4. Boatman's Tavern – Mainroom
The Beating Heart of Nulb’s Decay
Dim, smoke-choked, and forever echoing with the clamor of mugs and muffled threats, the mainroom of Boatman’s Tavern is where Nulb breathes. Not the breath of life, but that of rotting commerce, broken oaths, and whispered curses. Positioned just off the pier, the tavern opens directly into the swamp-laced boardwalk where pirate skiffs and black-sailed barges roll in with the tide.
This is the unofficial town hall of Nulb’s underworld. Deals are struck in the open, blood is spilled without consequence, and Temple agents, slavers, pirates, and bandits mingle beneath hanging lanterns and warped timber beams.
Entering the Tavern from the Dock
You push open the doors. Heat and noise slap you in the face. The air inside is thick with the stench of sweat, sour ale, and wet wool. Smoke curls from lanterns and the center fire pit, mixing with the haze of pipeweed and something more acrid—burned meat, maybe. Or blood.
Wooden beams hang low overhead, sagging like a drunk’s shoulders. Tables crowd the room in disorderly rings, sticky with spilled drink and crusted with salt. Rivermen and swamp traders bellow, argue, gamble, and drink like it’s their last night above the mud.
At the far end, a hairy mountain of a man—Skole, no doubt—wipes a mug with a rag that’s dirtier than the cup itself. His one good eye catches yours for a moment. He nods once… slow… as if measuring your price. A tray clatters nearby as a serving wench—frowning, worn—pushes past you with a grunt. Behind her, her younger companion smirks as she twirls a loose strand of hair, clearly listening to every word around her. Somewhere near the hearth, a knife slams into wood with a thunk. Laughter follows.
You're not just in a tavern. You're in Nulb now. And every eye wants something.
Description & Mood
The tavern is carved into the corner of a repurposed warehouse. Rain-stained rafters loom overhead, and the air is thick with the scent of wet boots, boiled turnips, and unwashed bodies. The stone hearth offers only occasional warmth, choked by soot and damp logs. Grime-slick tables surround a central fire pit, where flickering flames catch the gold glint of teeth and knives alike.
At any hour, one might hear:
- The slap of a thrown tankard.
- The growl of dice across a sticky tabletop.
- A scream, swiftly silenced.
- Or the melodic cooing of Elvanna's girls scouting for their next mark.
Tavern Details
- Capacity: Up to 30 patrons shoulder-to-shoulder.
- Lighting: Dim lanterns, fire pit, occasional candle stubs.
- Drinks Served: Cheap ale, bitter beer, and sour wine. No labels. No refunds.
- Clientele: At any time, 1d4 + 2 villagers and 1d6 + 6 rivermen can be found here, often joined by river pirates from Tolub’s crew.
Activities and Encounters
- Smuggler Dice Games: Loud, fast-paced, occasionally rigged. The stakes range from gold to human lives.
- Temple Talks: Cultists meet here in public, masked as traders or mercs.
- Recruitment & Bribery: Madame Selentis' agents may test adventurers here first.
- Brawls: Fistfights are hourly; knife fights, nightly.
Plot Hooks
- A Temple contact is late for a meeting; Skole claims not to have seen them.
- A bard sings a ballad that seems too tailored to someone in the room.
- Elvanna gestures to a PC from the stairwell, offering something unsaid.
- A fight breaks out over a “marked” girl—one whom the Temple has plans for.
Closing Note
The Boatman’s Tavern is where the surface of Nulb peels back. For those with keen eyes and a stomach for darkness, every corner, every spilled drink, and every whispered name is a thread in a tapestry of corruption. It is a place of opportunity, ruin, and reckoning.
Skole – The Proprietor
Skole is a former river smuggler turned barkeep. Towering and broad, with a bald head and broken nose, he rules the tavern floor with a voice like gravel and fists that have silenced more than one dispute.
- Demeanor: Gruff, watchful, no-nonsense. Doesn’t like Temple politics but fears Lodriss more.
- Role: Manages the bar, referees fights, watches the gold.
- Sleeping Quarters: Owns a home in Nulb but often sleeps in a hammock behind the bar.
"If yer bleedin', clean it up yerself. Floor’s seen worse.” – Skole
Lodriss – The Owner in Shadow
Lodriss rarely enters the tavern during daylight hours, but her presence is known. She controls the coin, the shipments, and the final say on what cargo gets protected.
- Keeps spies among the wenches.
- Uses the tavern to host private buyers, smuggler chiefs, or Temple envoys.
- Wields authority through Skole, but she watches from the balconies or the rooms above.
Serving Wenches & Brothel Ties
The tavern employs Ketta and Norla, two tavern maids who carry trays, swat hands, and quietly observe. Both report to Lodriss—and indirectly to Elvanna.
- Ketta is sour-faced and quick with a pitcher.
- Norla has a sharper mind than she lets on and uses flirtation to overhear valuable gossip.
Elvanna Thorne frequently descends from the brothel above. She watches her girls, sometimes whispering to them behind the bar before one slips into the crowd to tempt a patron back upstairs.
- Targets are chosen with surgical precision: drunk, boastful, or naive.
- Clients are guided upstairs under promises of pleasure—and walk into webs of blackmail or cult initiation.
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