10 August 2024

The Flytrap (Barkeep Jam)

As an entry to Barkeep Jam hosted by Prismatic Wasteland - adhering to the Barkeep on the Borderlands Third Party License - we have the Flytrap.

Situated in the repurposed stable-block of an allegedly haunted castle, atop a tunnel-riddled rise, the Flytrap is always abuzz. The Flytrap has a street entrance and a not-very-secret entrance through the tunnels up from the river. The Fly Traps greatest strength and weakness is the sheer volume of goblin-like flylings eating, drinking, coming and going at all hours. They are seen marching in and out of doors that apparently lead nowhere, along the tops of the castle walls outside, up and down the stairs to the cellar and latrines. Every hour of day and night the light blaze and the barkeep is slinging their cheapest drinks and serving bowls of their eternal gumbo. Despite, or perhaps because of, the numbers too-ing and fro-ing, the relatively minor disruptions rapidly lead to panic, shrieking, wailing, and chaotic running around.

When the jolly crew enters this pub, roll 1d6 on the table below. If a character’s number is equal to or below the result, they are in the pub right now.

d6 Staff & Regulars
1. Zadu - kenku barkeep, apparently never sleeps wth dreadful memory - actually a pair of equally taciturn twins that switch out regularly
2. Fuzzelina and Zuzabelle, fly-ling barmaids, frenetic, overly cheerful, easily panicked
3. Chestnut the hedgehog-ling cook - focussed on making faux shrimp out of other bugs found about the place
4. Alf - Ratling bard - flashily dressed, works the room being impressed with peoples tales
5. Chiming Zam - flyling godfather - holds quiet court at a back table with other elderly flylings, misses nothing
6. Mahew - human smuggler, permanent stoop from hiking about in the tunnels beneath, tells lurid tales of hazards beneath.

If the Risk Die rolls a Setback while the jolly crew is approaching this pub, roll 2d6 on the table below if approaching by the front, 2d8 if by tunnel.
2. Arguing adventurers with a mud covered tax chest, aggresive is they notice you noticing them
3. Bar regulars hauling in a fresh giant crab, insist on you helping
4. A flood of panicking flyings dashing the opposite direction wailing about spider vampires
5. Cranky locals complaining about missing beer shipment, try to get you to help, payment promises are vague
6. Overly enthusiastic adventurers who rope you into an argument about the mythic past
7. Flying smugglers carting awkwardly large crates
8. Muddy, sunburned travellers just in from the swamp
9. Dusty, frazzled tunnel-divers emerge from depths
10. Flylings loudly discussing the horrors of the lands outside town, from bandits to monsters
11. Frantic looking local with a cloth wrapped bundle they swear is a powerful magic tome they will attempt to sell to you for a handful of silver
12. Wizard antique-hunter prowls around, very interested in anything people know about this place and its surrounds
13. Wrong turn into tunnel labyrinth
14. Teetering crates of a smugglers stash collapse onto the party
15. Conversations echo through the tunnels providing discussing (roll d8 on this table)
16. Dread reliefs, freshly uncovered, speak of the awful cultists that recently inhabited the tunnels

If the Risk Die rolls a Setback while the jolly crew is inside this pub, roll 2d6 on the table below.

2. Giant Crab submersible crashes about the room while the pilots desperately yank on the cables within to steer it
3. Fake Latrine opens into tunnel labyrinth, lingering too long here has people turn up coming or going
4. Spider cultists attempt to tie up a victim and haul them off to their master in the castle
5. Argument between barkeep and regulars about bar tabs and the nature of money - "the level of money in the money pot is right, therefore all is well"
6. Food too big for the pot, mass brawl after the chef demands people eat more to clear space
7. Grim weather outside has far too many people crowd in, tempers flare and pocket-picking fingers wander
8. Grozzle stored to near the cooking fire catches light to much panic and hilarity
9. Local villager attempts to persuade adventurers to take on a completely mundane problem
10. Found relic, being examined on back table of bar, goes haywire
11. Predator queen cultist starts raving about the return of their dark master, half the crowd panics, half starts arguing back
12. Spider vampire appears in a dramatic flash, to screams, running around, panic and chaos.

Signature Drinks for the Flytrap
1 silver coin - Grozzle - mixed fruit schnapps, different every time
2 silver coins - Stilt-town Cider - good, local cider
3 silver coins - Stilt-town Abbey Wine - very good vintage from local holyfolk
4 silver coins - Dwarven ale - from casks brought in with the smuggling
5 silver coins - Swamp wine - dug up bottles of fine elven vintage, perfectly preserved in the swamp
1 gold coin - Labyrinth mead - made from ancient honey stocks from the tunnels

A log of adventures centered around the Flytrap can be found here.

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