Chapter 177 - 123 : Year 31 - 36 Drought

Chapter 177: Chapter 123 : Year 31 - 36 Drought

When the harvest was gathered, the results confirmed their fears. Even in the better districts, farmers collected less grain than usual. Elsewhere, some fields produced barely enough to set aside seed for the next planting. Families with food stored from previous years had something to fall back on, but many of those who had only recently returned to neglected land had few reserves.

They had hoped a good harvest would give them enough to feed their families, save seed for the next season, and begin repaying the cost of seed and tools they had received from the Count. They also needed to meet the rents and other payments they owed.

Instead, many found themselves short of grain before they could cover even their most pressing needs. Some would have to keep more of their harvest for food and delay their payments, while others faced the prospect of buying grain before the next planting season with money they had hoped to save.

The shortage soon became apparent in the markets of the city of Veymont. With less grain arriving from the surrounding farms, prices began to rise. Farmers who had little to spare were reluctant to sell what remained, while those who brought grain to market demanded higher prices.

Merchants brought supplies from beyond the territory, but transport costs and the dangers along the roads added to the expense. Grain was still available, but fewer people could afford to buy as much as they had before.

For those who earned steady wages, the rising cost of food meant cutting back elsewhere. Some bought less of other necessities, while others postponed repairs, clothing purchases, and expenses that could wait.

The poorest had far less room to adjust. A labourer who unloaded carts or carried goods at the market might still find work, yet his wages bought less grain than they had a few months earlier. A craftsman could continue earning money and still struggle to feed his family if food prices rose faster than his income. Parents with young children and households caring for elderly relatives had even less freedom to reduce their spending on food.

As families devoted more of their earnings to keeping food on the table, the strain spread through the city’s trades. Craftsmen found fewer customers willing to pay for anything that was not essential, and merchants dealing in ordinary goods saw their sales fall. Some employers reduced working hours or stopped hiring extra hands, while those whose trades depended on farm produce suffered as less reached the market. Money that might once have gone toward tools, clothing, repairs, and household goods was increasingly spent on grain instead.

Lucian had expected a difficult harvest. He had not expected the strain to spread so quickly from the fields to the city’s markets and workshops. House Veymont had spent years encouraging people to return to farming because the territory’s recovery depended on a larger productive population. Now, even families who had found work or begun rebuilding their livelihoods were discovering that their earnings could no longer buy as much food as before.

The reports from the surrounding settlements brought another concern. People had begun leaving some of the worst-affected villages in search of food, work, or help from relatives. They did not all head for the city. Many moved toward the nearest market town or larger settlement, hoping to find grain for sale, day labour, or a household willing to take them in.

Some travelled toward neighbouring nobles’ lands where they believed the crops had fared better. Others made for Veymont, the largest centre of authority and trade in the immediate territory, where a busy market and greater number of people offered more chances to find work or seek assistance.

Families arrived in different ways. Some left together, carrying what they could manage, while others sent one or two members ahead to look for work and find out whether food was available before bringing the rest of the household. Among them were farmers who had lost much of their crops, labourers whose work had dried up, and families who had already spent most of their savings buying food.

The road had taken a heavy toll on many of those who reached the city. Dust clung to their clothes, their steps dragged, and some leaned on relatives to keep moving. Hunger showed in their drawn faces and watchful eyes. Their gazes followed baskets of food as they passed, while parents kept their children close, urging them onward when they stumbled or carrying the youngest when they still had the strength.

Some families guarded small bundles of clothing and other necessities, but others had lost their belongings to thieves along the road or abandoned them when they could no longer manage the weight. They had not all left their homes intending never to return. Yet after days of walking with little food and few safe places to rest, many arrived with little more than the clothes they wore and the hope of finding something to eat.

As the colder months approached, shelter became almost as urgent as food. Those unable to afford a room or find relatives willing to take them in had to make do with whatever shelter they could find, often sharing cramped spaces with other families while struggling to keep warm.

