Tavern Thursday: The Kite and Banner (Patreon)

Each Thursday I do a quick sketch of a new fantasy tavern as a paying-members-exclusive post. Each post includes an illustration and just enough tavern details for a GM to drop it in their game wherever they need a place for adventures to gather and quest to start.

And, HEY PAID MEMBERS! Still enjoying Tavern Thursday? Would you rather see something else just for you once per week? A new monster for various game systems? Microfiction? Something else? Drop a comment!

The Kite and Banner

Appearance: With a bright, new sign showing a kite raptor on a red-and-black shield under a yellow banner, the Kite and Banner is a sprawling, worn, and cracked waddle-and-daub building that borders half of an ill-kept courtyard with a dry water well at its center. The tavern's windows are normally shuttered with heavy wooden shutters, many of which who signs of having been marred by weapons and blunt instruments, but the shutters are better maintained than anything but the building's doors, which are sturdy wood and show signs of regular repair and even replacement. The most noteworthy part of the building is a second-story enclosed bridge running from the building with the tavern sign to a larger wing with windows boarded shut on the outside as well as shuttered from within.

(Art by IG Digital Arts)

The interior of the Kite and Banner reveal that much of the building has thick stone walls, with the waddle-and-daub merely a coating on the exterior, making it nearly a keep in defensive design. The furniture is made of sturdy but old wood, but deceptively well-built and obviously constantly scrubbed and repaired. A shield on the wall of the common room has the same kite symbol under a banner n a red-and-black background.

(Art by IG Digital Arts)

Origin: The Kite and Banner was at one time a lord's manner, in fact a keep of stone, and actually predates the other buildings in the city. One of the lords of the manner, Azrath Vhen, was a tyrant who took to necromancy to gather power and extend his reign. When he was put down by a hero of a nearby kingdom, the keep was badly damaged. A generation later, as the town prospered from new trade routes, the manor was rebuilt and repurposed as a major inn, using Vhen's old heraldry as it's sign and taking the name the Kite and Banner. A generation later the trade route moved to a different path, bad fortune befell the town, the well in the courtyard dried up, and the tavern closed. It's only in recent years it was partially reopened under new management, and has become a center of social life for not just the town, but outlying farms and villages.

Owner: To the public eye, the owner of the Kite and Banner is Heyman West, a kindly-looking older man who moved to the local area some years ago with enough money to repair and reopen the Kite and Banner. Locals believe Heyman is a retired adventurer, and that he operates the Kite and Banner at a loss, using his riches from past quests to cover the losses. Certainly Heyman seems knowledgeable of both recent events and the ancient past, has mastered various healing arts, and has strange visitors from foreign lands come to see him from time to time. He also has a family from foreign lands working key roles at the tavern, and only they and he have rooms within the boarded-up section of the building. While locals sometimes get work going repairs or working the tap room, they are never hired to prepare food or clean or repair anything but the active tavern wing of the old manor.

While Heyman is seen as a bit of an odd duck, this is basically used as an excuse to forgive any strange behavior he engages in. The fact he only opens the shuttered windows of the tavern from dawn to noon, and only after loudly announcing the shutters are about to be opened, is supposedly a habit from his (unnamed) homeland. His refusal to be open for the three days centered around the new moon is dismissed as the memories of an adventurer who once faced some horror in the darkness. And no one gives the strange, ancient coins he sometimes pays with any mind, as they are clearly from his time as an adventurer.

Food: The Kite and Banner had typical food of the region, focused on simple breads and gain mashes, backed small game, whatever vegetables and fruits are in season, and roasted meats as available. However, it is best known for its house specialty, Marag Dhubh, which is a recipe Heyman brought with him when he came to reopen the tavern. It is a form of blood sausage made with a high concentration of grains and strong herbs, which forms a solid sausage that can be eaten cold, or sliced and pan-fried. It's very popular, and Heyman pays local butchers and ranchers top-dollar for casks of fresh animal blood. They also have a number of dark breads that are served with sweetened animal fat in place of butter.

Drink: For nonalcoholic drinks the Kite and Banner offer a range of broths, mostly poultry and beef, which are boiled, the fat skimmed off, and seasoned with salt, pepper, and spices before being served hot or cold. Nearly all the tavern's alcoholic options are grain-based, with beer and 'heavy beer' (a stout jokingly described as 'so thick you can slice it like bread') the most common. The only stronger spirit offered is Bierlikör, a whiskeylike drink made by distilling beer. Heyman makes this himself, and even buys old beer about to go bad from locals to turn it into Bierlikör, which has a much longer shelf life.

