Thimmonier
Thimmonier
Small town at the beginning of the Tal River delta in Dolac.
Surrounded by farms; mostly sheep and hemp. Part of the core business of Thimmonier; fabrics and clothes.
Access to the Tal River, and the Sarodin Sea through the Tal Delta, gives Thimmonier access to some of the largest cities in the world to export their goods to.
The town is built around a round central square (Maiden Sq.) from which the main roads radiate like the drive wheel spokes of a spinning wheel. At the center of the square stands a simple wooden church dedicated to Beory. While perhaps Ulaa would have made more sense in the present day as industry is booming, Thimmonier’s roots lie in farming of both crops and animals.
Thimoniers population and industry is largely dependent on their wool and hemp production to fuel the fabric and fashion industry they live off.
Yarns & Noble
Situated at the corner of Bench Street and Maiden Square is the somewhat prestigious store front of Yarns & Noble. A large spool adorns the top of the store. Y&N sells fabrics as well as clothing. It’s owner, Hank of Yarn, runs the company and designs exceptionally fine clothing.
Which is in large part too expensive for regular folk and mostly exported to larger cities in the world.
If you follow Bench street towards ‘Mother Of All Harbor’ you walk past the entire production plant of Yarns & Noble. Built up from the ground up by several generations of Yarns, they are now one of the largest manufacturers of fabric and clothes in the town.
Over time they have bought all surrounding property and now have virtually all their business located along one street. This streamlines production and efficiency.
Raw materials are brought in riverside, either by cart or by boat and loaded into the main warehouse. Materials move closer and closer to Maiden square through various buildings; fiber extraction, spinning, weaving and knitting. Then fabrics are packed for export or move into the sewing ateliers near the storefront at Maiden Square. Where final products move back to the warehouse for distribution or into the store.
Yarns & Noble is not unique in having most of the the production process under own management. But they are the only one that has all their business situated in one street instead throughout the village.
As with all companies in Thimmonier, they are part of the ‘Weavers and Tailors Guild’.
The guilds hold craftsmanship in high regard. Cutting corners is frowned upon and could get you expelled out of the guild. Making trade in and out of Dolac virtually impossible.
Allegedly there have been attempts to use magic to expedite production. Guild bosses have been very strict in maintaining the manual aspect of the production to keep the craftsmanship alive.
Yarns & Noble saw their main competitor fold under the pressure of the guilds. Eldritch Honor briefly hired magic users for production, but they were quickly let go.
In a Y&N warehouse that's rarely used Hank is working on a machine to automate sewing. Should this succeed, he can up the production of clothes without the use of magic. With a possible contract with the Ott to produce military uniforms this could make Y&N the largest textile manufacturer in the world.
Hank of Yarn - owner Y&N
This greyish man in his 60s carries a vigor and childlike joy.
He’s hardworking and exceptionally kind. He lives for his company and has a nose for fine tobacco. Except when sleeping he can be seen with a pipe in his mouth.
He’s married to Skein of Yarn, a pretty woman from the northern country. Together they have three kids.
As the head of Yarns & Noble Hank carries the weight of the world.
Being the 7th generation of Yarn in Thimmonier expectations were high from when he was a kid. His parents valued education above all else. They were very strict. Whenever he could he’d skip school and play in the factory, help the various departments. By the time he was in his teens he knew the entire company inside and out. Because he spent so much time in the factory, the employees loved him. Morale went up when he sneaked in and quietly started helping.
He understood the importance of his workers. When he took over from his dad, Bobbin, growth of Yarns & Noble took flight.
Hank has an impeccable reputation until quite recently when he was accused and convicted for stealing designs from another company. This news shocked Thimmonier. Though this act could not go without sanction.
When the verdict was announced, the judge was mild with a 2500 gold fine and . But he spoke out his disappointment; “apparently there are no good men anymore”.
Stitch Hartfelt - Production leader
An imposing man with a stern look on his face and a high hat on his head. The hat is a bit too tall for comfort giving him a slightly odd appearance.
He used to work his workers hard. Hank has plied him into a much nicer man.
Eldritch Honor
Main competitor of Yarns & Noble. They hold the entire process under their own management, but warehouses and workshops are scattered throughout Thimmonnier.
For a brief moment the owner tried to expedite certain parts of the manufacturing by hiring magic users. The Guilds bosses frowned upon this practice however and they quickly abandoned this practice to keep their Guild license.
Though there are still quiet whispers that the owner, Marco Viburnius, has dealings with magic and creatures not of this plane. There have allegedly been cases of employees going missing without a trace. The Guild has looked into this and could only conclude this to be gossip. Viburnius has a reputation of working people to their limits and wearing them down. It’s not unlikely for his workers to run off and try their luck elsewhere.
Eldritch’ has been through a rapid growth in Thimmonier. The founder Mr. Fiburnius has turned a failing weavery into a success and has done the same with take-overs of other small workshops in Thimonier. No-one would say it out loud, but not all take-overs were voluntary.
Eldritch has messengers running through town constantly, providing workshops with orders and materials.
Unlike Yarns & Noble, where new designs are presented seasonally, Eldritch has a more ‘on demand approach’. Workshops produce ‘grey’s’ (Which are basically shapeless blanks of the final product.) and keep those in stock.
Whenever something is in schwung, they would simplify the pattern and send it off to the workshops where they would construct the garments from ‘grey’s’.
This process makes Eldritch very nimble and the risks of producing garments that don’t sell are minimalized.
Eldritch Honor has plans on expanding the business out of Thimmonier, placing workshops and stores in all major cities. By constructing communication through magical means they could put orders out and distribute almost instantly. And, because communication has nothing to do with workmanship the guilds can do very little about this. Once their international business is set up they would not need the guilds anymore anyways.
Marco Viburnius - Owner
Viburnius is a relatively new player in Thimmonier. He bought out the owner of a failing weavery and turned things around. He keeps expanding his business by taking over other smaller businesses and is now well on his way to become the number two in Thimmonier. Like Yarns & Noble he controls the entire process. He made attempts in acquiring farms to take hold of the raw materials as well, but the Guilds did not agree. Now there are some farmers that only sell to Eldritch Honor, they say because it’s in their mutual benefit.
Yeb Nug - Lead designer
A tall thin man with immaculately styled grey hair.
He has an exceptional eye for fashion and trends. He sends out scouts, to pick up on the next hot thing. Then they bring it home and Yeb gives the design his own twist.
He likes to work on private projects, but Eldritch rarely puts them out as there is more risk involved with new designs.
To his horror one of his designs was stolen by their main competitor, Yarns & Noble. It was a booming success as well. This could have been his breakthrough to make his own work. But alas. All Y&N designs were called back. Eldritch did not want to manufacture the design, leaving Yeb disgruntled.