The Slums Tavern

Hostile Hostels: The Slums
Posted in Hostile Hostels on January 22nd, 2008 | 3 Comments »
Tags: Businesses, Urban

In the town of Amberdine there exists a peculiar little tavern known as The Slums. At first glance, it certainly appears to live up to its name; the building looks rundown, more than one window is boarded up, and it is covered with graffiti.

Things start to fail a bit upon closer inspection, though. The boards nailed to the window are too well-maintained; the paint too perfectly cracked. Even the graffiti seems less edgy, using clever half-curses to avoid the outright obscenities one would expect to find. Perhaps most damning of all– The Slums is located centrally in one of the more affluent quarters of Amberdine.

The Slums is actually something of a dinner theater. Wealthy patrons pay for the privilege of seeing a vicious bar-fight three times a night. The proprietor, Angus Greedly, allows anyone to eat for free in the central area as long as they get involved when the fight breaks out. They’re given cheap food, and much of it ends up getting wasted over the course of the brawl, but the many beggars of Amberdine gladly participate.

The actual customers are allowed to sit on the second floor, giving them a fine vantage point of the fight and much-needed distance to protect them. Angus hires several bouncers to guard the staircase, preventing the riff-raff below from trying to get upstairs. The food upstairs is some of the best you can find in the city, and Angus employs both a halfling and an elf as the main chefs.

The lower portion of the tavern is set up to encourage a good fight. There are several low-hanging chandeliers, stacks of (empty) crates and barrels, lots of wooden mugs and dishes to be thrown, etc. Angus makes a point to buy the most shoddily-crafted furniture he can for the first floor, not just because he has to replace them so often, but also because they tend to break apart more spectacularly when used as weapons.

Some of the wealthy diners will drop a bit of coin to the floor below, to bring the fight closer to them. It is also not uncommon for particularly entertaining participants to be given tips and gifts from the customers. Angus even pays a few people who have proven both to be wily and entertaining combatants, and to be good at getting a fight started.