Lodging: Although the original Kite and Banner had two score rooms, Heyman does not offer anyone rooms to sleep in, though he will sometimes store goods for merchants or locals needing a secure place to keep valuables. However, if anyone asks for a room and is turned down, a local might tell the prospective clients that Heyman will rent out rooms if asked in private and the lodger agrees not to let anyone know. This is true, and Heyman sometimes rents out rooms in the closed section of the tavern to couples wishing private assignations, criminals on the lamb, and sex workers needing a secure place to take a client. However, Heyman is VERY clear he doesn't want to be in this business on a large scale, and swears any boarder to secrecy, and agrees only to short stays, normally of no more than one night, and never more than a week. He is more likely to give travellers a night's room, claiming that he remembers how hard it was to find a bed when he first arrived, but her prefers to do so only if they are moving on the next day.

Stabling: The Kite and Banner has a large stable where Heyman keeps his own horse, cared for by the tavern staff, but no dedicated stablehands. If someone wants to stable their mounts Heyman will quote a price, but it includes costs to bring in fodder and some local farmhands to care for the mount.

Clientele: The vast majority of the taverns patrons are locals who appreciate a regular, central gathering place. Some are town crafters and returning traveling merchants who don't want to prepare their own meals. Most importantly, they all have a strong sense of community and are prepared to defend the Kite and banner if need be.

Rumors: Patrons laugh when talking about rumors surrounding the Kite and banner, which is seen a bit like an urban legend magnet. There was the time a merchant sword he heard something stomping about in the cellar below the stables, which turned out to be a goat that had gotten trapped down there. A rash of weakness disease went through a farm family who blamed Heyman's foreign workers, until Heyman himself found the mushrooms growing in old, wet hey on the farm that caused the symptoms, and cured the family. A traveling adventuring company once claimed there were glowing ghosts within the tavern's closed section, but an investigation found only two older teens from rival families using lanterns to sneak into the unused section to engage in private activities. When fresh graves were being dug up, it turned out to be wild boars seeking herbs the bodies were buried with by local custom... which is STILL an occasional problem.

The current town rumors are about a rash of disappearances of the strongest young males in surrounding farms. While a few suspect the Kite and Banner's blood buying is to blame, most suspect the young men have gone off to join a mercenary company and know the animal blood goes into the Marag Dhubh.

Adventure Seed: Heyman West is a necromancer, the foreign family that work for him as his cult, and the original owner of the keep, Azrath Vhen, is an undead they feed animal blood and fresh corpses to.

Azrath Vhen is something akin to a ghoul or vampire, though he is currently in such a deteriorated state not even Heyman is sure the undead's exact nature. Vhen was nearly destroyed when he was defeated, but a tiny part of him hid, and over the years fed itself on rats and roaches. heyman West came to the Kite and banner hoping to find old tomes of Vhen's, and instead found the undead itself, little more than a brain, eyes, and lengths of guts and stomach. Since then, heyman has fed Vhen a great deal of fresh animal blood, and fresh corpses dug out of graves as available, but refused to give the creature human blood or living victims, or to kill to get fresher victims for it. Vhen has taught Heyman West ancient necromancies in return, but promised the great secrets of death magic are held in reserve until Heyman begins bringing Vhen live humanoid food.

However, over the years Vhen has been growing stronger, and, unknown to Heyman, can escape the basement Heyman has him locked into through an old tunnel that comes out in soft earth at the bottom of the dry well in the town square. The dirt covers the whole, but is lose enough Vhen can crawl through it. With only one working arm and only the simplest of spells available to him Vhen has difficulty getting out of the well, but can do it if he takes long enough. But more importantly, his voice is very persuasive, and he whispers to some local children, promising them sweets if they com down to him. None have done so yet, but Vhen can play the long game.

Currently Heyman is trying to find a way to construct a better containment for Vhen, who he does not trust, but has not yet thought of a way to do so without attracting attention. Heyman knows having a powerful undead in the basement is going to cause odd occurrences, and is pre-empting them by causing MORE oddities which he can then prove are innocent. So goats stomping in the basement and strange mushrooms causing feinting diseases are spread by Heyman so any true clue Vhen causes can be dismissed as 'just another odd thing at the Kite and Banner, nothing to worry about.'

Which is why Heyman is VERY worried about the missing young men, which he has nothing to do with! In truth, they are being picked off by a mortal, human slasher/mass murderer, but Heyman doesn't know that. So he'll happily pay adventurers to investigate, while at the same time seeing if any of them seem likely to be interested in trading prison-building duty for money, drugs, or even access to necromancy spell or potions.

And all the time, Vhen slowly grows stronger...

"Azrath Vhen" Art by Publisher's Choice Quality Stock Art © Rick Hershey / Publisher's Choice Stock Art. https://patreon.com/StockArt

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