The Starting Point
The Starting Point, formerly known as the Peat & Tar, is a small tavern and inn located in Ammand's Portside. The inn has exchanged many hands in the past, always passing down from one bard to another, often through the use of a scheme or a lie. It is currently own and operated by Edward Thunder, the Regal of Portside.
Alterations
The inn was originally a simple, single story tavern. Over the years a second floor was added, offering accommodations for the tavern's guests. Another later addition was the inn's outhouse, which also offers a warm bath.
Architecture
The Starting Point is built on shaky grounds, offering little support. With the exception of its kitchen, which is made out of black clay bricks, the rest of structure is made out entirely out of wood. The second floor contains 2 personal bedrooms and 2 shared rooms, as well as the innkeeper's room. The building has no attic or basement, and its kitchen serves both as a storage area and a pantry.
Defenses
The Starting Point regularly employ a bouncer, as well as fake patrons who are responsible for breaking any fights. The establishment is suctioned under the Inquisition, therefore gaining its protection when needed. Some locals claim the inn also employ members of other shadowy organizations, citing the death of an arson who previously tried to burn it down, yet those claims remain unproven as evidence is circumstantial at best.
History
The tavern was built in the early 15th century by an unknown Bard who inherited the plot of land from a local nobleman. The first version of the tavern, named the Peat and Tar after the smell left over from the materials used in its construction, proved unsuccessful, costing the bard nearly his entire life savings just to maintain it.
Eventually, he managed to sway another retired bard to take over, and promptly left the city. The new owner also struggled, and with Portside's order declining, their fate was probably also for the worse. This bard's identity, and how the tavern left their possession, remains unknown.
The tavern exchanged more than two dozens hands since its inception, and while its owner was always a bard, the identity of all of them is either obscured and forgotten, missing in records or simply remain unknown. The lawless of Portside during most of its existence is also a heavy contributor to this obscurity and lack of accurate historical details.
The inn floor is a much later addition, built by the former owner Jaime Orianve in an effort to drive in more business. The current owner, Edward Thunder, has changed the inn's name to its present one. Since Thunder's takeover, the inn has gained new popularity, especially due to Thunder's actions benefiting the local community and his presence there, making the regal much more approachable to locals than his peers.
Tourism
While the Starting Point isn't a pilgrimage site or a tourist destination on the scale of Ammand's other monuments, it has been visited in the past by the Ostian Mountaineers, which Thunder was a member of, Kairoz the Andorian, The Ponderer and more influential figures.
Current Date: 2nd of Latsum, 1572
Founding Date
1420
Alternative Names
The Bard's House
Type
Inn
Parent Location
Owner
Comments