Hârn Craftsman Miller Guild
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| CREDITS |
| WRITERS |
| Nicholas Lowson |
| ARTIST |
| Nicholas Lowson |
| Dover Art Books |
| EDITOR |
| Nicholas Lowson |
| THANKS TO |
| The Hârn Forum members, especially, Leitchy, Fastred, Balesir, Charlemagne and Sophia |
Contents
Millers' Guild
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MILLERS
The Guild of Millers and Millwrights are one of the most important guilds in western Lythia and have a defacto monopoly on the ownership of mills and milling. The masters millers are well respected and often wealthy members of their local communities, and have a good degree of influence with the Mangai due to their milling partnerships, strong guild and communal links and the influence that they have over the staple crops, spices, and mineral ores of Harn.
URBAN, RURAL & INDUSTRIAL MILLS
There are three types of guild franchise: urban, rural and industrial mills. Urban franchises are located in towns and villages, rural mills are found on the manorial fiefs, while the industrial mills are located near mines, saltpans or clothier guild operations. Generally, the distinction between franchises is not so much the process, but the milled products, although some industrial mills are unusual. A guild franchise will strictly control the products that a miller can mill, with strict controls on urban and industrial mills.
Urban Mills
Urban Mills are located in the chartered towns and larger villages of Harn. Given the size of the population centres, multiple franchises are likely, as each franchise is limited to either cereal milling and baking or spice supply and double mills are not allowed. Even with the restrictions, urban franchises tend to be more profitable than rural franchises, as the fief holder has to enforce quern licences on the local populace. This means that the volume of trade is significantly higher at urban franchises, and easily offsets the slightly higher rents the master has to pay to the fief holder.
Rural Mills
Rural mills are the manorial franchises of Harn, and about 40% of all manors have a mill. Unlike urban franchises, they are not limited to only one product, and double or even one or two triple mills are known. Indeed, a rural franchise may even be granted an industrial franchise as well. For this reason, rural mill franchises tend to be bigger operations than the urban mills, and the miller is often one of the principal freemen and employers on an estate. However, despite the range of industry, a rural franchise is not as profitable as an urban one as a rural franchise does not always benefit from quern licensing.
Industrial Mills
There are four types of industrial franchise on Harn – fulling, crushing mills, polishing and forge mills – and they are the partnership franchises of the Millers’ Guild. Of the four, fulling mills are by far the most common, and are run in partnership with the Clothiers Guild. The second most common are the crushing mills run in partnership with the Miners’ Guild. Lastly are the two quite rare polishing and forge mills that are run in partnership with the Weaponcrafter and Metalsmiths’ Guild respectively. As such, the industrial mill is almost always located at or near the establishment of the partner guild, with the partner guild being the senior partner. In fact, the industrial franchises are granted primarily so that the control of the milling technology remains with the Millers’ Guild.
MILLERS MEASURE’S
The guild has a standard set of dry measures for the grain and products that they mill. Different millers will favour using some weights and not others of the ones listed depending on the goods they mill and the quantities they tend to work in.
| Wey / Load 320 Gallons |
| Chaldron 288 Gallons |
| Tun 216 Gallons |
| Butt 108 Gallons |
| Seam/ Quarter 64 Gallons |
| Coomb 32 Gallons |
| Sack/Bag 24 Gallons |
| Strike/Barrel 16 Gallons |
| Bushel 8 Gallons |
| Bucket 4 Gallons |
| Peck 2 Gallons |
| Gallon 1 Gallon |
| Quart 1/4 Gallon |
| Pint / Ingot 1/8</sub> Gallon |
Note: A quarter of grain is enough to keep an adult alive for one year (8 bushels).
Also, these measures are dry volume measures, and not weights. The relative weights of a Bushel are:
| Mineral Ore ~200 Pounds |
| Honey/Jam 128 Pounds |
| Water/Beer/Wine 80 Pounds |
| Salt 75 Pounds |
| Unmilled Grain 70 Pounds |
| Apples 64 Pounds |
| Milled Grain 60 Pounds |
| Flour (sifted) 50 Pounds |
| New Hay 54 Pounds |
| Old Hay 501/2 Pounds |
| Straw 321/2 Pounds |
THE MILLER AND THE MILLWRIGHT
Although there are many specialties within the Guild of Millers and Millwrights, the two main classifications are the Miller and the Millwright. About 90 per cent of the guild members are millers in some form while the remaining number are the millwrights, the milling engineers.
