Inns
Where they stand
Section titled “Where they stand”
| Inn | Where |
|---|---|
| Coaching inn | Crossroads of three or more roads |
| Bridge inn | Just past a river crossing |
| Guesthall | Below a pass, where a road climbs high |
| Roadside inn | Other crossroads, and wherever a road runs more than a day’s march between rest stops |
| “The (castle) Arms” | By the road of every castle that stands alone |
A day’s march on a road is 4.32 km. Inns stand at least half a day apart. Inside an inn are a taproom with tables and a hearth, a bar, a kitchen behind, and chambers with beds upstairs.
Crossroads away from settlements have a signpost, a well or a waystone, and some a gallows or a shrine.
What an inn offers
Section titled “What an inn offers”Press R at an inn, or use its door (F), to see its tabs.
| Tab | What it does |
|---|---|
| Hire | Men waiting for work, one by one or as a band |
| Food and fodder | Sold by the 100 kg at half again the nearest town’s grain price |
| Beds | 1 silver a wounded man a night, up to 4 nights ahead; they heal as inside walls, whatever your medicine |
| Stables | 1 silver a horse a night, up to 4 nights ahead; horses rest twice as fast |
| News | Parties and armies within 8 km, nearest first, with their size, distance and heading |
A coaching inn also swaps your tired horses for fresh ones from its own stables, for 40 silver a spent horse and its share of that for a tired one.
Nights paid for run out whether you stay or not.
Men for hire
Section titled “Men for hire”Every inn starts with 2 to 8 single men waiting, and about a third of the inns have a band of 4 to 9 under a captain of its own. A band hired whole keeps together as its own squad under its captain. The coin goes to the innkeeper.
The men waiting are people, each with a name, a face, the kit of where he served, his skills and his body. The Hire tab lists them, with filters by role and a card for each man. Each asks his own price: his role’s price below, more for better gear (up to three times, or as little as half for worse), 5% more for every ten points of skill past a recruit’s, and 2% more for every point of body past the common folk’s.
| Role | Price | Daily wage |
|---|---|---|
| Infantry | 24 silver | 2 silver |
| Ranged | 30 silver | 3 silver |
| Cavalry | 40 silver | 6 silver |
| Ranged cavalry | 36 silver | 4 silver 5 copper |
A band costs its men’s asking plus a quarter for the captain. Where your songs are sung well, a captain asks less (see Travellers).
Shelter
Section titled “Shelter”A night within 150 m of an inn is a night under shelter: full rest whatever the weather.