The Golden Ducat
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A fine inn for rich nobility
Description
Leander Perkins is a red-faced man with thinning white hair. He wears spectacles, a satin waistcoat, and a ruffled shirt (as part of his habiliment). Fawning and sycophantic to visiting lords, he is stiff-lipped and imperious when dealing with non-nobles. He makes much of the fact that he is often invited to the affairs held by nobles, and is a vocal supporter of the Young Stallions (they, in turn, treat the Ducat with deference, and as a safe meeting place).
Leander has a discerning eye for quality in fabrics and jewelry. In his personal quarters, he maintains a library of historical volumes (primarily biographical works on great families). Though his official working hours are 8:00am to 8:00pm, he frequently (60% of the time) spends his evenings conversing with the guests in the main sitting room.
Exterior
The main building is a large three-story structure of stucco, painted white, with trim in slats of a dark wood, surrounded by flowering shrubs and graceful old trees. There are many windows, and a dozen pairs of doors, each leading onto a small railed balcony, spaced regularly about the second and third stories. A sign on a post in the front yard depicts a lordly gentleman alighting from a formal carriage, and identifies the names of the inn and its proprietor. A graveled roadway leads around to a stable and carriage house in the rear.
Interior
The main floor contains a sitting room, a tea room, kitchen, and a formal dining area. The huge marble central staircase leads to the 12 large suites on the upper floors. All rooms are panelled with a darkly golden wood. The large crystal chandeliers in the sitting room and dining area seem to bring forth a glow from this panelling. The entire establishment is furnished sumptuously. However, some of the carpeting and upholstered furniture is fraying slightly around the edges, mute evidence that the heyday of the Ducat is passing.
Hours
The inn is open for arrivals 24 hours a day, but most guests arrive in the afternoon.
Price Range
Outrageous. Suites are 10gp per person per night (one’s servants and retainers may occupy the same room for only an additional 3gp each per night). Meals in the dining area run from 8gp per person up. The tea room is the least expensive of the lot, but high tea in the afternoon (served buffet style) is 5gp per person.
Quality
Fair.
Cash Box
Hidden behind a secret panel in the wall of Leander’s personal sitting room (not the main one), it contains (2d10 x 25)gp in assorted coins and small gems. The box is trapped, and releases a poison gas (Level 16; 2d8 damage to all within 10’), unless opened with a special S-shaped key from Leander’s key ring.
Staff
There are two main staff members besides Perkins, although there are a small horde of maids tidying and cleaning during the day.
The night assistant, Harlequin Bussbender, is a youth of 20, blond-haired and blue-eyed. He works a variety of jobs between 4:00pm and 2:00am (the official closing hour for the inn), tending the front desk, serving meals and drinks, and answering guest demands for services or repairs. He is sometimes lackadaisical in performing his duties, which earns him regular tongue-lashings from Perkins. The son of an affluent mercantile family, he dreams of someday running off with a beautiful noblewoman. He has excellent skills with thrown missile weapons, and an instinctive knack for repairing mechanical implements.
The chef, Haldo Rumbutter, is an exceedingly rotund halfling who recognizes only one chef, Undo Hardcastle (the Aerie), as his peer. He is exceptionally perturbed by all the recent uproar in The Heights about the cooking feats of Biggs Oldbuck, and the mere mention of the latter’s name when Haldo is in earshot is a good way to guarantee a badly burned meal.
Customers
On any given day, there is a 10% chance that the inn will be completely full; otherwise, [roll:1d7+2] of the suites will be occupied by an assortment of visiting nobles. Nearly half of the guests will spend at least part of the evening in the sitting room and/or dining room.
Loiterers
Only Harlequin, when he starts daydreaming.
NPC Encounters
Margery Savonna | Paul de la Riis | Antonio Berensten | Mathilde Hochritter | Falstaff of Borrinstorr | Gunter Geronde | Any of The Young Stallions
Outstanding Items
The menus in the dining room often include freshly caught local game, hard-to-get seafood items, and other delicacies. Musical entertainment is provided nightly in the sitting room (Leander is trying to introduce appreciation of the “finer things in life” to the residents of the Heights). If requested, Leander will provide blacksmith services, barbering, and other special guest need (for a slight extra fee, of course).
Purpose / Function
Design
Entries & Exits
Sensory & Appearance
Denizens
Contents & Furnishings
Valuables
Hazards & Traps
Special Properties
Architecture
Alterations
Defences
Environment & Effects
History
Tourism
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Inn (Inns & Taverns)
Owner: Leander Perkins
District: The Heights
Grid (Key) Ref.: G20 (CC)
Alternate Name(s):
Founding Date:
Date of Ruin:
Type: Inn
Parent Location:
Connected Rooms:
Ruler/Owner: Leander Perkins
Owner Rank:
Additional Ruler/Owner(s):
Owning Organization:
Organizations Contesting Ownership:
Included Vehicle: n/a
World Anvil Metadata
Id: 6c10e646-893f-4767-b911-e0cfeae3ea04
Entity Type: Article / landmark
Category: Places: The Heights
Tags: fcoh,the-heights-location,cat-shop,type-inn,guild-of-the-hearth-location,inn
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