Cailean's Rest (KAY-lee-enz rest)

An inn that welcomes good adventurers and downtrodden alike.

Written by SochaL

Location

Material Plane

Cailean's Rest manifests itself as a teleporting door that solely roams the continent of Roviltum, therefore it has no set location. The door can appear as a normal everyday door on the side of a building, a hole in a cave, twisted vines in the shape of an oval, or even a whirlpool in a lake.
The door materializes somewhat randomly during all days and nights, but shows up most often during times of war.
The inn itself is located in a parallel dimension. Most people do not realize this and it is a secret known only by the staff and trusted customers.

Inn Itself

The inn shares common characteristics with many other inns in the material plane; such as a cobblestone foundation, wooden walls and beams, and a stone fireplace. However, it does have some unique and subtle qualities.
On the outside, the inn seems to have two floors, but when traversing up the internal stairway, one will notice that the stairs do not end. In fact, they never end, the inn has an infinite number of floors that house an infinite number of rooms that are continuously built as more guests arrive.
Upon closer inspection, one can also see that the fireplace is no ordinary fire either. Inside, there is a pot hanging from a hook, this pot can create any dish or drink the guest desires. Ranging from vegetable stew to beef stroganoff and even all the way to wine!
The outside of the inn is just as abnormal as the inside. Surrounding the entire mountain that the inn lays on is an ocean of clouds, stretching as far as any eye can see. If someone were to attempt to descend the mountain, they would quickly find themselves in the thickest fog that they've ever had the displeasure of entering. Soon after, they would end up walking back to the inn, even if they continued to walk down the mountain. The clouds act as a protective barrier for the inn and keep everyone, and everything, close by.

Who May Enter

Although the door can be seen by anyone, it can not be used by everyone. The door, or whatever it may look like at the time, is covered in magical runes that almost test any who enter. These runes were manufactured by Cayden Cailean, a.k.a. The Accidental God.
The runes, and the deity who created them, disallow anyone who may be evil or associated with evil from entering the inn. If someone who's classified as evil were to enter through the door leading to the inn, simply nothing would happen. They would appear on the other side and remain in the material plane.
On the contrary, anyone who may be good, neutral or associated with either alignment were to enter through the very same door, they would find themselves inside of a lively and mystical inn. When an evil aligned creature sees someone successfully enter through the door, they would believe that the successful creature had disintegrated. Which is nearly the exact opposite of what would actually happen.
The reasoning behind this gateway of magical resistance lies with the creation of the inn.

History

Creation

The magical inn was first created in -198 AR, 4,920 years ago, by Cayden Cailean himself. This occurred during the Age of Invasion, in Roviltum, when The Lantern King assaulted the continent with their army of fey creatures.
Cayden Cailean has always been fond of Apsu, the deity who created Roviltum, and saw how his creation was being demolished. Cayden desperately wanted to help, but knew that there was no way he would be able to defeat The Lantern King's armies. So he did the next best thing that he could think of, he built a safe haven for Apsu's followers, in the form of an inn.
Most of Apsu's followers were good aligned dragons, so Cayden chose to construct the sanctuary on the tip of a mountain. However, originally being a human himself, he also chose to give it a little bit of humanity's sparkle by placing an inn from his home town on top of the very same peak.

Introduction of Fey

Thousands of years after the end of the Age of Invasion, Cailean's Rest still remained and Cayden continued to run it. It may have been created as a safe haven from the evil fey creatures, but it was not made to keep all fey out. As many evil fey left and The Lantern King's control over the continent diminished, more and more good aligned fey began to visit Roviltum, and in turn, found Cailean's Rest's door.
It started slowly, a few Sprites and Grigs began to hang out there, a few Nixie spread the word, even more Unicorns told their friends about it. Soon, as quickly as the inn was created, it became a bustling hub for all sorts of fey to relax and tell stories. Many of which became recurring customers.
Unfortunately, many of the previous customers were Apsu's followers, which had hidden at the inn because of the fey. So, unsurprisingly, they weren't so keen to stay for much longer. As of today, most dragons refuse to return to Cailean's Rest, in hatred for the fey that remain there.

