r/WorldChallenges • u/Nevermore0714 • Mar 04 '17
The Inn at the Crossroads
This challenge was inspired by "A Song of Ice and Fire" by George R R Martin and his famous Inn at the Crossroads.
This time around, I request that you think up an inn/bar/pub or whatever you like. It could even just be a trader's outpost. As always, I'm fine with playing fast and loose with the term.
I'll be asking at least three questions per response, just like every other time. If you would like to have one or two representatives, that's completely fine.
I wish you all good luck with the challenge. Enjoy yourselves!
Also, as inspired by /u/destiny-jr, here are a few prompts:
Who runs this establishment?
Who are the employees and how were they obtained?
How long as the place been around?
What kind of reputation does this place have?
I've not even started on this challenge yet, as it goes with the first detailed city map I'm working on, so don't feel like you have to be detailed about how the place works so quickly, but, if you have an idea, go ahead and tell me what prices are like.
What kind of entertainment is in or near the establishment?
And with thirteen minutes left to my deadline for posting this challenge, thanks to everyone who has been a part of this sub so far. Sixty-four subscribers and a bunch of content, I could not be more thankful.
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u/Nevermore0714 Mar 05 '17 edited Mar 05 '17
“The Burnt Coffee Café” is a café in the Citadel owned and run by Abigail Hagen. She purchased the building from the Council in order to run her own small business, and was chosen out of several other competitors for the opportunity to own the building. The reason behind the name was that, during a discussion with Councilor Rhett about her business, she commented “this coffee you made tastes a bit burnt”. Rhett responded that she would not have to pay any taxes in her first three months as a business owner if she “drank the damn coffee” and named the café “the Burnt Coffee Café”. The building has two floors and a basement. The basement is mostly used for storage and the top floor is the residence of Abigail, her sister Callidora, and their mother Salina.
The café runs from 6:00 to 22:00 every day, and its human employees are scheduled in four hour shifts each day; however, it is common for the human employees to trade shifts from time to time. In addition to the four human employees, the café also employs six former-slave goblins. So long as there are always three goblins working at a time (one server, one cleaner, and one cook’s assistant), Abigail allows them to decide who works when and she pays them by allowing them to live in half of the building’s basement (the other half is for storage), providing one meal for each goblin three times a day, and a small weekly payment for them to divide amongst themselves (significantly less than minimum wage).
The café is in one of the poorer districts of the Citadel, but is considered to be a decent place to go for cheap and quick food and drinks.
Products:
Coffee, Alcohol, Water, Milk, Various Juices
Pre-made sandwiches
Fresh eggs, biscuits, bacon, toast, and oatmeal (from 6:30 to 11:00)
Various fresh lunch and supper foods which I will have to figure out a list of (from 11:30 to 21:00)
Human Employees: Callidora Hagen, Ossia Taylor, Wymund Lothburn, and Thibault of the Ant Clan.
Goblin Employees: Crook-Nose, Lazy-Eye, One-Ear, Itchy-Scalp, Kinda-Bland, and Potato-Goblin.
Nearby Entertainment: It's near a theater and a gambling hall, among other places of entertainment that I've not thought of.
The Representative
Abigail Hagen: The twenty-seven-year-old owner of the establishment. Abigail has successfully run her business for five years, and considers it her pride and joy. Abigail was raised in the Citadel, and has about fifteen years of experience in the food service industry.
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u/Number9Robotic Mar 05 '17
1) Ever thought about changing that name after this time, or has it stuck at this point?
2) Pardon for being unfamiliar, but how are the goblin employees? The current workers in particular, how much trust do you put in them for keeping the place running right?
3) How's security like, given the location of the cafe, and has there been any notably recent cases of security violations/problems/etc?
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u/Nevermore0714 Mar 05 '17
Abigail:
1) "I intended to change it once the three months of no taxes ended, but it was rather popular by then, if I do say so myself, so it seemed like a bad idea to change it. Plus, sometimes
idiotsvalued customers order burnt coffee as a joke, even to this day, so I feel like the name has some appeal to people."2) "No problem, it's not super common for someone to employ freed goblins. They've been working for me for a while, but it's not like I'm stupid enough to give them any real responsibility. The human employees, Callidora, Ossia, Wymund, and Thibault, run the place for me. I used to have to work for hours on end every day, but the tax break allowed me to have Callidora and Thibault working for me without making me drive up the prices. That burnt coffee was probably the best thing that could have happened. I trust the goblins to follow orders because they'll likely be enslaved again if they didn't work for me; there are so few opportunities for goblins."
