Five Taverns

 

Below are five taverns for use with simple, one-room maps of fantasy taverns, whenever you don't have staff and taverner's names to hand or need a quick subplot. All system agnostic.

THE LAUGHING OGRE

A large tavern, with no guest rooms. 

Decent food in the local style, nothing fancy but always reliable. Beer from all three of The City’s breweries. Standard prices.

Run by Annaloy Taverner, a large, blonde woman with a loud voice. Quick to laugh but also sharp when annoyed. Won't tolerate overt sexism. Popular with regulars and locals. Her man Hunter keeps order with a cudgel. Or with a crossbow if necessary.

Festival days, main bar room becomes a dormitory after hours.

Khyle, Lantice and Comcille work the bar most evenings, all women in their twenties.

Khyle is somewhat argumentative, wears a nose ring and is unremarkable in appearance, with nondescript brown hair.

Lantice is shamelesslt flirtatious and will occasionally sleep with customers for money. This infuriates Khyle and Annaloy would sack her if she knew.

Comcille is very outspoken but homeless at defending her ill-though out points and always loses to Khyle. She is extremely pretty but has obvious scars on her forearms which she doesn't try to hide.

Comcille's brother Grefyth is a member of the Thieves' Guild, knows Thieves' Cant and works with the smuggler's band The Horny Hand.

The cellar is shallow and more like a half-basement, reached via five steps down, to the side of the bar. In fact, the original floor was much lower and was filled in to hide a mysterious doorway.

THE BEDRAGGLED DRAGON

A modest-sized building with 1 twin room and 4 singles, in a higgledy-piggledy layout.

Food is simple but wholesome, beds are clean and comfortable, beer is good and reasonably priced.

Claymore, the tavern owner, is rumoured to be a dwarf but may just be short. Red beard, bald on top and the rest shaven. Forearms 

Came to The City from The Mines, a decade ago, to carve out a life for himself among humans.

Honest. Barely waters his beer. Always charges at least a fair price.

Druma the barkeep is a mute woman of indeterminate age and everybody wonders why Claymore keeps her on.

Keeps a (comparatively) clean establishment.

“I had a shipment of ale due this morning. Didn’t come. Not the first delivery to vanish of a mornin’. Streets ain’t safe n’more.  In the last half dozen weeks, as many places have had their beer stole afore it e’en arrived. Now, I got customers an’ a reputation to think on. I need me beer back.”

I’ll pay you out me own purse, as far as me delivery’s concerned. Fifty gold coin. But the Guild’s of a mind to pay more, if’n the whole shebang can be put a stop to.”

THE REDCAP'S REVENGE

Medium-sized tavern, no guest rooms but tap-room used as a common room. Poor quality, cheap food (turnip pottage, potato peeling soup, 'meat' pie with not enough 'meat', bread with sawdust added to bulk it out - none of this is illegal, just bad...).

Tresis. Short, skinny man with a hard, pinched face. Quick to laugh at the misfortunes of others.  Not trustworthy.

Tresis is a former thief, and still clips coins, sometimes blaming the last tavern the customer was in. Acts as a fence for local thieves and can do so for player characters.

Beer is from Halberdier Brewery: 'Halberd Ale' and 'Victory Beer'. 

Tresis has a steady turnover of staff, most of whom are Guild members who need to lay low or prove themselves. He knows Grefyth, from the Laughing Ogre, but doesn't particularly like him.

Regulars 

Garan, a disillusioned watchman. Lose lipped, so Tressis gives him credit to keep him coming in. Missing an ear. Considers Tresis a like-minded man who he can trust. He has been drinking in the Revenge for years, despite his comrades warning him not to. Regularly defends Tresis. If he ever finds out the man was clipping coins, he may lose his temper. 

Sellit, a rat-catcher and herbalist who has a good idea what goes on in the Revenge and always checks any coins she is given there. She's getting on now, in her sixties, but still quick-witted with fast reflexes.

Petron, a stevedore at the dock. Big and dull and for hire. Addicted to Lotus and so needs to earn more money, doing more dangerous things, if necessary. Balding but otherwise long hair.

THE SPARROWGLASS

Medium-sized inn. Common Room can sleep a dozen people, plus six twin rooms. Food is good to excellent if a little expensive. Half a dozen staff (human). Named for a stained-glass window in the porch, of a small bird in flight.

Run by Kaylum. Elf. Fair hair and bright eyes that are blue in most lights but sometimes look hazel in shadow. Wears autumn reds a lot, except when he wants not to be noticed. Middle-aged for an elf (depends on your setting). Knows a few things. Remembers the Moon Goddess cult and mourns its passing.

Kaylum has lovers across the City but one is Verona, the daughter of a wealthy merchant.

THE STANDING STONE

A small tavern on a street that climbs a hill. Views from the back are nice.

Single bar room. Serves stew and home-baked bread. 

Four staff: Clapham, Treg, Fulnice and Purt.

Run by Dreeslum, quiet man who mainly keeps to himself. Wife Marnie does all the talking, book-keeping and negotiating. Dreeslum took an injury in the head years ago when he was an adventurer and relies on Marnie and the good will of his regulars.

Gets his beer from the Lantern House and Halbardier Breweries.

The Standing Stone is in the back yard and part of the wall.

Whilst Dreeslum did, indeed, take a head injury years ago, that isn't what causes his problems. During the same escapade (a fight with some gnolls in the Forest of Far-flung), he was cursed by one of the enemy. The curse can be detected by certain magic-users, but shouldn't be easy or it would have been detected before now. Gnoll blood or an item of the original curser's should be necessary to get rid of this. The curse makes Dreeslum forget things, makes him hesitant and lose track of what is going on. He is fine when serving customers as this is all deeply ingrained, but anything out of his routine is tricky.