When not battling dire foes Throg likes to spend his time at bench or forge honing his crafting skills. He will never be a tailor I fear for his his stubby little fingers cannot grasp a needle without injury but he is proud to have achieved master journeyman status in both prospecting and forestry. Thus was his attention caught in Bree Craft Hall this evening when a young Elvish Lady called out for help to boil a batch of leathers she had collected. In the cold lands of Ered Luin Elves and Dwarves are not on best of terms but Bree is a melting pot of all sorts and Throg is not a dwarf to turn down the chance of making a few silver. He offered his services to the young elf in exchange for some trifle. She was most taken aback that he sought charge for his services. Throg was too polite to call the lady a tightpurse but he did feel somewhat agrieved that she expected him to work for nothing especially considering fine price that boiled leathers might fetch at auction. Happily it transpired that she had in her possesion some ore that our dwarven friend could use and the pair agreed mutually satisfactory terms.
During the course of their discussions Throg realised that she was not really attempting to cheat him. It seems there are many junior Foresters who will indeed work for free simply to train their own skills. Laudible as this desire for self advancement may be it does devalue the fruits of their labours and lessens the price that may be obtained by trained craftsmen who try to sell their wares.
It is a pity, Throg thinks, that the Crafting Guilds do not prevent apprentices from producing saleable goods while training. It would be better to force apprentices to learn their trade making useless gubbins that cannot be sold. True this would increase the cost of learning a trade but it would also increase the potential earnings of those who are fully trained.
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