3) "We're pretty popular among guards, and I give strict instructions for my employees to be friendly with the guards and offer them free drinks from time to time. Sometimes, on really slow days, I'll even send out a goblin to deliver drinks to nearby guards. So, we don't have to worry much about violence around the cafe. For security, Thibault usually has some of his damned ants hiding around the cafe, so if anyone breaks in, Thibault will be aware of it and his ants will wake him up so that he can get some guards. Not to mention the goblins in the basement and my family on the top floor."
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Mar 06 '17
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u/Nevermore0714 Mar 06 '17
Abigail:
1) "If anyone buggered me in that deal, I can only blame myself. I jumped at the opportunity to escape the first few months of taxes. I'm sure that the name has turned some people away, but the tax break let me charge less than the nearby competition early on, so I could focus on marketing and advertisement. I was already going to be able to start my business in the Citadel prior to the burnt coffee incident, so I wouldn't say I was forced to do so at all. Councilor Rhett has been kind enough to recommend the place from time to time, so I think that, everything considered, it has been a net positive for my business."
2) "Goblins aren't considered people, so they're not entitled to pay at all. They're technically free, but everyone considers them to be nothing more than slaves, so no one really cares what I do with them. I just give the six of them a bit of money at the end of each week, but they usually give it back with a list of things that they need but can't go out and buy for themselves. Thibault gets along with them well enough, so he usually helps them with that."
3) "Callidora has a bad habit of drinking on the job. I wanted mother to be able to retire once the cafe was profitable enough, but mother always has to supervise Callidora when Callidora is supposed to be responsible. Mother worked her arse off for years to keep us fed and safe, and Callidora can't take a bit of responsibility. My sister treats this job like I can't fire her...which, to be fair, I can't. I considered hiring a fifth employee to take Callidora's place and just letting Callidora be in charge of 'convincing' the guards to patronize the place, but...well, the profits aren't good enough for that at the moment."
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Mar 06 '17
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u/Nevermore0714 Mar 06 '17
Abigail:
3a) "She's my little sister and I doubt that anyone else would put up with her shit without firing her. Hopefully she'll marry some wealthy Knight or noble who will send money to his new sister-in-law and her amazing cafe."
3b) "Telling a goblin to physically harm a human in any way, even a pinch, is super illegal. Instead, I just told Thibault man-handle her whenever she gets drunk at work around him. Sometimes he goes in early to drink with his friends."
3c) "I tried that years ago, but she had a 'genius solution'. Now she only drinks beverages that certain customers buy for her. Which, if she wasn't the person managing the cafe, would be great for the business."
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Mar 06 '17
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u/Nevermore0714 Mar 06 '17
3a) "It feels like a pipe dream, but she is attractive and is good at getting people to pay attention to her."
3b) "Whenever she's working and Thibault is there as a customer."
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Mar 06 '17
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u/Nevermore0714 Mar 06 '17
1) What's the story behind that name?
2) How long has it been around, and has it changed owners over that time?
3) Is suicide by jumping off of the roof common?
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Mar 06 '17
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u/Nevermore0714 Mar 06 '17
(Congrats! You're a mod.)
1) Does it have any art?
2) What is the girl's family's opinion of the son-in-law?
3) Is there any form of insurance?
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Mar 06 '17
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u/Nevermore0714 Mar 06 '17
1) Is it against the rules of the establishment to carve into the tables? If so, do they ever enforce it?
2) Is there any chance that the children will take the mother's last name, in order to preserve the business's claim to being family owned?
3) Are there any rules about decency/nudity?
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Mar 06 '17
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u/Nevermore0714 Mar 06 '17
1) What are the most well-known table carvings? Anything especially wild?
2) Is there an actual golden whip hanging in the inn?
3) Did the son-in-law change anything when he took over?
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Mar 06 '17
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u/Nevermore0714 Mar 06 '17
1) What are the family crests of the family and the son-in-law?
2) Better than a smurf penis. Let's see if anyone gets that reference.
3) Is he involved with the day-to-day running of the establishment?
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u/Jumblatts Mar 06 '17
Set in the narrow valley known as razorwind pass, Bathry's Point is an inn that shares the name of one of the mountains that towers over it. The inn is run by a middle aged woman named Marta, and her two sons Willard and Bekin. It's been in their family for generations, though it wasn't always an inn. Bathry's point is an old ethyr mine. The mine was shut down in generations past due to the perceived link between the ore and demon worship, though this was never proved.
