Heathbrand cast a baleful eye across the pile of letters that was spread out on the table before him. Most were requests or inquiries about the eastern spices and trinkets he had been offering 'wholesale' to the merchants of Bree, but there was one parchment that was not and that was the one his eye kept returning to. It was a letter from Trestlebridge, and for all intents and purposes it contained a plea for help.
The hand was coarse, and looked as though it had been written with charcoal rather than ink and quill. It was from a man named Beecher, a supervisor of the builders in that town. He said they were in desperate need of lumber. Many homes had been destroyed in fiery and inexplicable explosions that had left many dead and many more wounded. The bridge itself was under constant attack and thus in need of constant repair. Beecher said that they had petitioned many times to the mayor of Bree, but Tenderlach had either done nothing or what help he had sent had been waylaid and destroyed by orcs prowling the Greenway. He had gold, he said, but he needed surety that he would receive the goods he needed. He said he had heard of the Mercer dealings, and asked that he broker a shipment of lumber from Taylor Green with the promise that it would arrive safely in the war torn northern town.
Heathbrand sighed as he read the letter for the third time. Typical. Bree hides its head while its enemies crouch and move ever closer. He threw the parchment on top of the others and slumped back in his chair. Well, the gold was sufficient. And Taylor Green ran a thriving business, the materials would not be difficult to get. Perhaps it was time to see what this new agent, this Belegander, would do when it came to dealing with suppliers and caravan guards. At least people were beginning to see where the true strength lay in Breeland...and that there was at least one Breelander whose word still held steel. He reached for a clean piece of parchment and his ink and quill to pen a short reply. It was a start, at least.
Heathbrand smiled.
