H12 The Latecomers Inn

A Rustic Refuge on the High Road

Nestled just outside the East (High) Gate of Verbobonc, along the bustling High Road, lies a unique and rustic tavern known as The Latecomers Inn. At first glance, it may seem merely a well-kept barn, but behind its sandstone brick and wood board facade, it harbors a lively and warm atmosphere that welcomes all manner of travelers.

Location & Role in the Campaign

Just outside the East (High) Gate, The Latecomers Inn squats along the busy High Road like a well-kept farm barn that never quite learned it was supposed to be an inn. Travelers who arrive after the city gates close, drovers who would rather sleep among their beasts, and caravan guards who prefer mud and straw to stuffy city rooms all drift here by habit.

The inn is firmly outside the walls and technically beyond the day-to-day reach of the city tavern guilds, making it an excellent place for low-key meetings, quiet hand-offs, or watching who comes and goes on the High Road.

Exterior: A Barn with a Sign

• Structure: A long, low building of sandstone brick and stout wooden boards, clearly built from an old barn that has been lovingly refitted rather than torn down.
• Roof & Yard: Faded red tile and thatch roof, with a muddy yard full of hitching posts, feed troughs, and a couple of makeshift lean-tos for overflow animals.
• Windows: Few and shuttered—light and sound seep out in slits of gold and laughter at night.
• Signboard: A painted plank showing a tired wagon rolling up under a crescent moon: “Latecomers Welcome” crudely lettered beneath.

From a distance, most folk mistake it for just another farmstead—until they hear the pipes, laughter, and clatter of mugs.

Interior & Layout

Inside, The Latecomers still feels like a barn first and inn second.

• Main Hall: The central “barn floor” is now the common room, with two great fire pits dug into stone-lined circles, smoke drawn up through an old loft vent and patched rafters.
• Tables & Benches: Rough plank tables stand where stalls once were. Some still have low dividing rails, good for penning off a donkey or mule while its owner eats.
• Loft & Rafter Space: A hay loft runs along one side, accessible by ladder. Extra straw bales are stacked overhead, and a few hardy regulars actually prefer to sleep up in the rafters.
• Light & Atmosphere: Lanterns hang from beams, their warm, smoky light flickering across mismatched mugs, scarred tabletops, and travelers shrugging off cloaks. The sound is a mix of animal snorts, human laughter, clinking crockery, and the occasional snore from someone who fell asleep too early.

Accommodation Style:
The Latecomers is famous (or infamous) for its shared sleeping arrangements:

• Guests sleep on fresh straw laid out along one side of the barn floor or up in the loft.
• Animals—donkeys, ponies, small draft horses, even the odd goat herd—bed down opposite.
• On a busy night, 20–30 guests can squeeze in, plus their animals.

It’s cheap, noisy, and smells of hay, sweat, and stew—but it’s warm, safe, and dry.

Services & Prices (Guidelines)

Use standard 5e pricing and adjust to taste; the notes below show how the inn “feels” against those baselines.

Lodging

• Poor Lodging (1 sp / night):
• A patch of straw on the barn floor, shared fire, no privacy.
• Includes access to a water trough for washing and a thin wool blanket if available.
• “Upgraded” Poor (2 sp / night):
• A corner spot by a wall or post, with slightly better bedding and a stored chest or crate to use as a seat or table.
• Ned often charges this rate during busy seasons or when refugees and displaced folk swell the roads, using higher prices to keep the worst trouble away while still serving genuine travelers.

There are no true private rooms here: privacy is a bedroll, a cloak over your head, and your friends sleeping close.

Food & Drink

The inn serves hearty, rustic fare cooked in big pots over the fire:

• Common Meal (3 sp):
• Thick stew of whatever’s on hand (often rabbit, ham, or fish with barley and root vegetables) and fresh-baked bread from Mrs. Turnlpe’s ovens in the attached farmhouse kitchen.
• Cheap Fill (1 sp):
• Yesterday’s stew, watered ale, extra bread crusts.
• Drinks:
• Ale (mug): 4 cp
• Common wine / cider (pitcher): 2 sp
• Simple house cordials and watered mead on occasion.

