Mr Johnson's Butchers

Background

Cressund Town is one of The Towns in the Known World and as such is populated exclusively by Townsfolks. It is not quite the southernmost of the Towns but does sit closest to the edge of the Endless Forest, the woodland which marks the start of The Forests of The Wilds.
The river, called The Mercy, provides fresh water and transportation to other towns, but also splits the town in two. In the center of the town is the Town Square which sits in front of the Church in Cressund Town. On the western side of the square, in an area known as The Market, is where you'll find Mr Johnson's Butchers.

History

The area of Cressund Town which is home to Mr Johnson's Butchers is known as The Market because it is where trade people sell their wares. These men, who are not as important as the Men of Authority who live exclusively in The Right Hand, make the best of what they have with what they can do.
Mr Johnson's father was a carpenter, as was his grandfather and his great-grandfather. It was expected that Mr Johnson would continue in the family line.

Mr Johnson was always better at gambling than he was at carpentry and was fortunate enough to win the building itself in a high-stakes game at the infamous Mr Simmons' Betting Shop. At that time, the building was a failed florist's, and his father encouraged him to sell the cursed place to whoever would buy. But Mr Johnson saw his opportunity and seized it.
Twenty-seven years ago, he moved his young pregnant wife into the run-down building with instructions to "make it pretty" and has been happily butchering animals ever since.

Building

The building itself is clearly broken up into two main areas, those which service the shop and those of a residential nature. These are split over two floors and a large outhouse, which was once a greenhouse. The building is made of a combination of wattle and daub (the older parts of the house) and grey stone (the newer parts of the house). The outhouse sits in the middle of a courtyard at the back of the house, which was once a garden.

Ground Floor

The ground floor consists of two large rooms; the butchers shop itself at the front of the building with large multipane windows and a hefty wooden counter in the middle. The shop takes up about a third of the ground floor. The rest is a kitchen or preparation room, with several stone work tables where the meat is prepared for sale.

First Floor

The first floor is the residence and contains its own kitchen, a small living room, two bedrooms and a closet which has been turned into a third bedroom.
The rooms are all fairly small, and there is no space for corridors, so one room leads into another which can make things awkward.

Outhouse

The outhouse is a sizeable stone building and contains three areas. At one end is the cold storage, which is well-ventilated and furthest from any other buildings. Then there is a general storage area, which contains barrels of salted meats. On the other end of the building is the smoker, where meats like bacon and sausages are cured before being sold.

Purpose

While Mr Johnson and his wife and daughters do not sit very high on the Social Hierarchy of Townsfolk, they and their butchers shop are still at the heart of Cressund Town. They are known as far away as Laymond Town for providing exquisite cuts, and Mrs Johnson is said to know the gossip before it's had a chance to happen.

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