Paperwork and ledgers, inventory and numbers. They weren't strangers, not exactly. More like old friends from a life left behind, only now visiting. Not the friendly kind of visitors, the ones who come bearing gifts and pies and then go about their business. These were the kind of friends you've forgotten some of the details of, the sort who swing by and outlast their welcome, the kind you wouldn't mind leaving. Work that had to be done.
It was one of those changes he hadn't expected, the devious sort that you didn't realize was growing until someone pointed out that you had an auroch in the room. Originally the Duskbreak only had need for emergency stores of food and supplies; Preserved foods that would last, the kind that wouldn't mind if no one visited in a long while. Eventually the building became less of a stash and more of a home, and actual foodstuffs and day-to-day necessities became staples. Drinks, alcohols, stocks of bottles and a surplus of wines added to regular shopping trips. Then came the rest: Ores and metals for upkeep, cloth and leather for repairs, raw ingredients for cooking and baking - even if that last one wasn't on the list any longer - and the sort of duties, tasks and deeds that went with owning and operating a functional housing unit. It became almost mechanical in exercise as the occupants didn't vary much. Plus one here, minus one there, the required stocks didn't fluctuate terribly much. Inventory was something he hated doing as a boy, but the requirements didn't go away anymore than his disdain for the process did.
When he came across the anomaly he had to doublecheck; The number of things he needed to buy on the regular was so unwavering that at first he suspected he'd zoned out and merely missed the count. A second perusal showed there was no error, however: Despite no additional meals or gatherings, he was missing a suspiciously high number of dried foodstuffs. There wasn't a mistake about it, and not even extra snacking or hungry cravings could account for the fact that the Duskbreak was missing enough food to feed two or three extra people.
Old friends you didn't prefer to see, indeed.
It was one of those changes he hadn't expected, the devious sort that you didn't realize was growing until someone pointed out that you had an auroch in the room. Originally the Duskbreak only had need for emergency stores of food and supplies; Preserved foods that would last, the kind that wouldn't mind if no one visited in a long while. Eventually the building became less of a stash and more of a home, and actual foodstuffs and day-to-day necessities became staples. Drinks, alcohols, stocks of bottles and a surplus of wines added to regular shopping trips. Then came the rest: Ores and metals for upkeep, cloth and leather for repairs, raw ingredients for cooking and baking - even if that last one wasn't on the list any longer - and the sort of duties, tasks and deeds that went with owning and operating a functional housing unit. It became almost mechanical in exercise as the occupants didn't vary much. Plus one here, minus one there, the required stocks didn't fluctuate terribly much. Inventory was something he hated doing as a boy, but the requirements didn't go away anymore than his disdain for the process did.
When he came across the anomaly he had to doublecheck; The number of things he needed to buy on the regular was so unwavering that at first he suspected he'd zoned out and merely missed the count. A second perusal showed there was no error, however: Despite no additional meals or gatherings, he was missing a suspiciously high number of dried foodstuffs. There wasn't a mistake about it, and not even extra snacking or hungry cravings could account for the fact that the Duskbreak was missing enough food to feed two or three extra people.
Old friends you didn't prefer to see, indeed.
![[Image: yEROfKO.png]](http://i.imgur.com/yEROfKO.png)
