Bristol Channel · 1348
Wool, fear, and narrowing margins at the western port
A late medieval life simulation set in Bristol in 1348, where port work, church charity, merchant credit, and the first whispers of plague turn every ordinary hardship sharper.
Opening situation
Summer trade is supposed to be good for a working household, but credit is tightening, food remains dear, and sailors are bringing back uglier rumors than anyone wants to hear in daylight.
Harbor work is still available, but merchants are hiring with more suspicion.
Disease rumors are beginning to alter behavior before anyone can prove their scale.
Bread, rent, and debt are already harsh enough to make panic dangerous.
Locations
harbor
Ships, wool, fish, and dock labor under the eyes of customs men and merchants.
market
Where quality, reputation, and small mistakes all have prices attached.
religious
Charity, sermons, burials, and public standing all converge here.
social
News runs here faster than honesty, and both can ruin a person.
residential
Crowded household rooms, butchers' waste, and the ordinary closeness of town poverty.
travel
The road inward and outward, carrying carts, rumors, and trouble from elsewhere.
Factions
economic · influence 78
Well-capitalized families trying to keep profit steady as fear grows.
religious · influence 69
Clerics, alms, and social pressure working together uneasily.
social · influence 57
Hard-used laborers who know how quickly a bad week becomes a bad year.
political · influence 64
Officials who care about order, revenue, and visible compliance.
NPCs
cloth factor
A careful wool and cloth man who measures people the way he measures goods.
alehouse keeper
A practical alewife who hears everything and trusts very little.
parish priest
A priest trying to keep fear from turning into disorder.
quay porter
Strong-backed and near broke, with more temper than leverage.
herb wife
A practical healer working at the edge of respectability and need.
World state
Reputation and parish standing matter almost as much as coin.
Guild and merchant interests shape who gets protection and who does not.
Open defiance of officials is costly unless backed by stronger men.
Fear of moral disorder often falls hardest on the already vulnerable.
Bristol depends heavily on trade, credit, and harbor labor.
Ordinary hardship was already severe before disease rumors sharpened it.
Church life, charity, and social discipline are inseparable in daily survival.
Freeform play
Risk low
Look for carrying or loading labor at the harbor.
Risk low
Check prices, seek errands, and listen for shifts in trade.
Risk low
Approach clergy or parish figures for guidance, relief, or introduction.
Risk high
Keep coin away from creditors, kin demands, or predatory eyes.
Risk medium
Leave town for carrying work, rural errands, or escape from immediate pressure.
Risk medium
Seek protection through a merchant or parish network.
Risk medium
Push a story into the harbor and watch what it moves.
Risk medium
Look into what is true, exaggerated, or being hidden.
Ready