Children and older people were especially vulnerable after the journey, and the families who had come seeking food and work now faced another expense they could scarcely afford: a roof over their heads. Whatever they managed to earn had to stretch between meals and a place to sleep, while those who found no work had even fewer choices.

The growing movement placed pressure on smaller towns and settlements throughout the territory as well. Their markets and opportunities for work were limited, and many already depended on food brought in from surrounding farms.

As more people arrived seeking food, work, and shelter, local officials and the lesser nobles responsible for those districts began sending reports to Castle Veymont, describing the difficulties facing their communities and asking what measures they should take.

Some sought guidance on rationing the grain they had stored, while others warned that their reserves might not last through the coming months. A few lesser nobles also appealed directly to Lucian. Their own territories could not always provide enough grain, and rising prices made additional purchases increasingly difficult.

They had households to maintain and tenants who depended on them for protection and support, and some feared they would soon be unable to feed everyone under their care without help from House Veymont.

The strain was becoming difficult to ignore even within the castle. Servants returning from the markets spoke of higher prices, fewer goods, and growing numbers of people asking for help.

Those who came to Castle Veymont no longer asked only for seed, tools, or delays in their payments. Some sought temporary work, while others needed food because their supplies were running low. A few had travelled from distant settlements where several neighbouring households were struggling at once, leaving them with nowhere nearby to turn.

The reports troubled Lucy, but she understood that the house could not answer every request by opening its stores. The castle needed grain for the family and its servants, while the garrisons depended on regular provisions to keep their men fit for duty. With robberies and armed groups still threatening the roads, Lucian could not afford to leave his soldiers short of food. Nor could he commit every reserve to immediate relief when no one knew how long the shortage might last.

They had already begun helping some of the most affected settlements, but Lucy urged caution over how far that assistance could extend. The house could release more grain, sell a portion at a lower price, or help arrange food for particular households.

Each measure, however, would reduce what remained for later use. If the shortage deepened during the winter, they would need supplies for their own people and the soldiers protecting the territory. If the following growing season also failed, the demands on their reserves could become much greater.

Lucian therefore called for fuller reports from his officials and the five Viscounts under his authority. He wanted a clearer picture of how the drought had affected each district: how much grain remained in storage, how many households were already struggling to feed themselves, and what could be spared once immediate needs and seed for the next planting had been accounted for.

The reports were also to cover the state of their livestock and remaining fodder, identify the settlements facing the greatest hardship, and show where the available supplies could offer the most relief.

He expected each Viscount to do more than submit figures and wait for further orders. They had people of their own to look after, just as Lucian was responsible for those living directly under House Veymont. Each was to consider what help his lands could provide, whether by releasing some of the grain in storage, purchasing additional food where funds allowed, or assisting the households in greatest need.

If one district had more to spare than another, Lucian wanted to know that as well. It might allow them to arrange help where it was most needed without leaving those who gave it struggling to feed their own people. He was not asking anyone to exhaust their stores for the sake of another holding, but he would not have those who could offer reasonable help leave their neighbours to face the shortage alone.

Nor did he want anyone to assume that the coming rains would solve everything. The harvest had already failed, and even if the drought broke, no one could be certain how the next growing season would fare.

He instructed his officials and Viscounts to consider what would be needed if the shortage continued: how much grain should be preserved for planting, which water sources and existing means of bringing water to the fields could be maintained or improved, and where additional food might be obtained if local supplies proved insufficient.

Problems that could be addressed before the next planting season were to be dealt with while there was still time, rather than left until another failing crop forced them to act.

Lucian knew these measures could neither guarantee a good harvest nor spare everyone hardship. Still, they would give him and his Viscounts a clearer understanding of what they faced and more time to prepare.

If the rains came and the land recovered, some of their preparations might prove unnecessary. If the drought continued, they would at least have a better chance of meeting the next shortage without being caught as unprepared as they had been this time.