The Comrades in Arms
The Comrades in Arms is an establishment that offers longterm boarding and meals for guests, and workday lunches for the people of the town. The front of the establishment is a single long room of wooden construction. On either end of the room there are fires where bread is baked, meat is roasted, and drinks poured. Because the clientele of the Comrade is the working citizen of Narwell, the drinks are well watered to send folk back to work capable of the tasks they must undertake for the rest of the day. There is no menu.
The cooks prepare their meal for the day in large batches—big pot cooking. The inferior meats of whatever is roasting are added to whatever stew or soup is being prepared that day. Finer cuts are offered for sale separately at a premium. What is on the spit varies from day to day depending on what the Comrade’s hunter brings in, or if the manager has decided to purchase meat that day. Frequently—this being a working class establishment—the stew or soup may have no meat at all. The bread is always hearty, black, and filling.
This, however, is just what keeps coin flowing in this business. In reality most of the profit is made from long term boarders.
The Comrades in Arms is square built right up to the boundaries of the property, but hollow in the center—featuring a courtyard where fruit trees and herbs are sheltered from cold north winds by the walls of the building. There are stone benches and tables in the courtyard for boarders to take meals away from the bustle of the Common room.
The floor above the common room contains the living quarters for the owners and staff, with two large suites for the owners, and smaller living quarters for the staff. Each of the remaining two story wings feature four large suites per floor. Each room features a brass brazier for keeping the room warm, a double bed, a wardrobe, a chest of drawers, and a banded locked chest. The other room in the suite is a sitting room with a sofa and two two chairs around a table and a desk tucked away in the corner. All of the windows face the interior of the building—a garden view.
The Comrades in Arms was originally constructed and run by a retired band of adventurers who had unique ideas about private property and business ventures. When they started the venture, they maintained the even split shares that had characterized their group in their days of dungeon delving and dragon hunting. Therefore, all owners and staff members are paid a percentage of the establishments earnings so that everyone feels invested in the prosperity of the endeavor. The Captain—manager—gets a double share, the hunter and cooks get a share and a half, and all other employees get a single share.
The Comrades in Arms has run this way for three generations now, the original adventurers long since deceased. The family trees are all intermingled now, and it’s difficult to keep track of who is descended from who and to what degree. What has remained true is that any descendant of the original band may always find a position of employment here, and any worthy descendant in need may find assistance from the generous spirits of the Comrades in Arms.
Due to the mutual ownership of all employees, the service is quite good, but none of the staff exhibit the slavish behavior of other establishments. The waitresses aren't trying to get extra coin from a tumble in the sheets--they're owners. All of them are. This dynamic can make newcomers feel a little out of sorts.
Narwell
Last edited by CaptainHellrazor, July 30 2025 15:22:48. Open game article. You can edit it once you log in.