The Roaring Bull Inn
Many people think there’s something tired and cliché about starting a campaign in a medieval inn. I disagree. All too often you have people using cliché D&D locations and ideas in a predictable and cliché manner.
Not every inn has a group of seedy people in the “dark corner”.
Not every inn is run by a greasy, fat man who supplements his earnings by not noticing the dealings of the seedy people in the corner.
Not every inn is a bar fight waiting to happen.
So not every inn should is a cliché.
But an inn could very easily be the jumping point for a game…
Welcome to the Roaring Bull Inn, in the beautiful city-state of Endrin.
This two-storied inn could be considered a landmark in the eyes of men. It has stood for 181 years and is now in excellent condition thanks to the efforts of it current owner William “Bull” McAllister.
He’s a large man, both in muscle and girth, without a single hair on the top of his head.
Bull, as he prefers to be called, is a happy, but no-nonsense kind of man who spent many years in the service of the king of Enrin’s military. It is wise advice to listen to the man who tells you not to start a fight or anything nefarious in Bull’s inn. He’s been known to transform from a jovial barkeep to a beast of a bouncer at the first sight of a “problem”.
This is rarely a problem as he has a keen eye and nose for people. And he has no reservations to kicking anyone out.
Three years ago Bull bought the tavern after retiring from Endrin’s military. Back then the inn was barely safe to enter thanks to poor upkeep and the local scum calling the place home. Just a few months of hard work and Bull had transformed the place to its current, almost new stature.
Now the inn is the destination of all manner of people looking for a pleasant evening of song and drink. It is rumored that Bull even had a wizard friend of his enchant the floors of the higher-priced guest-rooms to muffle excessive noise coming from the boisterous tavern.
On most nights Bull will be busy at the bar while his barmaids Ilia & Ronilsa are serving drinks and food to those at the tables. And usually the center of attention is Bordar, a newly hired bard that leads the tavern in song and will dance if he feels the need to liven the place up a bit.
And even today the Roaring Bull Inn is getting an early start to its daily festivities. The heavy fog pouring in from the nearby docks and the impending thunderstorm is actually increasing the patronage of the inn this evening, pushing the tavern to nearly its full capacity.
Now it is time for Bordar to start a new song, and everyone in the room pauses; waiting to see if the song will be one of their favorites or a newly penned one.
It turns out to be one he performs almost every night; a happy tune where he uses a bit of magic to make some fellow’s dinnerware to dance about.
The only face not smiling in the room is a middle-aged blonde woman who just came downstairs. Instead of a face with a joyous mood, she shows the expression of a confused person who just woke from a much too long sleep.
And so it begins…
Not every inn has a group of seedy people in the “dark corner”.
Not every inn is run by a greasy, fat man who supplements his earnings by not noticing the dealings of the seedy people in the corner.
Not every inn is a bar fight waiting to happen.
So not every inn should is a cliché.
But an inn could very easily be the jumping point for a game…
Welcome to the Roaring Bull Inn, in the beautiful city-state of Endrin.
This two-storied inn could be considered a landmark in the eyes of men. It has stood for 181 years and is now in excellent condition thanks to the efforts of it current owner William “Bull” McAllister.
He’s a large man, both in muscle and girth, without a single hair on the top of his head.
Bull, as he prefers to be called, is a happy, but no-nonsense kind of man who spent many years in the service of the king of Enrin’s military. It is wise advice to listen to the man who tells you not to start a fight or anything nefarious in Bull’s inn. He’s been known to transform from a jovial barkeep to a beast of a bouncer at the first sight of a “problem”.
This is rarely a problem as he has a keen eye and nose for people. And he has no reservations to kicking anyone out.
Three years ago Bull bought the tavern after retiring from Endrin’s military. Back then the inn was barely safe to enter thanks to poor upkeep and the local scum calling the place home. Just a few months of hard work and Bull had transformed the place to its current, almost new stature.
Now the inn is the destination of all manner of people looking for a pleasant evening of song and drink. It is rumored that Bull even had a wizard friend of his enchant the floors of the higher-priced guest-rooms to muffle excessive noise coming from the boisterous tavern.
On most nights Bull will be busy at the bar while his barmaids Ilia & Ronilsa are serving drinks and food to those at the tables. And usually the center of attention is Bordar, a newly hired bard that leads the tavern in song and will dance if he feels the need to liven the place up a bit.
And even today the Roaring Bull Inn is getting an early start to its daily festivities. The heavy fog pouring in from the nearby docks and the impending thunderstorm is actually increasing the patronage of the inn this evening, pushing the tavern to nearly its full capacity.
Now it is time for Bordar to start a new song, and everyone in the room pauses; waiting to see if the song will be one of their favorites or a newly penned one.
It turns out to be one he performs almost every night; a happy tune where he uses a bit of magic to make some fellow’s dinnerware to dance about.
The only face not smiling in the room is a middle-aged blonde woman who just came downstairs. Instead of a face with a joyous mood, she shows the expression of a confused person who just woke from a much too long sleep.
And so it begins…
posted by BlueBlackRed at 7:18 AM
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