Haven Inn, Coranan

STANDARD INFORMATION

Name of the Inn:	The Haven
Location of the Inn:	Omagil, just outside of Coranan City
Settlement:	Coranan, Thardic Republic
Proprietor's name	Kerbin of Gelashdrin
Size:	5
Quality	**
Prices	Average
Number of Floors	3
Construction Material	Wood Half Frame
Roof Material	Wooden Shingles

Omagil is a quiet, residential suburb north west of Coranan city. The Haven is the only local watering hole outside the city's gates. Founded around the year 715, the Haven has developed a reputation as being the first, or last, stop on many travelling minstrel's paths. It is more a tavern than an Inn as its two rooms for rent are often given to minstrels or Harper's performing that night at the Haven. Other than the local residents, the occasional legion patrol or merchant may stop by, but rarely stays. In comparison to the many taverns and inns inside Coranan, the Haven is a poor substitute for a good meal and a good night's rest. Its fair is simple, and its list of available alcohol's limited. The innkeeper, Kerbin of Gelashdrin, likes to cook and play host to his guests. He insists that no one leave his place hungry or dry. Sometimes his enthusiasm outweighs his abilities to cook - but what he lacks in skill he more than makes up in local spices.

Description of Building

From the outside, the Haven appears to be an older building that was recently (and shoddily) renovated. The brick foundation is roughly broken around the doorway, and large shutters appear to be nailed closed while other, newer openings are without trim. But the shutters are freshly whitewashed, as is the rest of the wooden structure. The dark, aged wood, is only barely visible beneath the yearly coat. There are two steps up into the main entrance of the Haven, each one with its own bizarre squeak. It is virtually impossible to sneak up these two steps. The huge main door is closed from 6th watch to 1st watch (midnight to 6am) and barred from the inside. The Haven has a wooden shingled roof, with a few of the shingles looking like they are about to fall off at any given moment. The building appears sound, but older than the other residences around it.

The sign depicts a large tree with two limbs sticking out from either side, beneath a canopy of green leaves. On the right most branch sits a child. To those that look very carefully, the left most branch holds a small owl - almost hidden in the foliage and detailing of the bark. The colors of the sign have faded into dull browns, greens, and reds.

History

The inn was founded the day Kerbin of Gelashdrin returned from his tour of duty in the legion. The story goes that Kerbin, and three others, were returning to Coranan, when Kerbin stopped on the squeaky steps, proclaiming he could walk no further that day. The building was deserted, and he and his compatriots began looking around. The landlord, upon seeing four legionaries poking about one of his buildings hurried over. Kerbin bought the place there and then for his legion settlement fee. Between the four of them they turned the derelict building into a reasonable place to stay. His friends returned to Coranan without him, but they visit Kerbin regularly.

Most assume that Kerbin must be independently wealthy, because the slow stream of customers who eat or stay at the Haven cannot possibly pay for all the food he buys and money he invests in the old building. But Kerbin appears happy, and so no one questions the Inns financing too closely. There are several tales told by locals about this inn. Some believe it is the headquarters for the Omagil gang, the smallest - and poorest gang of the Lia-Kavir in Coranan. Few are willing to believe that Kerbin could possibly be the Omagil gang's leader as he is too kind and open in his dealings with locals, and Coranani merchants alike. Others say that Kerbin is obviously a member of some secret cult or organization. Why else would a merchant in his right mind found a business so far away from the trade and travelers of the city?

Although the gossip is thick as to why Kerbin founded his inn here, of all places, few can say a bad word about his hospitality (his cooking is, unfortunately, another matter.)

Business

Kerbin serves two meals a day to all comers. If you arrive at any other time, you'll have to make due with the standard menu. The meal-menus offer two or three choices daily, each one priced according to its ingredients. The bread, milk, butter and cheese are delivered every other day at dawn by cart from the city. There are few services. Kerbin has a large metal tub that he offers his patrons to use for free, but they have to heat the water themselves in the kitchen to fill it.

A nearby neighbor (Serenima of ilryne ) offers a clothes washing service for 2d/pound of dirty clothing.