You can flavor the menu with options from your common meals & drinks tables if you’re using them elsewhere in the guide—e.g., fish and bacon stew, ham and vegetable stew, cheap sausages with onions, cider, ale, and watered red or white wine.

Stabling & Animals

• Stabling / Yard Space: 5 cp per animal per night for access to fodder, water, and a straw bed.
• Special Care: Delicate mounts, injured beasts, or unusual creatures (like a warhorse, mule train, or small griffon) might run 1–2 sp and more attention from Ned and his hands.

Ownership and Operations

• Owner: Ned Turnlpe, a local farmer turned innkeeper, manages the inn with a blend of efficiency and hospitality.
• Pricing Strategy: In response to the increased demand from nearby refugee populations, prices have been adjusted to maintain a balance between accessibility and exclusivity.

The Latecomers Inn Experience

• Community: The inn fosters a sense of community among its guests, offering a lively environment for singing, dancing, and making new acquaintances.
• Exclusivity: Despite its open-door policy, the inn maintains a level of exclusivity through its pricing, ensuring a comfortable experience for genuine travelers.
• Location: Its strategic location outside the city walls makes it an accessible stop for those traveling late or seeking accommodation away from the city's confines.

Arrival at The Latecomers Inn

Narration (DM Read-Aloud)

The High Road slips away from the looming city walls, bending past stone fences and muddy cart-ruts. Ahead, a long, low building hunkers by the roadside, lantern-light leaking from its shutters in yellow slits. From inside you hear the stamp of hooves, the rough laughter of tired men, and the clatter of mugs on wood.

A painted board creaks on its chain in the evening breeze: a wagon rolling under a crescent moon, and beneath it, in flaking paint, the words “Latecomers Welcome.”

As you step into the yard, the smell hits you—hay, sweat, woodsmoke, and stew. Horses and mules stand tied along the rails, heads drooping, breath misting in the chill. The barn doors are thrown wide, firelight spilling out.

A broad-shouldered man with straw in his hair and an apron over a farmer’s shirt looks up from hauling a sack of feed. He wipes his hands on his apron, squints your way, and breaks into a weary but genuine grin as he strides over.

Ned Turnlpe’s Welcome – Dialogue (DM Script)

Ned: “Evenin’, you lot. You’ve the look of folk who’ve been chasing daylight and lost. Name’s Ned Turnlpe, and this here’s The Latecomers Inn—for when the gates’ve shut and the road’s still clingin’ to your boots.”

Ned: “You’re just in time. Fire’s hot, stew’s on, and there’s straw enough for you and whatever beasts you’ve dragged along. We don’t stand much on ceremony out here—folk sleep where they drop, long as they’ve paid and don’t knife each other in their dreams.”

Ned: “Inside you’ll find the common floor—straw beds all along the long wall, your mounts and mules across from you. No dainty little rooms with feather mattresses here, mind. You get warm straw, a blanket if we’ve got one spare, and a good fire. Most folk say that’s plenty after a day on the road.”

Ned: “Why’s it busy? Because city doors close and coin never sleeps. Drovers, caravan guards, farmers runnin’ late from market, patrols off the walls, even the odd knight who’d rather snore beside his horse than share a city pillow with bedbugs and politics—they all end up here sooner or later.”

Ned: “We keep the prices fair, the stew thick, and the ale honest. Mrs. Turnlpe’s bread pulls half the High Road in by smell alone, and the rest come because they know there’s always space in the straw and I don’t ask too many questions if they pay on time.”

Ned: “So here’s the offer: one silver a head for the night on the floor, beasts for a few coppers more. Stew and bread if you’re hungry, ale or cider if your throat’s dusty. You mind your manners, you’re welcome. You start trouble, I’ll see you and your gear kicked back into the road faster than you can say ‘another round.’”

Ned: “What d’you say, then? You comin’ in out of the dark, or do you fancy starin’ at the walls till morning with the gate guards?”

Ned: “Right then. Bring your beasts round to the rail, and we’ll find you a patch of straw that doesn’t squeak too loud when you dream.”