"
Apprentices will learn what foodstuffs and other raw materials their granary or warehouse stores. They help local farmers with their harvests; this builds community ties.
They will also spend at least an hour each day with local hearthtenders. This shows the basics of cooking, and the hearthtenders' experience with fire and heat teaches the young reeves how to protect goods from heat or cold.
Journeyors
When students demonstrate their knowledge of the products of their village, they graduate to journeyor reeves. A journeyor reeve is often called simply "Reeve", but can be called a "young reeve" to indicate their status. Journeyors interact with the public, though any new trades for the granary need the elder Reeve's approval.
At this level, young reeves continue to work within an existing granary or warehouse. They will check storage levels of various stocks, and reach out to a supplier if a stock is either in demand but too low, or if a stock is not being asked for.
Mastery
When a reeve gets his or her own warehouse, they become its master. At this point, all the decisions for which items to store and how much fall upon them. If the granary has a product that is not being consumed, the reeve needs to find an outlet for it. This might be working with artisans for an alternate use or contacting reeves in other locations to see if they could use the stock. They arrange transports between communities if the villagers have a need or desire for items not produced locally. They also work with village leadership, as the reeve's perspective on the use of its foodstocks is a great indicator of the community's growth or descent.
Payment & Reimbursement
In exchange for storing and distributing a particular product, they can claim a small percentage of that product for their own.
Reeves often work on the consignment system. for areas with currency. The supplier sets their own price, but the reeve collects a small percentage once the item sells.
Other Benefits
Managing the central stores of a community allows you access to those stores.
Reeves often become central figures in their community as everyone comes to them, either to deliver foodstock or to claim some for their family.
Perception
Purpose
Reeves and their associated warehouses and granaries help their communities grow. They provide a central space for trading raw materials and foodstuffs. This alleviates the farmer or lumberer from having to store and distribute the goods themselves; instead, the suppliers can focus on growing / gathering more materials. Likewise, builders, artisans, and families now only have to go to one place in order to gather their needed items.
Social Status
Reeves often feel a calling to the Faere Path. Those reeves who display the handshake icon on their granaries are both expected to be fair and treat all customers with respect. In turn, they are trusted more by their community and fall under the protections of Perris Faere.
Demographics
People of every stripe can become reeves dependent on their community. Even Ravenwatch has corvids who gathers seed pods from the landing trees and deposits them in a central location.
In small villages, it is pretty common for a family to establish the village granary together. The married couple and their children run the store.
In The City and in ports, you will most likely find Reeves who are not the dominant species of the community.
History
When the first farmers realized they needed to have a dedicated storage space to dry wheat or corn, and the storage at their farm was in overflow, either one of the farmer's children would erect a building to store that overflow.
Hunters and trappers found the new granary a useful place to drop off their meats and skins as well.
Operations
Tools
A reeve's tools are the set of containers he or she has available to collect their goods. These consist of wooden crates and chests, fabric baskets, ceramic pots are all examples of containers used in the reeve's granary.
The reeve also keeps a supply of sacks and trays for customers tto use, as well as hand shovels and the like to transfer foodstock from one bin to another.
Workplace
Granaries and warehouses are often the "cool, dry place" that goods will store the best and longest within.
Provided Services
Reeves take on goods from suppliers and distribute them to their local village, or export them via a transport to another community.
Dangers & Hazards
Improper storage, or storage of something new, might lead to hazardous effects. One coastal granary found this out when taking on a large harvest of greengourds. The large, heavy melons fermented within their rinds which swelled to bursting. Over 50 of the gourds exploded at the same time, not just spewing greengourd juice and pulp everywhere, but also knocked down the granary wall they were stacked against.
Comments
Author's Notes
When I make greengourds, they are essentially watermelons.