Bear and Staff Inn

BEAR AND STAFF INN

The bear and staff is the oldest inn in Uldien, named after the bear-baiting spectacles that were held here in bygone days. The inn was erected on an artificial hill above the bank of the Nephen river to safeguard it against flooding and to keep the bear pit above the water table.
The inn burnt down in 687 TR during a drunken brawl that erupted when several guests betting on the outcome of a bear fight accused the innkeeper (the then head of the Lia-Kavair) of cheating. Two men died, knifed to death in the chaos, and then the baron had enough of the constant unrest and forbade the bearbaiting.
The inn was rebuilt and the bear pit officially filled in. In truth, the innkeeper only had the pit roofed over with the ground floor boards and a secret tunnel dug connecting the former pit with the cellars (see numbers 2 & 3 under “cellar” for more information).
The inn changed hands in 715 TR when the former husband of the current owner, Lynward of Lennis, took over. He was prone to violence and regularly beat his wife Kenna.

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Two years ago she made a deal with the Tashal Lia- Kavair: they killed her husband and in turn she reopened the old pit for their purposes.

GROUND FLOOR

(1) The taproom is a warm and friendly large place, lit by a great fireplace in the north wall and a smaller one in the north-east corner opposite the stairs to the second floor. The walls are hung with bear pelts, baiting staffs and hunting spears and the rafters and beams holding up the ceiling are carved with hunting and baiting scenes. The two chairs facing the fireplace are very popular with older regulars who fondly talk of the spectacles held here in the past.

(2) The kitchen is firmly ruled by Nenra of Tardin, the 44- year-old cook. Her speciality is bear ham pie and fried salmon with greens. She sleeps in the kitchen on straw pallets along with her two daughters Nenda and Mirleen, who help her with the cooking. Her husband Verlin was hanged five years ago for poaching and she has seen no need to remarry.

SECOND FLOOR

(1) The best room in the inn, most often used by noblemen or wealthy guildsmen, it has its own extension of the main fireplace in the taproom. A night here costs 1 shilling.

(2) The other four rooms in the west wing are the regular private rooms, sleeping one to three persons. Price ranges between 4d and 8d per person, depending on the season, size of the room, and apparent wealth of the customer.

(3) The common room sleeps five persons in relative comfort, and up to eight in a pitch. Kenna charges 1d to 3d per person, depending on her mood and the customers charms.

(4) Linen storage, the potboy Kerwyn, a 7-year-old orphan sleeps here.

(5) The servants' quarters house the serving wenches Orsine of Uld and Chindra of Mallyn in the two single beds. Chindra is younger and prettier but Orsine is more popular with the regulars for her witty comebacks. The double-bed is shared by Wulfen of Tannre, who keeps the house in good repair and unruly customers under control, and his wife Lareen, who cleans and bakes.

(6) Kenna's room is the nicest in the inn. She keeps her wealth in the locked trunk in the south-west corner. Kenna is very vivacious and throroughly enjoys her freedom. She is very attractive and occasionally takes a handsome man up to her room for the night. The next morning she invariably throws her paramour out, but always with a smile and a wink.

CELLAR

(floors are packed earth and river clay) (1) Beer and food storage. Kenna keeps a goodly supply of ale, beer, and cider in the barrels on the west wall. She brews and bales herself in the small brewhouse in the middle of the inn yard (not shown). The hanging objects on the north wall are mostly hams, some of them bear hams used for the cook's special recipe.

(2)

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The secret door in the north-western corner leads to the short tunnel to the former bear pit. It is a well-made wooden door with a hidden catch sealed with pitch and smeared with clay, making it very hard to notice in the dim light.

(3)

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The old bear-pit is now used to store contraband smuggled into Uldien and fugitive outlaws ferried here by the Tashalan Lia-Kavair. Kenna is not happy with this arrangement but sees no way out of it.