Brigadier Pit
Situated near the wharf in the southeastern part of Harhoun, The Brigadier Pit is halfway a cellar, its entrance five steps below ground level. A wide and spacious structure, the walls of the pit are sandstone where they are not dug out of solid earth. The ground level windows let little light in, for the largely dwarven patronage does not need much. However, even dwarven eyes struggle in the smoke of the inside of the pit. The flat roof of the building, only slightly above ground level is often used as extra space when the pit itself overflows with patrons.
The tavern is mainly frequented by visiting soldiers and is especially popular among exile companies and other mercenaries, who find themselves in the pit shortly after arriving in Harhoun. This clientele of mostly visiting soldiers makes the pit a rough place, and lends the place its alternate name of "Brigandine Pit", as many locals claim that those who frequent the tavern, or alternatively those that mill around the area, are little more than brigands. The proprietor keeps some armed security and attempts to expel various walkers of the night from the premises, but permits a fighting pit inside the establishment.
Staff and Proprietor
The Brigadier Pit is owned and operated by a grizzled Gafhi Serafi veteran named Bsrat. His cook is likewise former serafi, still feeding soldiers. Some semblance of order is maintained by a rotating cast of bouncers. largely drawn from Bsrat's old army contacts. However, nobody can truly control the clientele of the Brigadier Pit.
Of Bsrat himself, it is claimed that the one-eyed Thaner is a key ally of the Ras Gafhi himself despite by all accounts never having had a particularly notable rank within the Gafhi Serafi. The story goes that the Ras Gafhi uses the Brigadier Pit as a way to keep track of the various factions of mercenaries and soldiers coming into the city, and in exchange turns a blind eye to many of the illegal dealings happening inside its walls.
Services and Entertainment
Primarily a drinking establishment, soldiers mainly come to the tavern to drink honey wine and barley mead. The food is an afterthought, though common Thaner dishes mainly in the form of stews served on flatbread are offered. The Brigadier Pit does not offer lodging, as most of its clientele moves on quickly or sleep in army camps on the outskirts of the city when they do not drink through the night.
The Brigadier Pit is a place for fighting, games of chance, and absolutely excessive drinking. Sometimes, Legendary chanting may be heard in the pit, but it is drowned out by the sounds of the bar. Other entertainers that are not allowed inside the pit itself ply their trade around the nearby alleys. It is also considered an ideal place to get cheated out of your money, as the smoke inside the pit makes it difficult to identify who is around you at any given time, and card counters disappear into the crowd easily. Despite this, the pit's popularity endures.
Architecture
The Brigadier Pit is a half-underground structure, dug into the earth as a great hall and finished with half-height sandstone walls and roof. A single-story structure, the flat roof is used as an additional serving area during good weather, much to the consternation of the locals who must endure the noise of the pit without the earthen walls to muffle it.
One of the few permanent buildings constructed after 442, the Brigadier Pit's large footprint would be out of place in any other city center. That such a spacious structure would be designed so close to the heart of the city is a testament to the continual decay and desertion of the city of Harhoun.
History
Built in 477 on the site of an old and broken down minerals warehouse, the Brigadier Pit was originally owned by a dwarf only ever identified as "Haider". As Harhoun had lacked a proper watering hole for the mercenaries and soldiers coming through, the Brigadier Pit's prominent place and tolerance for the rough-and-tumble crowd it attracted guaranteed it a steady flow of customers. However, unlike the current owner, Haider was at constant loggerheads with the Gafhi Serafi and with the Ras Gafhi's authorities, regularly raided for harboring criminals.
Haider vanished abruptly in 494, and Bsrat appeared as a new owner. Though Bsrat claims to have bought the place and simply explains that Haider moved to the Mekub, many believe that Haider was murdered or disappeared by the Gafhi Serafi. Nevertheless, such talk is hushed within the establishment, for the proprietor does not take kindly to such rumors. Though the Brigadier's Pit is arguably no less a hotbed for criminals seeking to profit off the soldiery now than it was in Haider's day, the establishment has been free to operate without interference from the law.
Nice. Very scholarly.