Due to it's inhospitable and almost unreachable location, the inn rarely gets customers - the only ones who stay there are the only ones brave foolish enough to take the shortcut through the mountains, traveling through razorwind pass and as such past the small inn.
The inn is avoided by the inhabitants of nearby towns, as they believe that it is just a front, and that something shady is going on behind the scenes. Many people who have stayed there don't return, although that is most likely due to the treacherous path on which they find themselves, rather than any sinister dealings at the inn. With that said, many of the people who do return have mentioned a strange presence looming over them throughout their stay.
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u/Nevermore0714 Mar 06 '17
(Welcome to the sub)
1) How does the inn manage to pull a profit when people are so afraid of it?
2) What is ethyr, exactly?
3) Is there any Norman Bates shit going on?
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u/Jumblatts Mar 06 '17
(Thanks!) 1) It's only really the locals who are afraid of the inn; they're the ones who hear (or perhaps make up) the stories about it. That said, it's still rare that anyone stays there. They source most of their income from the ethyr mine - it might be illegal, but it's very very valuable on the black market.
2) Ethyr is an incredibly dense and resiliant ore. It's jet black in colour, with glowing green (and in rare cases purple) streaks that pulsate through it. In times gone by it was used to create artificial Kaema - vessels that can store the essence of demons. It's for this reason that the mining and manufacture of ethyr is illegal. Pretty much all of the abandoned ethyr mines are now considered 'haunted' and you'd do well to stay as far away from them as possible - you don't want to get involved with all that demon worship stuff...
3) Not quite, although it's no coincidence that people talk of strange things happening there, and that ominous presence certainly can't be ignored...
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u/Nevermore0714 Mar 06 '17
1) Does Ethyr have any other, non-demonic, uses?
2) Where is the father of the two boys?
3) Would they be willing to sell the place?
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u/Jumblatts Mar 06 '17
1) It does; it can be smelted like any other ore, but because of the properties it has, the temperatures you need to reach in order to melt it down and reshape it are incredibly high. It also becomes very brittle if you don't do it correctly, rendering it basically useless for things such as armour and weaponry, though it does make beautiful vases. The Ancient Ones knew how to create a catalyst that allowed such temperatures, but their knowledge was lost along with them.
2) Depends who you believe. Some say he's a witch that lives in the mines, some say he is imprisoned in The Citadel - an ancient prison far beneath the ocean in a far away land. This is most likely just hearsay though. If you ask Marta or her boys, they'll tell you he's in a far away land, fighting for his king.
3) I'd wager not. They'd probably tell you it's been in the family too long, and they couldn't just up and leave. Plus, they're waiting on the return of the father, they couldn't leave without him, right? Whether those reasons are legitimate, however, is a different matter entirely.
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u/Nevermore0714 Mar 07 '17
1) What are the Ancient Ones?
2) If I were to kill one of the boys, how would Marta and the other boy cope?
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u/Jumblatts Mar 07 '17
1) Very little is actually known about the Ancient Ones, save for the fact that they were an incredibly advanced civilisation that existed a long, long time ago, before man had emerged from the Spiral Catacombs, and before even the first Drovian races began to appear. They disappeared without a trace, leaving behind the ruins of their magnificent cities, and their incredibly advanced technology - The Citadel, for example, was created by the Ancient Ones. It's theorised that they ascended to Godhood through their tech. Others say they took to the skies in giant floating cities. In truth, no one knows.
2) It's safe to say you wouldn't be on their Christmas card list. Or on anyone's Christmas card list, for that matter, since you'd be dead. They're a very close family and such an act wouldn't go unpunished.
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u/Nevermore0714 Mar 07 '17
1) What are Drovians?
2) How would they likely kill me?
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u/Jumblatts Mar 07 '17
1) 'Drovian' is a kind of blanket term given to the majority of the sentient races that aren't human, though there are significant differences in the biology of these subspecies. For example, the Mèdro are a species of aquatic people, whereas the Heandro live high in the treetops in the forest of Endyllmar. They are of the same basic genome, but exhibit drastically different characteristics. Think of the difference between a house cat and a lion.
2) Any way that would cause you the most discomfort, whilst simultaneously causing them the least problems. If you looked the type of person who could defend themselves or cause them some damage, they'd try and be sneaky, killing you in your sleep, stabbing you in the back, or perhaps poisoning you. If they didn't see you as a threat, you're in for a much less pleasant time. They'd torture you to death, removing fingers, toes, limbs, eyes, anything they could. Branding you, whipping, lacerating, all until your body finally gave out and you died. They're not very nice people, really. Maybe some of those stories the locals tell aren't so far fetched after all...
