3.4 KiB
3.4 KiB
Type:
Automaton Tavern — haven, hiring-hall, and quiet information-exchange
Location:
Caford, Falduhir — in the city's automaton quarter, a short walk from the grand central arena and the Vault Singers' Church.
Description:
- A warm, low-beamed tavern that never quite goes quiet: the clink of tankards, the tick and whir of automaton joints, and easy talk between Automatons, Dwarves, and Humans sharing the same benches — a rarer sight than it should be.
- A single reserved table sits apart, always kept for the house's host; a private back room off the main floor is offered to those with matters best not overheard.
- The air smells of hot fat, spiced ale, and machine-oil. To an automaton walking in, the Pigskin reads instantly as safe — one of the few doors in a fortress city that opens to their kind without a second look.
Lore & Role in Caford:
- Caford is a fortress and trade hub with a hard edge toward automatons — the shadow of the Automatons hangs over every construct who works its walls. The Pigskin is the counterweight: a place where an automaton is a patron, not property.
- Over time it has become an informal hiring-hall and information-exchange for Caford's automaton community — where an out-of-work construct can find a berth, and where those who need discreet, capable help can be quietly pointed to it.
- It is neutral ground on purpose. The house trades in favors and goodwill, not politics, and keeps its welcome by keeping its mouth shut.
Ownership & Management:
- Host & fixer: Karen - The Pigskin — an Automatons who keeps the reserved table, runs the house through a handful of trusted subordinates, and vouches (or doesn't) for who gets help. It was Karen who confirmed the party as the ones who had aided Oils - The Pigskin's escape from the House of Suits Casino, and Karen who put the two together.
- Lodger: Oils - The Pigskin, the small investigator, has a room here since returning from the mines — coin all but spent, given a berth on the house.
Regular Patrons & Visitors:
- Caford's automatons first and foremost, plus the dwarves and humans who treat them as equals; travelers who've heard it's the honest table in a hard city.
Plot Hooks & Adventure Seeds:
- A door that stays open. The Pigskin is a haven the party can return to between forays — to re-hire Oils - The Pigskin, to rest, or to ask Karen to quietly find something or someone in Caford.
- The favor economy. Karen helps for goodwill, not gold; help given here is remembered, and help received is expected to be repaid in kind.
- Under the city's edge. With Reclamation-Site prejudice pressing on Caford's automatons, the Pigskin is one spark away from becoming a flashpoint — or a refuge — in the wider fight over automaton rights.
Notable NPCs:
- Karen - The Pigskin, host & fixer (Automatons) → Runs the house and the favor-ledger; a neutral, well-connected broker who helped the party because they'd earned it. Knows who's who among Caford's automatons.
- Oils - The Pigskin, investigator & relic-appraiser (Automatons, small) → Lodging here since the mines; a loyal, re-hireable ally who reads relics and memories with his stone slate.