The Gilded Martin

• Original Purpose: A place for dockhands and traveling merchants to rest, drink, and trade ocean news.
• Current Purpose: Functions as a major social hub for Highmist Haven, where contracts are drafted over drinks, romantic ballads are performed nightly, and travelers find secure rooms above.

• A broad three-story timber structure with heavy slate roofs and gilded carvings of martins (small, quick river birds) across the eaves.
• The inside is a maze of cozy nooks, private booths with velvet curtains, and large communal tables near roaring hearths.

• Wide oak double doors lead into the main hall.
• Smaller side doors open to private parlor rooms and a gated riverside courtyard where barge captains tie up for late-night drinks.

• Warm gold and dark wood dominate; lanterns throw gentle glows on old polished floors.
• Smells of rich stews, baked river fish, and sharp clove wine.
• A gentle chorus of lute strings, laughter, and the creak of the old boards underfoot.

• Rowdy merchants, barge captains swapping tales, local theater bards hired by the owner, and the Martin family who still proudly run the place.
• Cats slip along the rafters hunting for stray kitchen mice.

• Ornate taproom bars stocked with local spiced liquors.
• Dozens of small round tables, each with a single gold-inlaid lantern.
• An upstairs library lounge where travelers trade old books and letters.

• Rare vintages in the cellar imported from coastal estates.
• An engraved gold ale pitcher, a Martin family heirloom, displayed behind the main bar.
• A small lockbox of notes and contracts secured beneath the owner’s ledger.

Hidden floor safes under tables in private rooms — meant for valuables, but sometimes booby-trapped to shock thieves with minor jolts of stored magic.

• Lanterns are enchanted to resist the mists; their glow never dims, no matter how thick the fog.
• Subtle charm wards over the main hall keep brawls from escalating into real violence — knives feel heavy and hands falter when raised in anger.

• Expanded several times over the years, new wings added to accommodate wealthy travelers.
• A private balcony now overlooks the river, perfect for moonlit deals or clandestine trysts.

• Timber frame heavy with gilded trim, old local stone for the foundations.
• Carved birds on every rafter beam, thought to protect the house from ill-fortune on the river.

• Two discreet door guards on duty each night.
• The Martin family’s cousin is a hedge wizard who lays subtle protective charms against theft and ill-intent.

• Site of the Treaty of Lanterns in 502 AR, where several minor lords formalized trade pacts after an all-night revel.
• A minor scandal broke out in 541 AR when a local baron’s daughter disappeared here for three days on a runaway affair.

• Considered the “first stop” for newcomers to Highmist Haven.
• Many travelers keep tokens from the Gilded Martin — small carved martins given to guests after particularly fine evenings.