The Slaughtered Ox

One of the two Inns located in the trapping village of Northcrest, and obviously the seedier of the two, the Slaughtered Ox has served the community as restaurant and gathering place for several decades.

Purpose / Function

The Slaughtered Ox serves the community of Northcrest primarily as a restaurant and gathering place for the town. Its dozen or so rooms on the second floor stay empty most of the time, occasionally being occupied by one of the villagers that got a little too into his cups and the establishments proprietor didn't feel safe letting them go home alone.
The Ox's purpose in our story is more a-typical of a tavern: it is where all of our heroes' paths will initially cross. For whatever myriad reasons they have come to the region, The Ox will serve as their initial shelter offering warm food and company.

Architecture

Much like the rest of Northcrest The Ox is constructed out of wood, with a thatch roof that barely keeps out the rain. Luckily, in the Wyvern Foothills rain isn't a very common occurrence so it is not something the owner has gone to great lengths to update.
The building consists of two stories: a main floor with a large meeting room, hearth and bar and two private booths along the far left wall. Along the right wall are the stairs up to the second floor. Taking those stairs up one enters a long hallway lined on either side with doors leading to the various rooms the Inn offers. The majority of them are double bunk rooms with the last four on either side being private rooms that cost more money, except during the winter when the village rarely has visitors at which point the rooms are all rented as individual rooms.
Behind the bar one finds a simple stove and washbin, as well as a trap door that leads down to a small cellar no larger that one of the rooms on the second story. The cellar also has a small room off to the side which the owner of the establishment has turned into a small personal apartment.

History

The Slaughtered Ox was build right at the village's founding and has existed in one way or another since then. It was originally called the Creaky Pub because the building was erected in a haste to offer the trappers a place to unload the gains of their trade and the floor boards were infamously noisy. About twenty years ago the Inn's main competition,The Golden Swallow, was built and the Inn was temporarily shut down as the villages favor swung to the nicer and newer establishment.
It remained closed and unclaimed for almost five years before being bought by it current owner, a travelling merchant name Tim, who renamed it the Slaughtered Ox, fixed as many of the boards as he could and worked his hardest to turn the Inn into a more affordable alternative to the Golden Swallow.

Alternative Names

The Ox

Type

Inn

Parent Location

Northcrest

Owner

Tim Murgro