There are four rooms upstairs - two are used by Kerbin and his staff. The other two are for rent. The rooms are cleaned daily, the linens changed each time someone new rents the room (or once a week, which ever comes first.) The room comes with a night soil pot (dumped daily), a bassinet and a pitcher of water from the well (first one's free, all others the tenant must get for him/her self.) Break-fast is served for free to any who rent a room. The rooms for rent have two small wooden cots. Their straw ticks are turned regularly, heavily powdered to keep out lice and ticks, and renewed every spring. The rooms cannot be locked, but Kerbin often suggests the tenant drag one of the beds in front of the door if they're worried.

Kerbin has two locked chests he's willing to rent out for 1d/night. The tenant keeps the key for their stay.

Rate of Charges

Kerbin charges 2-4d a night per head, depending on how he likes the looks of the tenant. Since his establishment is so small, he believes he has the right to be picky as to whom he allows to spend the night.

Room/person 2-4d

Bar Tariff

There is no "bar" per say in the Inn. Kerbin brings your drinks to your table.

Wine (White or Red) 3d/liter/year
Purchased from the Coranan wine merchants, you'd have to ask what he has in stock. His wine cellar is very small - but he'll often welcome guests to come down and see for themselves. Each bottle is labeled with a year, and a name. His favorite is Josemblou 692, but he's only got a few bottles left.

Coranani Red 2d/liter/year
A sweetened cider any child should be able to stomach. Most over 20 prefer to have it watered down. It is a pale yellow-red in color and smells as sweet as honey. As it ages the sweet taste slowly pales. By its 10th year, it is as strong as any whiskey, and reserved for only the richest customers. Kerbin has 10-15year old Coranani Red in stock, but only in liter bottles. 1-7 year old Coranani Red are in barrels.

Kerbin's Ale 1d/pint
A home-brew, this is dark and rich in color. Locals claim it will easily rinse any (and all) tastes from your mouth. Not as strong as hard alcohol, nor as sweet as cider, it's a nice medium choice. Kerbin never seems to run out of the stuff - and no, he's not willing to give out the recipe.

Beer 1f/pint
Better than water, but only because it's safer to drink.

Kerbin's Whiskey 1f/shot/year
Perhaps Whiskey is the wrong name for this drink. It's made from a grain mash following a well known recipe in the area; but Kerbin's always has more kick to it. If you want something strong this would be your choice.

Everything on the menu is made by Kerbin himself. Each day there's something different. If the previous day's second meal was Mutton, then today's first meal is Cold Mutton, biscuits and Gruel. Patrons are welcome to pick and choose from the menu (i.e. have only the gruel, or the biscuits,) they just have to ask. Prices vary depending on how much the patron asks for. The biscuits and Grain Cakes come with butter and honey - and are freshly made each morning. Vegetables are whatever is in season, or Kerbin has in stores. Fish, and beef, depends on whatever the markets had on sale within the last 10day. The fish might be salted, or pickled - depending on the season.

Kerbin likes to cook. Any patron wanting something not on the menu, is welcome to ask. Kerbin will gladly try to oblige for a reasonable price.

First Meal

Cold Mutton, biscuits and Gruel 3d
Cold Chicken, biscuits and Vegetable Stew 3d
Cold beef, Hot Grain Cakes and Gravy 3d

Second Meal

Mutton Pie 2d
Mutton and Vegetables 3d
Chicken, biscuits and Gravy 3d
Beef, Vegetables and biscuits 2d
Fish and Grain cakes 2d

Standard Menu

Bread & Butter 1d
Cheese 1f/oz/year
Stew* & day old bread 2d
Soup** & day old bread 1d
Left oversee 2d

*Stew could easily be considered left-over-left-overs. It is a buzzer combination of smells and textures, but tastes far better than it looks. Often it has large chunks of meat (or poultry or fish) and grains floating in a thick gravy. It is also the locals favorite dish.