Change of Management

With the unexpected change of his inn, Cayden's original vision was no more. He loved the inn and what it had become, but he felt as though his purpose there was no longer needed. Many of the recurring fey customers had become close to him, so he knew he could trust many of them. Especially a select few.
In 3642 AR, Cayden left to pursue other challenges and left the inn under a unicorn from the First World, named Wynn. Cayden entrusted Wynn with everything the inn had to offer and gave him full control over it. After that day, Cayden never returned to the inn again.
Wynn had been around the inn for hundreds of years, so he knew what to do. He kept the original ideas of the inn and spruced up the ways that adventurers could interact, as well as hired some staff. He added a bulletin board for jobs, made rules for the inn, created a currency based off of favors, and many more little upgrades.

Current Day

Nowadays, the inn welcomes travelers from all walks of life, no matter the species. Although, the magical door still has the runes preventing evil creatures from entering. Wynn, the current owner, kept it that way as to keep the original owner's ideals alive.
Many good adventurers, who know about the place, come to seek new challenges, help each other out, or even just relax for a while. As long as they keep their personal business outside of the inn.
The staff keep everything running and make sure no one breaks any rules. It's a simple life, but they enjoy the responsibility and sometimes even get a few favors done in return.

Reasons for Visiting

Jobs

Many adventurers who visit regularly tend to be heroes, or at least want to be. They come seeking work taking out bandit leaders, facing off against necromancers, slaying unbridled beasts, or anything of the sort. Whatever it may be, they end up looking at the bulletin board. There, people requesting help can place their issues on a piece of paper and wait for someone to take up the job.
It does not even have to be some magnificent quest, sometimes it can be a grocery list or even a lost pet. The jobs almost always get taken up on, though, that's just the kind of people who come to the inn.
Customers are not the only ones who place jobs on the board, even the staff or other adventurers need assistance sometimes.
Whatever it may be, the job will always earn you some favors in return. Favors of which will allow you to request things from the staff, almost like a currency.

Leisure

For those who aren't particularly looking for more work to do, they can find plenty of ways to relax at the inn. It's not called Cailean's Rest for nothing!
The staff can supply rooms, food, drinks, items for activities to pass the time, and almost anything you could wish for.
Occasionally, someone will even be advertising their shops and stores from the material plane. As long as they refrain from selling anything, then the staff will have no problem with them doing so.

Staff

Wynn, the Owner

Wynn is a unicorn from the First World. He was one of the first fey to discover the place soon after the Lantern King's invasion. Being one of the first to have found it, he is also one of the few that have had the pleasure of really knowing Cayden Cailean.
Wynn has a very 'forgive and forget' kind of attitude and has always been known to laugh many discomforts off, due to this, he really clicked with Cayden early on and the two became quite close over time. Until the day that Wynn will never forget, when Cayden handed down ownership and took his last step out of the inn.

Liran, the Chef

Liran is a Blodeuwedd, a guardian of portals between planes of existence, so it's no surprise that she stays at Cailean's Rest now. At first, she protected portals due to her overwhelming desire to keep people safe, on both sides of the portal. However, overtime as she saw how wonderful the creatures who entered and left were, she decided to venture over as well.
Ever since then, she has given up on her ideas of having to protect everyone and has spent much of her time reflecting on her past at the inn. To the point where Wynn hired her as the chef. Her nature talent with herbs and vegetables make her a great cook.

Eslyn, the Barkeep

Eslyn is a huldra that grew tired of the material plane. She had spent most of her life in the forests living amongst animals and hiding from people. She actually stumbled into Cailean's Rest on accident, since one day the portal chose to take the spot of her real door in her cave.
Eslyn always thought that she disliked civilization, but being at the inn changed her mind forever. After a while, she began to pick up different customs and eventually stuck to alcohol, before being hired by Wynn. It takes a lot of it to affect her, though, and she really likes to challenge newcomers to drinking contests.

