The Lovers Tavern

Taverne d'amour

Only those truly in love with another can find the tavern. The tavern is much more than just a place for one to get a drink and a bite to eat. It is a getaway from the world with the one person who truly loves you. The tavern knows this and makes sure that whatever your heart desires; it creates for you.

The Lovers Tavern, or Taverne d'amour as it is called locally, is a place of complete mystery for everyone except those in love. It was built on the very spot where a king and queen fell in love with one another on the banks of the Nile River. Because of this, only those that have truly fallen in love can see it. To those that have not, the only thing they see are ruins guarded by ghosts who demand people leave until they fall in love.

History of The Lovers Tavern

The exact date of the construction of the tavern is not known and they have not found the person who built it either in oral or written records. What we know is that the tavern has been in the same location on the banks of the river for generations. Even when the river floods its banks each year, the tavern remains dry and intact even its ruins remain. Nobody knows the amount of rooms or how big the tavern as each person who tells another about it says a different amount. Nothing about the tavern remains constant, only that there is one inn keeper who greets them and one servant who gives them whatever they desire in terms of food and drink. Even the rooms of the taverns are not the same. Some say the room they slept it was large and had many candles, others say it was small with one candle but surrounded by windows looking out across to the river.

One account is of a woman that fell in love with a son of a noble. They talked to each other daily and soon fell in love with each other on the banks of the river. That night, both of them had a dream of a tavern that was large and had many windows that looked out across the river and candles that lit the walkway leading to it. The road was red cobblestone and flanked on both sides with soldiers who bowed as they walked. The noble son had the same dream and both of them wanted to see for themself's this tavern, so that night they walked along the banks of the Nile and found it just like in their dreams.

Once inside of the tavern, the inn keeper offered them their favorite drinks and brought out to them their favorite foods. Even the music from a bard was one they had listened to when they fell in love. It was as if the tavern just knew what they both enjoyed and recreated it just for them. For the noble son was part of the military and had the respect of the soldiers. The young lady's favorite color was red as she was a priestess of the goddess of love. The tavern can adapt to the lovers that come through its doors. Each account varies about what was inside of the tavern.

The magic of the tavern

The tavern knows about lovers and what is in their hearts due to magic. this magic is a combination of shadow magic and love magic where shadow magic is used to manipulate the shadows to create the scene for the lovers. While love magic is used only to find out what the heart desires so that the tavern can create it.

Purpose / Function

The main purpose of the tavern is for lovers to have an escape from the world, a place they could come and have a bite to eat and relax without having to worry about the world. It is also a safe place for all that come to the tavern. But that is not the only purpose of the tavern. The other purpose is to make the love between the two lovers stronger so that it can never break. It is a safe place away from prying eyes of parents or kingdoms and religious zealots who do not approve of the romance. It serves as a place for those of the same sex to have a safe place to express themself.

Denizens

The tavern has three employees who, regardless of what the tavern creates for the lovers, are always present. The first is the inn keeper herself, who is always present with a radiant smile and a warm glow that makes all that meet her feel loved and protected. Next is the server or barmaid who provides the food and drinks to the lovers. She is always young and takes on the culture and race of the lovers who are in the tavern. There is also a hint of a tan and an infectious smile and charm. Some say she is in her late teens while others say she is in her mid-20s. And finally, the cook who although never seen one could smell the food they cook from the main room, nobody is sure if the person works alone or has others helping but they often say they can hear shouts from time to time coming from the kitchen, never in anger but always with a voice of a parent giving a lesson to a child but in a encouraging way.

There are others as well, but it depends on the lovers and what they want to create. For the young noble there were multiple servants for they had multiple dishes of food bought out from the kitchen all of their favorite foods, For those that stay longer than a night, the tavern will create additional staff to help with the operation such as housekeeping and room service which are often young women or men that attend to the lovers while they stay at the tavern.

And there is also a bard who plays the tunes for the lovers, Whatever song they want to hear as the bard is quite talented, Some have what they call a couples song play, others have a song they heard in other taverns or inns that they enjoyed. Regardless, a tune is played by a bard or two, depending on the song the heart desires.

How the tavern appears to those not in love

Villa Chatau by Tama66

Tavern music

This is determined by the lovers themself’s and what is in their hearts. From the moment they enter the tavern the bard will play a song just for them and them alone and make it a unique experience, Do the lovers enjoy slow music or fast music or music that just sets the mood, all of this is possible for the bard to play and nothing is out of the realm of possibility. As the tavern knows just what music to play for the mood,the lovers want to set and it will change during the stay as well, from fast in the beginning of the evening to slow towards the end of the evening and if requested the bard will play some music from outside of the room for the lovers to fall asleep too.

Type

Pub / Tavern / Restaurant

Included Locations

• River of the goddess of love

Menu

The tavern provides the lovers that come and dine at the tavern with whatever their heart desires. It does not matter what that is, it could be the most exotic food or even a home-cooked meal that their parents made for them. It could be something in far-away lands, that they read about in a book or heard a rumor on the street. If the heart desires it, then that is what they will get. Of course, there are things that the tavern will not provide no matter what the lover’s heart’s desire

Examples of Taverns created

One tale tells of a couple who went to the tavern many years ago. The tavern, knowing what was in their hearts, recreated the ideal romantic setting for them. Here, the couple wanted a warm, cozy cottage with snow outside and a beautiful fireplace. They even requested that one lover have a musical instrument for them to play and the tavern provided it.

The Lovers Tavern by ShadowMalachi

Rumors about the tavern

• They constructed the tavern where the goddess of love and the shadow god spent their first night together
• The tavern has some sentience
• The inn keeper is a manifestation of the goddess of love herself.
• The tavern can play host to multiple lovers at the same time