Stonehill Inn
The Stonehill Inn sits at the nexus of the road through town and the town green. A two story inn featuring a small stables and root cellar, the first floor is constructed of mortared stones, while the wooden second story supports a thatched roof. Cooking smoke rises out of the solid stone chimney, carrying the smell of hot food.
Entering the inn, a collection of round tables are arrayed around the floor with seats for patrons. A long bar runs across the back of the room adjacent to a stairway. Casks of ale and various taps line the back wall, only breaking to make room for the ready window of the kitchen behind the bar, from which the sound of a griddle and cooking fire spill out into the warm interior. A small hearth heats this room of the inn, burned down to little more than coals.
A middle-aged human man, slightly balding with a thick brown mustache perks up from behind the bar when he sees you enter, putting down the glass he was polishing. Rolling up the sleeves of his shirt and patting his hands dry on his white apron, he welcomes you in.
"Welcome to the Stonehill Inn travelers- first round is on the house. My brew of the week! What brings you into town?"
Purpose / Function
The Stonehill Inn was originally built to serve the traders who passed through Steppehaven on their way to Whiteport, and also as the main public house for the town. Aside from the Sleeping Giant (always comparatively unseemly, and now overrun by Crimsons), the Stonehill Inn is the other main watering hole for the town, and is thus frequented by virtually every member of town who participates in its social life.
Alterations
The inn is mostly unchanged from its original construction. The thatched roof is clearly well-maintained, as it betrays no signs of rot or mildew and doesn't leak at all. The Stonehill's own living quarters were clearly divided at one point to accommodate the addition of children, as a wooden wall and curtain doorway have been added to divide what was once a single room into two smaller bedrooms.
Architecture
The Stonehill Inn is a building of modest size but durable architecture, and is strategically located at the junction of one of the made roads through town and the village green. It is two stories tall, featuring a thatched roof and stone chimney. The first floor is constructed out of stone, and astute observers (or anyone who cares to ask Adelard about the inn's history) will notice the stone walls are made out of the mortared rubble of Steppehaven Manor. The outside of the inn features a small stables for billeting the horses of passing travelers which can also accommodate a single wagon or cart and be locked shut to provide reasonable security. The outside of the inn also features a set of double doors which lead down to a below-ground root-cellar, as well as an unattached outhouse at the edge of the property.
Entering through a wooden door into the first floor of the tavern, the tavern's first floor is occupied almost entirely by a large open dining area. An assortment of tables and chairs of different sizes and arrangements maximize the space of the tavern to host as many patrons as possible, all under the watchful gaze of a bartender behind a long wood and stone bar along the far wall of the room. Beneath the bar sits an array of more expensive alcohols as well as pitchers and drink ware. A small hearth burns along another wall and up through a chimney, heating this room, and a small wooden staircase leads up from the back of the inn near the bar up to the second floor.
The wall behind the bar is lined with casks of ale tapped and ready to be served, aside from the door to the kitchen and chef's window. The kitchen features a large oven, a cooking fire with spaces for stew pots or skewers, and a large griddle and grill, as well as another large fire over which a huge pot of hot soapy water bubbles. Cabinets and pantries featuring the mostly wooden dish ware of the inn cover the walls, and drying bundles of herbs and crates, sacks, and barrels of foodstuffs line another wall. At the far end of this room lies the interior entry to the root cellar.
The root cellar is covered by the wooden floorboards of the roof above it, while the room itself is carved directly out of the packed earth and stone. By far the most noticeable feature of the room are the rows of sealed casks of beer, ale, cider, and spirits for the inns patrons. The cellar also features a healthy supply of preserved meats, fruits, vegetables, and spices to be used in the kitchens upstairs.
The second floor of the inn is accessible from the narrow stairs in the inn's common room. The walls of this floor are made out of wood, while the ceilings are the exposed thatch roof itself over wood supports. The roof is well-maintained, and the interior layer of thatch is clean and dry and smells free of any mildew or rot. The stairway opens into a long hallway ending in a single door which opens to the Stonehill's living quarters. Ahead of this door are the doors to the inn's guest rooms, which can be locked. These rooms are modest but comfortable, featuring straw mattresses, down pillows, and wool blankets. Aside from the bed (or beds), the rooms are small, each featuring a single small nightstand dresser per bed, lantern, a wash basin, and chamber pot as far as amenities go. The rooms also feature small sealed glass windows behind a set of thin cloth curtains.
The Stonehill's living quarters are cramped but efficient. Adelard and his wife sleep in the main room, featuring a single bed, a pair of nightstands, a wardrobe-dresser with a large polished cooper mirror, and an old rocking chair. An adjoining room connects to it, divided by a thin wooden wall (clearly a more recent addition) and curtain doorway. This room is for the children, and features a set of beds, toy chest, a set of dolls, and various paintings and doodles on the walls alongside another wardrobe/dresser.
A third room adjoins to the main bedroom, this one behind another locked door. It serves as an office and business quarters for Adelard where he keeps the inn's records. It's notable features include a small writing desk, ledger, and lockbox.
Defenses
The Stonehill Inn was not designed with defense in mind, though as one of the few buildings in the village with stone walls it is more defensible than most homes and businesses in town, though the building remains exceedingly vulnerable to fire. Stone walls channel attackers through the doors and windows and prevent them from hacking through the walls themselves, and the inn's tables and chairs can be used to barricade these access points further if given time. The wooden stairs leading to the second floor provide a final natural choke point, while the windows of the second floor are narrow and provide 3/4 cover to anyone using them to fire outward.
The root cellar, where the inn's ale supplies are stored, has points of access inside and outside the inn itself, and each of their heavy cellar doors can be barred shut from within. During an emergency, if it seems the inn is about to be overrun, Ade plans to take his family down to the cellar and barricade the entryways, ideally slipping outside if the coast is clear. If he plans to hide his family in the barrels until they can escape or help arrives.
History
The Stonehill Inn is one of the town's newer additions. Built by Adelard Stonehill almost twenty years ago when he and his wife first returned to Steppehaven. The inn's first floor is constructed out of some of the old rubble of Steppehaven manor. In the years since constructing the inn, it has welcomed the birth of Adelard's three children and serves as a focal point of the town's social scene as one of the two places which offer a place to gather and drink.
Tourism
The Stonehill Inn is the primary stop for visiting travelers to Steppehaven, while also being the main social gathering point for the townsfolk.
Mornings at the inn are languid as the inn offers its typical breakfast fare for whatever guests it hosts, while a few farmers and craftsmen who live alone might stop in at the inn for breakfast. The heart of the day is generally quiet at the inn as most of the patrons vacate for their daily business, leaving Ade and his family to free run the day-to-day errands like restocking groceries, cleaning the kitchen and rooms, tending the stables, and readying the inn for the later day rush. The inn's traffic steadily increases from the late afternoon onward, peaking just after sunset. During this period the inn serves as a community meeting place. Some light music from a traveling bard or particularly inclined local might be offered, but the bulk of the activity consists of drinking, eating, talking, and playing dice or cards. Typical patrons include field-hands coming in after a hard days work to cool off and grab a drink before heading home, traders and merchants stopping in for their dinners, local youth engrossed in the drama of growing up, and local socialites. The Stonehill Inn prides itself as a place for the community to gather, and so the more unseemly and rowdy patrons are excluded.
Founding Date
1525 AC
Type
Inn
Parent Location
Owner
Related Plots
Comments