The Miller
The miller is the manager of the mill. He his responsible for the day-to-day operations, and is skilled in the techniques needed to produce a fine milled product, be it flour, malt or fulled cloth. The miller is knowledgeable of the products he produces, and is usually a dab-hand at the general maintenance the mill requires.
Once attaining the rank of master, a miller becomes quite settled, commonly remaining in the same community until his days are over. Indeed, since the mill is a major focus of the community, the miller becomes a central figure in the daily life of the settlement. He’ll know everyone and everyone’s business, or at least have a pretty good idea. The miller will generally be well respected and, so long as his product is decent enough, well liked – although some will likely be jealous of his relative wealth.
The Millwright
The Millwright is an important guild specialty. These are the mill engineers, and the true custodians of the milling technology. They are familiar with the construction, operation and maintenance of large machinery and will have some understanding of heavy equipment like drawbridges, derricks, gates and the like.
Unlike the master miller, the master millwright’s skills are widely sought and possessed by few, so the millwright’s life is much more travelled than even a journeyman miller. He will often move from community to community to oversee the building of a new mill or water-wheel here and the clearing of a mill race there. The recent introduction of forge mills, as well as the still fairly new fulling mills has meant that the millwright is still strongly in demand despite grain mills being almost ubiquitous.
Guild Relationships
While the two occupations – miller and millwright – are quite different in their day-to-day roles, they are both very much a part of the same guild. Progress to either master miller or master millwright starts out the same way – as an apprentice miller. Once learning the basics as an apprentice, the guild member becomes a journeyman and, depending on aptitude, can at that time look to be a miller, or to specialise as a millwright. Once a master, the miller or the millwright has an equal say in the operations of the guild, and both can rely on the guild’s full support and consideration.
Modifications to Character Generation
GMs and Players who wish to use or play a miller or millwright might wish to consider the following modifications to the Character Generation process:
OPTIONAL RULES: HARNMASTER, ANY EDITION Instead of Milling/4, Engineering/3, Agriculture/3 and Script, occupational skills are as follows: MILLER: Milling/4, Agriculture/3, Animalcraft/2, Rhetoric/4, Engineering/2, Woodcraft/3, Herblore/1, Script, plus one of: Brewing/2, Hidework/2, Perfumery/2, Mining/2 or Textilecraft/2 (depending on mill type) MILLWRIGHT: Engineering/3, Woodcraft/3, Milling/3, Masonry/2, Lockcraft/2, Agriculture/2, Animalcraft/2, Folklore/3, Script (This represents 7 skill levels above base per profession, in line with the likes of Innkeepers)
These changes give the miller and millwright a better representation of their skills. Millers will know something of the business of their customers – brewers, farmers, or clothiers – and also reflect their position at the heart of the community. Millwrights are less practiced in the day-to-day milling, but they are now more capable of carrying out the major repairs and fine maintenance that the mill requires – although not as expertly as a woodcrafter or mason.
Game Play
Depending on the type of game being run, millers and millwrights offer interesting character types to play, though they do face certain restrictions.
The millers’ career does look to a future as a master miller who settles in a single community. Adventuring would tend to be limited – especially during their busy harvest season – but would be possible in the early summer. However, the journeyman role would be quite suitable, as the journeyman moves from community to community to learn his trade, and new tales could unfold in each community. Millers who are no longer a part of the guild would still possess many useful skills upon which they could make a living, and their abilities at Rhetoric and Intrigue make them useful in trading campaigns and court politics.
Millwrights are eminently suitable for adventuring. While work will get in the way every now and then, their travelled lifestyle will fit with many parties. They also possess a number of useful skills for a group – like Lockcraft and Engineering – and all legitimately obtained.
MILLERS AND MILLWRIGHTS GUILD
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Notes
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