** Soup, made fresh every 10day from either mutton or poultry.

Staff

Kerbin of Gelashdrin Innkeeper, Master

Himen of Yarasin Innkeeper, Journeyman

Horbeth of Elernin Bouncer/Innkeeper, Apprentice

Serenima of ilryne Washer Woman/Legionnaire

Description of Layout

DESCRIPTION OF LAYOUT | GROUND | SECOND | CELLAR | NPCs

Ground Floor

[GIF 18KB 8.50" x 6.70", 816 x 643 pixels, 96dpi]

As you step through the old oak door, a large room opens before you. There are 7 long tables, each with a bench on either side, scattered almost hap-hazardly about the room. Atop each table sits an old oil lamp that looks like something a legionnaire threw away. In the back left-corner is a set of rickety stairs leading up to a landing that runs along the back wall. Half the ceiling of the ground floor is open, showing the upper walkway and doors for two rooms to the right. A full 1/3 of the ground floor is hidden from view. The floor was swept clean that morning, and the shutters are thrown open to the day's sun or night's breezes until midnight, when they - and the main door, are barred. The bars to keep the shutters and doors shut lean neatly beside their assigned openings, awaiting use. The walls, and floors, are wooden planking - worn smooth in some spots, rough in others.

An archway near the outer-right wall leads into a large kitchen. A small cot lays along the right wall inside the kitchen. The left wall is covered by tables, hanging pots, and cupboards. The hearth that warms the main room is visible here in the kitchen's back corner. There is always something on the hearth, cooking merrily away. Four large barrels lay on their racks against the back wall. One has a pile of grapes, the other a sprig of wheat and the third an apple, carved into their fronts. Beside the barrels is an opening in the floor which leads down to the cellar. In the far right-most corner of the kitchen is a small room, it is used to keep extra boxes of supplies, linens and other necessities for the inn. The door has neither latch, nor lock.

Kerbin and, or Himen, are bustling about the place from dawn to midnight. Kerbin loves to get up early and make grain cakes and biscuits. The bread, milk, cheese and meats are delivered near dawn each day. Himen works late until just after midnight. He sweeps up after everyone leaves, and banks the fire carefully for the next day. The last thing Himen does each night is the dishes - usually while muttering about Kerbin's love of dirtying them.

DESCRIPTION OF LAYOUT | GROUND | SECOND | CELLAR | NPCs

Second Floor

[GIF 11KB 8.50" x 3.64", 816 x 329 pixels, 96dpi]

The stairs up to the second floor are rickety, but manage to take your weight. A narrow hallway (1 man wide) runs along the back of the building, until about even with the doorway. It then swings right, back to the front of the building.

Along this hallway are four doors. Each door has a simple rope latch.

The first and second doors lead to rooms for rent. They are both small rooms with two small cots, a night soil pot and a stand for a water basin. The water jug hides beneath the basin. There is room for two men to pass - sideways (maybe) between the beds. Each bed is hard against the wall. The water jug sits before a window that looks out to an alleyway between the buildings. The shutters for the window, and the door, can be barred by barring sticks leaning against the walls (or hiding under the beds.) A truck could (just) fit between the end of the bed and the inner wall.

The third door leads to Kerbin's room. It is the same size as the first two, but suffers less as it only has one small cot instead of two. The bed is on the right hand side, and a small desk is on the left. The room is always neat and tidy. A trunk hides behind the door. It is iron bound, and locked. Kerbin has a few sheets of paper, pen and ink on the desk. The desk is made of sturdy spruce and has no drawers or compartments. There is nothing beneath the bed (except, perhaps an errant dust-bunny.) The trunk contains Kerbin's armor and weapons from his legion days as well as a few changes of clothes. The trunks contents are so neatly arrayed, they do not need to be moved to see all that it contains. It also holds the strongbox for the Inn. Inside there is between 20 and 50d at any one time. There is a stack of books beside the trunk. The books language is strange to any who try to read them.

The fourth door leads to Himen's room. It is a clutter of buckets, jugs, blankets, clothes, and the bed (usually ajar from the wall.) There is water in a bucket, somewhere, and the night soil pot is probably laying about... but its really hard to judge what is in this room without moving things about. Himen has four sets of clothes (4 shirts, 4 sets of leggings, 4 pairs of sandals) scattered about the room, as well as around 23d. The bed has blankets balled up on its center, and while clean - they look as if they have never lain flat in their existence. The shutter is barred shut. Everything is covered with dust. There doesn't seem to be a bar for the door anywhere in the room.

