Fairy Queen's Respite
No one would deny that Wargun can be a depressing city. Tucked away in the northeastern corner of the Malpighien Steppes, the ancient walled city is packed with low stone buildings and a warren of cobbled streets. Over the centuries, its denizens have laid stone over nearly every inch of the city, giving it a decidedly gray and depressing look. The lack of grass and trees can, especially in the deepest parts of winter, drive a person mad. As bad as this might be for the Human psyche, for a Soulmeliti, who build their dwellings in harmony with nature and live centuries instead of decades, it can seem like eternal damnation.
So thought Valette Farinshyme when she arrived in the city as a orphaned child shortly after the occupation of New Solarin. Less than a century later she had amassed enough wealth purchase a large plot of land central Wargun to establish her inn. She immediately razed the derelict buildings, planted grass, and installed a displaced lion that she had befriended to keep disreputable locals from encroaching upon the plot of land.
The inn that she built combines classical Soulmeliti architecture - blending in with the natural surroundings - and human log cabin techniques that she learned on her journeys throughout Tarien. The result is a whimsical, multi-level and multi-building complex build into a pair of sycamore trees that stand over a hundred and fifty feet tall. The buildings, suspended in the trees nearly twenty feet in the air, seemingly hover above parklike grounds complete with wild flowers, berry bushes, brilliant colored shrubs, and a small collection of fauna. Reigning over this nature reserve is a black maned lion, rumored to be the same on that has acted as sentry for two and half centuries.
The interior of the buildings, be it the tavern, dormitory style common quarters, or one her famous tree-top bungalows, are all filled with delicate Soulmeliti crafted furniture, bright silks and soft down filled blankets. Vases made from impossibly thin porcelain are constantly filled with flowers - the type and color varying with the season. Creature comforts abound, such as self-heating baths and brooms that tidy up on their own. Valette swears that these are merely gifts from Tyloma and thereby exempt from anti-arcane laws. Given the tax revenue that the inn pays to the Darin Clan - and the fact that the leader of last anti-mage mob had an unfortunate accident in the middle of the night when he was confused with a deer that Inn's lion was hunting - most citizens look the other way. If pressed, they might shrug, saying "Who are we to pretend to understand the gifts of such a strange goddess."