H14 The Crossroads Inn

A Rustic Retreat Outside Verbobonc City

A Rustic Retreat & Quiet Crossing on the Velverdyva

The Crossroads Inn is a country inn built from a converted barn on the north bank of the Velverdyva River, just beyond the North Gate of Ryemend and the West (Trade) Gate of Verbobonc. It serves mostly farmers, merchants, and travelers from the northern countryside—folk who prefer a simple fire, cheap beds, and honest prices to the bustle and guild-watch of the city taverns.

Behind that humble façade, however, the inn also shelters discreet guests: spies, agents, and even disguised Knights of the Hart, all wary of paladins at the gates and the sharper scrutiny within the walls. Gregan Bistlebot’s clandestine night ferry makes the Crossroads a natural hub for quiet comings and goings.

Approaching the Crossroads Inn

Location & Role

• Position: Just outside Verbobonc’s North/Ryemend and West (Trade) gates, on the north side of the Velverdyva River.
• Clientele: Farmers bringing goods to market, northern merchants, riverfolk, drovers—and those who would rather not pass the city gates if they can help it.
• Style: A converted barn with a big hearth, simple bedding, and no pretensions. Comfort is plain but genuine.

This inn is ideal when you want the party in a safe but rustic base outside the walls, with one foot in rural life and the other in quiet intrigue.

Notable Patrons

Gregan Bistlebot: A gnome who has found a permanent residence at the inn. Gregan operates a ferry service, transporting goods directly to the docks of Verbobonc City, facilitating an essential link for local merchants.

Proprietor: Eldon Barleybrew

• Background: The owner of The Crossroads Inn hails from a lineage of farmers from the surrounding countryside. After years of working the land, they decided to convert a large barn into an inn, seeing the need for a resting place for fellow farmers and merchants traveling to and from Verbobonc City.
• Personality: Known for their warm hospitality and a no-nonsense approach to life, the owner greets every guest with a hearty welcome. Their pragmatic approach to running the inn ensures that every traveler receives care and attention, albeit with the simple comforts that define the establishment.
• Motivation: Driven by a desire to provide a haven for those who, like themselves, appreciate the value of hard work and the beauty of simplicity. The proprietor takes pride in maintaining a space that feels like home to every guest, away from the complexities and demands of city life.
• Physical Description: With a sturdy build, weathered by years of labor, the owner's appearance reflects their life's work. Their hands, though rough, are always open in welcome. A friendly face, framed by locks of hair that have begun to gray, matches the warm atmosphere of the inn.

Services and Amenities

• Accommodations: The inn offers modest rooms equipped with basic necessities. Each room, while small, is kept clean and comfortable, ensuring a restful night's sleep.
• Dining: A large communal fire hearth serves as the center of activity, where guests can warm themselves and share stories of their travels. The inn provides simple, hearty meals prepared with ingredients sourced from local farms.
• Additional Services: For those needing to reach Verbobonc City (waterfront district) but wish to avoid the more costly city accommodations, Gregan’s ferry service provides an invaluable resource, ensuring goods and messages are transported efficiently.

Hidden Traffic & Quiet Intrigue

Though it appears to serve only simple folk, the Crossroads Inn often hosts:

• Spies and agents from northern realms, disguised as laborers or traders, who prefer to stay outside the city’s paladin-patrolled gates.
• Knights of the Hart, sometimes in plain clothes, meeting contacts or staging before slipping into Verbobonc via Gregan’s ferry.

Because of the paladins using detect evil at the city gates and the heightened security inside the walls, the inn functions as a staging point for anyone nervous about being scrutinized…or discovered.

Eldon doesn’t love trouble, but he knows that a quiet inn with steady coin sometimes attracts complicated guests. His rule is simple: no violence, no obvious treason, pay your bill, and don’t bring the Viscount’s trouble down on his roof.

Adventure Hooks

• Night Ferry: Gregan offers the party a steeply priced, secret crossing—but insists they share the canoe with another mysterious client. Do the PCs cooperate, spy, or intervene?
• Watching the Watchers: The Knights of the Hart secretly use the Crossroads as a meeting point. The party may be asked to guard a meeting, escort a messenger, or smoke out an infiltrator among the “farmers.”
• Bridge Avoiders: A series of suspicious figures consistently bypass the city bridge by using Gregan’s ferry. The Vigil Wardens ask the PCs to pose as travelers, stay at the inn, and discover who’s moving what—and why.
• Eldon’s Worry: Eldon suspects some guests are planning to frame his inn as a rebel or cult safehouse. He asks the PCs, quietly, to help keep his livelihood clean without bringing official wrath on his doorstep.

The Crossroads Inn is your go-to location for low-key rural hospitality with an undercurrent of espionage—the kind of place where a bowl of stew and a cheap bed can easily turn into a midnight job on the river.

Room in an Inn

Heavy oaken doors line the hallway, each emblazoned with a tarnished copper letter. Portraits hang between the doors, faded with age, depicting past owners of the inn or famous patrons. The door creaks open with a twist of the key, and inside you find spartan but comfortable accommodations: a feather bed with a creaky wooden frame, a small bedside table with a pair of beeswax candles, a small footlocker with a heavy iron padlock, and a wooden washing basin, above which hangs an oblong mirror. The room smells pleasantly of old wood and dried lavender.