A True Meating Place

The covered Meat Market sits on the eastern edge of the Wynds, a roofed maze of hanging carcasses, butcher blocks, and smoking pits where fresh cuts and exotic game are sold by the shout. Beef and pork vie with boar, stag, and the occasional trophy from far-flung hunts – with rumors that even dragon finds its way here when coin is right.

Cleavers ring, saws rasp through bone, and steam rises from kettles of brine and tallow. Hunters unload their morning hauls while sausage-makers grind and season, and porters push dripping barrows toward smokehouses. The air is thick with pepper and woodsmoke, and the scent of roasting meat drifts along the rafters.
 

Vendors and Trade

Butchers with guild stamps sell prime cuts beside trappers offering offal, marrow bones, and hardy trail jerky. Hunters’ Row handles whole carcasses by the quarter, while smoke stalls hawk cured links and peppered brisket. Icehouse tokens buy time in the cold cellars, and spice mongers sell rubs to innkeepers stocking their larders. Haggle hard – prices change with the tide and the morning kill.
 

Atmosphere

Loud, busy, and always a little dangerous. Floors grow slick with sawdust and blood, tempers flare when orders are jumped, and the crowd gives cover to cutpurses. Guild collectors make their rounds, inspectors sniff for spoiled stock, and every so often a crate bursts to reveal something far less legal than venison.
 

Beef & Ox

Beef Stewing Meat
Rough-cut beef from shoulder, neck and other tougher joints. Cheap, flavourful and intended for long cooking.
4 cp per lb

Beef Roasting Joint
A solid joint of beef suitable for roasting, usually cut from the rump or upper leg.
1 sp per lb

Prime Beef Steak
A better cut from well-fed cattle, trimmed and sliced ready for frying or grilling.
2 sp per lb

Ox Tail
Rich, bony tail meat prized for soups and slow-cooked stews.
5 cp each

Beef Bones
Marrow and knuckle bones sold for stock, soup or dogs.
1 cp per bundle

Pork

Pork Shoulder
A fatty, forgiving joint excellent for roasting or slow cooking.
7 cp per lb

Pork Belly
Rich layers of meat and fat, sold in slabs and particularly popular with taverns.
8 cp per lb

Pork Chops
Fresh-cut chops from the loin, usually sold individually or in pairs.
1 sp each

Fresh Sausages
Coarse pork sausages seasoned with salt, pepper and herbs, sold linked together.
6 cp for four

Pig’s Trotters
Cheap, gelatin-rich feet commonly boiled with beans, barley or greens.
2 cp each

Lamb & Mutton

Mutton Stewing Meat
Strongly flavoured meat from older sheep, cut into chunks for pies and stews.
5 cp per lb

Lamb Shoulder
A tender roasting joint from younger island-raised animals.
1 sp 2 cp per lb

Lamb Chops
Small tender chops, more expensive but quick to cook over a hot fire.
1 sp 5 cp for two

Sheep’s Liver
Fresh liver sold cheaply and usually fried with onions.
3 cp per lb

Poultry & Small Game

Whole Chicken
A plucked and cleaned bird ready for roasting, stewing or cutting into pieces.
8 cp

Large Roasting Chicken
A heavier bird raised specifically for the table.
1 sp 4 cp

Duck
A whole cleaned duck with richer, fattier meat than chicken.
2 sp

Rabbit
Skinned and cleaned, sold whole. Common, affordable and particularly good in pies.
7 cp

Brace of Pigeons
Two plucked birds sold together for roasting or making into pie.
6 cp

Offal & Cheap Cuts

Mixed Offal
A butcher’s selection of liver, kidney, heart and other inexpensive cuts.
2 cp per lb

Beef Heart
Dense, lean meat usually sliced thin or stewed slowly.
4 cp

Kidneys
Fresh beef, pork or lamb kidneys, popular in pies and breakfast dishes.
3 cp per pair

Tripe
Cleaned stomach lining sold cheaply by weight and commonly simmered with onions and herbs.
2 cp per lb

Butcher’s Scraps
Small trimmings of meat and fat gathered during the day’s cutting. Useful for soups, pies or feeding animals.
1 cp per bundle

Cured & Prepared

Salt Pork
Pork heavily salted for storage, especially useful for travellers and ship provisions.
8 cp per lb

Smoked Bacon
Cured pork belly smoked over hardwood and cut into thick slabs.
1 sp per lb

Smoked Sausage
A firm cured sausage suitable for eating cold or adding to stews.
8 cp each

Blood Sausage
A rich sausage of blood, grain, fat and spice, especially popular fried for breakfast.
4 cp each

Hot from the Spit

Roast Chicken Quarter
A quarter of chicken cut directly from the spit and served hot with salt and dripping.
4 cp

Hot Sausage
One thick pork sausage grilled over charcoal and handed over wrapped in paper or bread.
3 cp

Roast Pork Slice
A thick slice of spit-roasted pork with crisp skin and a spoonful of hot juices.
5 cp

Spiced Lamb Skewer
Chunks of lamb, onion and herbs grilled over hot coals and eaten straight from the stick.
5 cp

Roast Rabbit Half
Half a rabbit brushed with herbs and dripping and roasted beside the market fire.
6 cp

Butcher’s Hot Roll
Fresh bread stuffed with chopped roast meat, onions and gravy. Contents depend entirely on what has just come off the spit.
4 cp

End-of-Day Meat Pot
A bowl of chopped roast scraps, sausage ends and onions cooked together in gravy. Cheap, filling and available only while it lasts.
3 cp

 

Encounters

Among cleavers and smoke, deals and tempers cut quick. Roll d10 for possible encounters…

  1. A butcher and a hunter argue over a mis weighed quarter, knives in hand and voices rising.
    Butcher: AC 12, HP 14, cleaver (1d6); Hunter: AC 12, HP 13, hunting knife (1d4).
  2. A barrow of ice and meat tips on a slick patch, sliding toward the party.
    Hazard: DC 13 Dexterity save or be knocked prone and take 1d4 bludgeoning.
  3. Guild collectors demand dues from a stallholder and eye the adventurers as potential witnesses – or muscle.
    Collectors (2): AC 13, HP 16, saps (1d6), leather armor.
  4. A pack of half-starved dogs slips under the counters, snapping at scraps and ankles alike.
    Dogs (1d4+1): AC 12, HP 7, bite (1d4).
  5. A crate branded “stag” cracks open to reveal something far rarer – and illegal – drawing curious onlookers and nervous sellers.
    Hazard: DC 12 Investigation to verify contents, consequences at DM’s discretion.
  6. An inspector accuses a merchant of selling spoiled cuts and orders the stall shut, sparking a shouting match.
    Inspector: AC 11, HP 10, club (1d6), ledger; Merchant: AC 11, HP 9, knife (1d4).
  7. A quick-fingered thief uses the crush near a roasting spit to lift a coin purse and vanish into the steam.
    Thief: AC 12, HP 8, dagger (1d4), cloak.
  8. An apprentice shows off with a flashing knife routine and nicks a patron, prompting calls for compensation.
    Apprentice: AC 11, HP 7, knife (1d4), apron.
  9. A noble’s steward buys out the best cuts, shoving locals aside and provoking a near-brawl.
    Steward: AC 11, HP 9, dagger (1d4), livery; Locals (1d4+2): AC 11, HP 8, clubs (1d4).
  10. A seller whispers that a “dragon flank” is available behind the smokehouse for the right price – and the right discretion.
    Seller: AC 11, HP 8, knife (1d4); Deal may attract guild or guards.
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