DESCRIPTION OF LAYOUT | GROUND | SECOND | CELLAR | NPCs

Cellar

[GIF 11KB 8.50" x 7.90", 816 x 764 pixels, 96 dpi]

The cellar appears to be only about 1/4 the size of the inn above. The cellar contains 4-5 giant casks of liquids (young cider, ale, and beer usually) each marked with a symbol. There are several racks for hanging meats, and 7 small wooden bins for vegetables (onions, potatoes, turnips, etc...) Each bin has a cover that can be latched shut. The floor are made of earth recently pounded down hard. The walls are all stone.

If a careful search is conducted, the northernmost wall (directly ahead upon entry) hides a door. Careful fingers can pry the door loose. It opens along a masonry joint along the uneven rows of bricks, and swings outward silently. The strange mechanism that allows this marvel is buried behind more stone - but the door is light, and opens with but a gentle tug.

Behind this door is a long oaken desk that sits atop carefully polished floor boards. Two book cases crammed with scrolls, notes and a few books (haphazardly stacked) cover the eastern wall (right hand side upon entry.) Two great candelabras are near the door (8 candles each); and a single lamp burns low upon the desk. With more light, boxes of cloth, paper and dirt can be found behind the desk. The one chair in the room is an old wooden chair; its wood cracked and worn with age.

There is a small chance (around 5%) that either Himen (the assistant), or Kerbin (the mage) is in here at any one time. Himen sometimes sleeps down here (and no he does not snore!) on quiet nights when the Inn has no patrons, he can be found in this room with the door open - working by the light of the lamp.

NPCs

The following folk frequent the place. A percentage in brackets accompanies each name. This is the percentage chance that this particular individual is in the Inn at any one time.

Howard of Rutgus (16%) never rents a room here. Instead he brings folk here for a nice meal and a chat. A cold fellow, few know many details about him. He often takes a table near the hearth, and draws his friends close. Hobreth respects him (because of the way he wears his weapons,) but doesn't want to get any closer than he has to.

Trallek of Bolrin (24%) is said to be the guildmaster of the Omagil chapter of the Lia-Kavir. Since The Haven is the only drinking establishment this side of the city's walls - he and his ilk are sometimes found here. He and Himen have a deal. He and his don't steal from the Haven, and Tallek is never poisoned while drinking his Whiskey.

Peter (5%) (Freedman, WagonMaster) he travels along the roads in North-Eastern Tharda. Often his travels bring him by the Inn, and he stays a day, maybe two - for the meals and the companionship. Peter, it is said, will ship anything without asking. So long as he has the money to pay/bribe his way through tolls, he doesn't care what he's carrying. Often he is employed to bring Ivashu from North-Eastern Tharda, or Golotha, for the Pamesani games. He calls such jobs "good money."

Many locals (freedmen who work the lands north of the city, and a few small cottage-craftsmen who sell their goods in the city) stop by from time to time. About 15% of the time Himen and Kerbin have a harper employed, and that usually brings in the crowds.

STORY HOOKS

Kerbin and Himmen are both Shek-Pvar (mages) of different convocations. They are not well liked by the Guild of the Arcane Lore in Shiran, and are not known to the guild of the Arcane Lore in Coranan. As such, they are careful to keep a low profile whenever possible. Guild politics (either a rival Shek-Pvar wanting their secrets, or wanting them removed) is always a good story hook. It could also be that thieves have stolen something from the pair's secret laboratory; and Kerbin and Himmen are willing to pay to get it back.

In the story of "All part of the bargain", Corneilus is taken to the Inn and held in the storage room in the kitchen while the bad guys discuss their plot in the main room.

This page was last updated on June 8, 2002
Questions/Comments should be directed to the Webmaster.
All works are Copyright their respective authors, 2002.

Pax Tharda

Haven Inn, Coranan