18 The Hidden Hide

Freeport is not noted as a center of industry; it prefers to import most significant products using the profits from its trading activities. Skilled craftsmen not directly connected to shipbuilding or ship repair are rare in the city. One exception is Orven Anderssen, the owner of the Hidden Hide leatherworking emporium. He is known for his ability to fashion just about any hide into anything that a customer could desire.

History
Anderssen set up his tannery on the edge of Scurvytown just a few years ago. The land was cheap, as nobody much wanted to live near Scurvytown. As Freeport didn't have a properly skilled tanner able to make more than basic naval supplies out of imported cowhide, it didn't take too long for him to develop a customer base and start recruiting apprentices.

Description
The Hidden Hide is a spectacularly smelly and dirty building. Anderssen maintains a small office on the upwind side of the structure for negotiating with his clients, but that doesn't really help. The building is, after all, a working tannery, and it does not seriously try to hide the urine-filled pits used to process the leather.

Prominent Characters
Orven Anderssen: Anderssen is still a young man, but constant exposure to the toxic vapors associated with his trade make him look a lot older. He arrived in the city from the interior of the island, where he had learned his craft in Cabbage Crack, the small farming village he grew up in.

He is a friendly man, always looking for talented recruits to help him with his company. After all, he says, the more work he can delegate to his assistaants, the more time he'll have for the special projects that earn him most of his money. He aspires to raise enough money to return to Cabbage Crack and rebuild the village temple, which has fallen into disrepair.

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