The Crossroads Inn Building / Landmark in Vyrvania: City of Secrets | World Anvil

The Crossroads Inn

by Kat Chiron in Canva (FrozenBunn)
  The Crossroads Inn was built during the medieval era. It was built on a crossroads to protect the patrons from revenants that were rife during these times. The revenants (reanimated corpses of vampyrs who had fallen in the Realm wars), would band together and attack vampyrs in their homes and meeting places because they needed to feed on vampyr blood to 'survive'. They had limited sentience and worked on basic instinct.      
An illustration of young adults camping; one is roasting marshmallows, one is playing guitar, one is drinking a warm drink. There is a ghostly form hovering over them. It is badge shaped and reads World Anvil Summer Camp, Spooky Shenanigans 2023
Spooky Shenanigans by Haly, the Moonlight Bard
My submission for the Spooky Shenanigans challenge.   Beware the hidden content contains what I would suggest is mild horror, so only click if you wish to read it.
 

Warning mild horror! Click to reveal the content!

The inhabitants of the area decided to fight back and created a deep pit trap at the middle of the crossroads. They then lured a large group of revenants towards it, and watched them fall in one by one. Once they had all fallen in the vampyr buried the revenants 'alive' (if they could be called that).   As time went on the vampyr decided to build around the crossroads because of the protection it was thought to give them, even though revenants were less rife now. The Crossroads Inn was built at one of the junctions of the crossroads, so the cellar was actually next to the revenant pit. The vampyr didn't think anything of this until several of those that worked at the inn complained of feeling cold and faint when they went down to the cellar. They realised that a dark energy from the buried revenants must still be in effect. The owner of the inn, Dio Taverner, decided that he must find a way to repel this dark energy so he consulted a travelling witch who came through the area (beings that aren't 'pure-blood' or 'true-blood' vampyr are no longer allowed to roam freely in Vyrvania). She sold him a hex that she put on the offending wall in the cellar but made it clear that he would need to get this renewed every 100 years. Obviously this became more difficult once witches and other supernatural beings no longer came by the inn. Now every 100 years, Dio has to make a pilgrimage to the Arcane Quarter to renew the hex, meaning for a short amount of time the cellar is not protected. Luckily things are a little easier as he now has an ally with 'connections' that can get him what he needs.
  The inhabitants of the area decided to fight back and created a deep pit trap at the middle of the crossroads. They then lured a large group of revenants towards it, and watched them fall in one by one. Once they had all fallen in the vampyr buried the revenants 'alive' (if they could be called that).   As time went on the vampyr decided to build around the crossroads because of the protection it was thought to give them, even though revenants were less rife now. The Crossroads Inn was built at one of the junctions of the crossroads, so the cellar was actually next to the revenant pit. The vampyr didn't think anything of this until several of those that worked at the inn complained of feeling cold and faint when they went down to the cellar. They realised that a dark energy from the buried revenants must still be in effect. The owner of the inn, Dio Taverner, decided that he must find a way to repel this dark energy so he consulted a travelling witch who came through the area (beings that aren't 'pure-blood' or 'true-blood' vampyr are no longer allowed to roam freely in Vyrvania). She sold him a hex that she put on the offending wall in the cellar but made it clear that he would need to get this renewed every 100 years. Obviously this became more difficult once witches and other supernatural beings no longer came by the inn. Now every 100 years, Dio has to make a pilgrimage to the Arcane Quarter to renew the hex, meaning for a short amount of time the cellar is not protected. Luckily things are a little easier as he now has an ally with 'connections' that can get him what he needs.
Type
Inn
Parent Location
The Crossroads Inn is the heart of the community of Damusk, an enclave within the Industrial Quarter. Patrons frequent the inn when they aren't working, enjoying good ale, tasty food and the latest gossip or important news. There are also several rooms on the second floor for travelling vampyr to hire, and a meeting room, off the main bar area, that can be used for more private gatherings.
by Kat Chiron in Canva (rusm)
The top floor has been taken over by a more prestigious patron, Joseph Thornwood. He makes sure the owner, Dio Taverner and his most regular patrons are well looked after in return for their silence about his affairs and any visitors he receives.

Cover image: by Kat Chiron in Canva

Comments

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Aug 19, 2023 00:28 by Joella Kay

I like the way the place comes into existence and the backstory, plus the bits of more general information about the world.