The Inn and Tavern
Published by: Sqarr
, On: Feb-21-2006
Introduction to the Inn & Tavern
[ The Heart Exterior ]
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All that remains to be seen of what must have been a monastery is its old, stone foundation and the tall, worn tower that stands high above the inn's profile. Built in, and using part of the old foundation, the Dragon's Heart sits squat and thick-walled. Surrounding it close on three sides is the forest that had long been encroaching on the abandoned foundation, having torn through most of its already gutted structure over the century, or more, that it lay unknown to any page of history.
Evidence of the fire that had first put the site in ruin can still be seen in many charred stones, scattered throughout the nearby underbrush and the garden that has recently taken the place of the forest, within the sanctuary's remains and behind the present inn's stables.
Standing, still, through the years, seemingly untouched by the tragedy that ended the reign of its original inhabitants, the bell-tower is now populated by forest bats that often display a certain outrage at the advent of new and civilized life within the past several years since the inn was built against it, but hold steadfast to their home there; periodic assaults are waged on any and all birds who invade their personal space.
The world surrounding the tavern may seem mostly wild, but within the walls and halls built by mortal hand, all is a bit more civilized. Unattached from the nearby towns, the Dragon's Heart retains solidarity under its own roof. Royalty has tried, but can not hold rein on the happenings, or demand taxes from the patrons. The tall, proud and strong wooden structure, standing on a stone foundation that is sized for a building many times its own, is free from the pitfalls of external political play.
Special Features
Two specific items set the Dragon's Heart apart from the common role-playing tavern stereotype: indoor plumbing [or "interior irrigation" as the locals see it] and magic buffers.
The first and most complex from an engineering standpoint is the plumbing. It starts on the inn's fourth floor, where a large room is open to the exterior when weather permits. Sliding wooden walls, like around the pools on the first floor, permit the opening.
In this room is a large, solid basin, capable of holding many gallons of water. Beneath it is an enclosed furnace, fed coal and maintained by rotating shifts of two men each.
The coal is brought up by the rope elevator that can also be used by the workers in the kitchen, from the coal pile in the basement.
Water is brought up from a culvert that runs beneath the inn via a crude hand pump that requires having water poured into it to function. This seals it and allows a vacuum to suck the water all the way up to the third floor, but requires a great deal of strength and endurance.
Water can also be fed into the basin by the rain water which is collected by drains all about the inn's roofing. Pipes trickle it in above the basin, where it falls through a thick rope net that catches large debris, like leaves and twigs. From there, it passes through five fine silk sheets secured in wooden frames and capable of being slid out of their mountings to be cleaned.
In times of excessive rain, there is an overflow offshoot in the piping above the basin that allows backed-up water to flow down and into the culvert beneath the inn meant for feeding this system.
At the south end of the long, deep basin is a drain that flows into the pipes that feed the parts of the inn that need it. Simple valves here are used to open the lines so water doesn't stagnate in them.
The areas fed are the kitchen for its dishwashing basins, the public and private baths for bathing, the small hot pool at the back of the inn, and the two showers for the gardeners when returning from their dirt-laden work outside.
Three solid stone culverts like the one feeding the plumbing run beneath the inn. The first other is the fish pond's drain. To ensure that the pond doesn't become stagnant and dead, there is a constant flow of water from the mountains to the east, down through the pond and on into the creek to the inn's west. Two grated ports feed water into the pond, and one lower down, opposite, drains. The other culvert feeds and drains the main pool at the back of the inn. This is heavily filtered to ensure the water is clean and safe for swimming.
[ The Woods 3 ]
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The second particular feature of the Dragon's Heart is simpler on the surface, but required far more research and a greater monetary cost: four stones with an immensely complex magical endowment that allows them to filter and impede the use of magic in and around the inn. Most of what they do is limit the amount of power that can be put out by any one person, but they will also forcibly eject people and objects that someone is attempting to teleport, no matter the distance. Ejected items and people will find themselves planted on the inn's lawn, near the drainage creek at the front. Depending on the particular manner of teleportation spell attempted, the ejection may be accompanied by a certain degree of physical momentum, which could send the item or person sailing into the trees on the other side of the creek, or maybe right into the water.
Destructive spells, such as fireballs and lightning, will find themselves fizzling and sputtering out ineffectively, while beneficial spells, like healing and other such reconstitutive spells, will be weakened considerably. Transmogrification and summoning spells will be blocked entirely.
Supernatural beings, particularly such that have magical abilities, can feel the negative magical space that surrounds the Heart. In more conscious beings, such as werecreatures and vampires, this can manifest as varying degrees of itchy skin, or even twitching muscles. In more basic magical entities, such as demons or djinni, this can be very strongly disconcerting as physical and mental weakness are common. This effect helps keep the more virulent of magical beings at bay.
Simple ghosts are not affected by the stones as they are psionic manifestations. Higher-reasoning poltergeists that try to practice magic might feel a stronger backlash than a physical being, since they have no corporeal bodies to absorb the shock of their machinations being unraveled.
The stones are hidden in the woods around the inn and no written record was kept of their whereabouts. Only S'qarr knows where they are. Complex webs of energy dispersal mask their locations to intuitives.
4: Guest (s)