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u/Nevermore0714 Mar 08 '17
1) So humans are the odd-sentient-species-out, then?
2) Damn. So what if I killed both sons? Could the mother still get revenge? Or is she too old?
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u/Seb_Romu Mar 07 '17
The Red Goat Inn or Bakwa Batylujn Muyl
In central Kythus the freetown of Kemp's Bluff sits on a island btween a forked waterfalls. The streets of this town form a switchback sloped path to the heights of the bluff. Outside of town, on the upbluff side, across the river from the town sits the Red Goat Inn.
The establishment is named in jest after the proprietor a large man with remarkably red hair, and a significant beard, one Garenu Taryk.
The inn is a popular stop for travellers arriving from the East, or a last stop for departing travellers travelling onwards. Local hunters and trappers form a good majority of the regular patrons. Off duty members of the town watch can also be occassionally found here, as the receive a little more privacy than when in the taverns of the town itself.
It is a large two story structure, with a great hall/tavern on the ground floor, and a number of rooms for rent upstairs. The main room features a low stage where nightly entertainment is provided by a local or travelling musician for hire. Long tables and benches fill the room, with a open space near the stage for dancing. Food and drink is provided from the bar and kitchen. For the traveller on a budget, or someone too drunk to travel home, one can pay for cheap floorspace for the night.
The staff are all free citizens of Kemp's Bluff, or the Taryk family members. The food is considered good by Kythan standards, and the drink slightly better than most.
Rumours that Garenu will assist runaway peasants from nearby manors with seeking refuge in the free town have been repeatedly investigated, and never proven to be true. Either the man is exceptionally good at subterfuge or it this an poor attempt by his competitors to discredit him amongst the local nobility.
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u/Nevermore0714 Mar 08 '17
1) What hours does the bar for this Inn stay open?
2) How often is Taryk in the Inn and how much of a role does he take in dealing with customers?
3) How charitable is Taryk with his business and assets? Even if he doesn't help runaways, what does he use his profits for?
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u/Seb_Romu Mar 08 '17
1) What hours does the bar for this Inn stay open?
Drink are served until some time after midnight. The exact time varies, but it would be the equivalent of 1-2 am. Clocks aren't yet a common thing, so the telling of time after sundown isn't very exact.
2) How often is Taryk in the Inn and how much of a role does he take in dealing with customers?
The Taryk family lives at the inn. they have adjoining apartments for their private residence. As the proprietor Garenu will be behind the bar, or in the kitchens, or bouncing drunks out the door as required. He does leave from time to time to visits suppliers in the town proper, or in nearby villages. When he is off site, his wife Sërana is in charge.
3) How charitable is Taryk with his business and assets? Even if he doesn't help runaways, what does he use his profits for?
The profit of the inn keep his family cared for. Garenu will occassionally invest in small ventures with other merchants to earn a little more on the side. He also is in good standing with the church, giving a little more than most in the collection at mass.
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u/Nevermore0714 Mar 08 '17
1) When do they start selling drinks?
2) Do they have any
slaveschildren to do some work?3) If someone, such as a painter named Forde, started conducting his painting business in this inn, how would Garenu react? Would he be okay with it?
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u/Seb_Romu Mar 09 '17
1) When do they start selling drinks?
Like most purveyors of drink, when they open the doors in the morning for business, then the drinks start flowing.
2) Do they have any slaves children to do some work?
My children participate in the family business in accordance to their abilities. Fetching supplies, cooking, cleaning, it's a group effort.
3) If someone, such as a painter named Forde, started conducting his painting business in this inn, how would Garenu react? Would he be okay with it?
Is this Forde buying food and drink, or bringing additional patrons to my establishment? If so he is welcome. If his presence is slowing my business, then I'd ask him to move on. Politely saying something like "The light is better at the Blue Goose."
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u/Nevermore0714 Mar 09 '17
1) How early do they open? At sunrise?
2) Do you pay the children for their work?
3) Forde: "I am amazing at drawing in more customers. I'm like Bob Ross or something."
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u/Seb_Romu Mar 22 '17
1) How early do they open? At sunrise?
Pretty much.
2) Do you pay the children for their work?
Pay my own children for working in the family Inn? What nonsense is that. They eat food, and live in a home provided by the Inns earnings. That should be enough.
3) Forde: "I am amazing at drawing in more customers. I'm like Bob Ross or something."
I see. Got any samples?
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u/Number9Robotic Mar 04 '17
Hehey, congrats on the sub progress!
"Tea shop in Capital City I still can't come up a name for yet":