Caquinn, the Janitor

Caquinn has always been an organized sprite, almost to the point of obsession. She would always be criticized by other sprites for her attitude towards being neat.
Luckily for her, her need to be organized is the reason why she found Cailean's Rest. While she was fixing some loose vines one day, she saw the portal through the very same vines. Immediately, when she entered the inn, she began to pick stuff up and fix the tables. After that, Wynn knew he had to hire her.

Izque, the Landscaper

Izque is a lampad from deep underground. He has always had a natural talent for molding earth and has always used it as a means to keep his home safe. Although, he never particularly enjoyed his cavernous home. Which is why he took the first chance he could to escape and jumped into a random portal in the stone wall.
Thankfully for him, the inn on the other side was much better than his old home. Wynn introduced him to everyone and Izque instantly begged him to stay. After showing off his earth magic talent, Wynn knew the perfect job for him. Landscaping the mountain side, a way better gig than what Izque used to have.

Tales

Cailean's Rest has been around for thousands of years and in that time, it has seen many people come and go. From that list, which is way too long to put here, a few have been worthy enough to tell stories about.

Aymailto, the Half-orc Protector

Aymailto was a mercenary who had been known to always put her money where her mouth was. Nothing she said was to be ever taken lightly, otherwise one would end up with their face in the dirt very quickly. On the other side of the coin, she was also known for for her grace and respectability. She would always try solving an issue with words before she would have to resort to violence. She was one of the most skilled warriors to have ever set foot in Cailean's Rest, only being outdone by deities. With her two hand axes, nothing could stand in her way, but that didn't stop people from trying.
During one of her jobs, she was hired to escort a very wealthy merchant. Little to her knowledge, it was a trap set up by the merchant himself to attack and take over the inn. When they sprung the trap, Aymailto used every last inch of her will to fight the merchant's soldiers back... and she succeeded! She fought for days on end, making sure that the portal remained safe. Once she had beaten back every last one of them, she sat down at the inn and took her very last rest. To this day, one of her hand axes remains stuck in the inn's wooden pillar.

Lily Mistygust, the Dryad Stormcaller

Lily Mistygust was an odd Dryad. Where as most other Dryads stay clear of civilization, Lily was fascinated by it. She would always try to stay out of sight, but could never truly help herself from having a peek at other's business. Which is how she even found Cailean's Rest in the first place.
Lily had always been powerful when it came to nature magic, especially the clouds and storms. Which came in handy more than once, but it really helped out when the inn was in trouble.
The inn is surrounded in a magical cloud that keeps people from entering or leaving without utilizing the door, and the magic that controls it is of deity level. It can be very unstable at times and one time, it was nearly deadly. The clouds began to enclose the inn, slowly turning into a storm, threatening to trap everyone inside and seal away the inn forever. That is when Lily stepped in.
With all her might, she desperately pushed the storm back, but not without sacrifice. The clouds were able to engulf her and when the clouds did finally retreat back to the base of the mountain, Lily was nowhere to be found. Some rumors say she became the clouds, while others speculate that her last dying wish is what had stopped the storm. One way or another, her actions are why the inn remains, safe to rest another day.

Siveral Valyra, the Teleporting Postman

Siveral Valyra is currently the only person who is still alive that the inhabitants of Cailean's Rest tell stories about. He is a Woodland Elf that was born into his family's legacy... of transporting letters. It wasn't the most glamorous work, but he cherished it with all his heart, eventually becoming one of the most trusted postmen of his time. His jobs became more and more vital, to the point where he was carrying letters from kingdoms to their battles. That is when he found Cailean's Rest.
Siveral discovered the power of the door and learned about how it would teleport, he eventually became so in tune with it that he was able to predict where it would go next! He quickly used this to his advantage and was able to bring letters across the whole continent in a day!
Because of the door's nature of teleporting more frequently during times of war and Siveral's job of transporting war letters, the two went hand in hand. Siveral's quick wits and drive to help people had indirectly saved thousands of lives, making him a hero to all of those at the inn.

Cailean's Rest resembles a small, two story cottage at the top of an endlessly tall mountain. Miles of clouds surround the the mountain and actively prevent anyone from leaving.