Preservatory

A business which doesn't sell directly to customers, but instead makes money by preserving farmers' and fishermens' goods for a proprietary fee. Columns of smoke roil day and night from the chimneys and vents in the roof and windows. The air inside is choked with steam and smoke, the flavor of salt assaults the senses and stings the eyes, and the heat is unbearable. But they do great work; boiling, canning, pickling, smoking, and salting meats and vegetables is a vital industry to ensure the people of Lakevale survive through the winter.

Alf Targle
The owner and proprietor who converted his previously failed business into a lucrative one by analysing demand in the town and meeting it. He employs two dozen workers, mostly teenagers and young adults without a trade, to prepare and preserve meats. A giant of a man, with broad shoulders, a barrel chest, a beer belly, and enormous arms and thighs, his eyes glare from a ruddy face under bristly black brows. He is a not a man who brooks cheating or disagreement, and has done time for several charges of assault or attempted murder. But his tireless management and the vital nature of his business ensures that he doesn't remain imprisoned for long. Uses the Commoner statblock, but uses a "handaxe" (cleaver) instead of a club.