Notable Buildings

- On the road, in a village or in a town -

Buildings (just like whole towns and villages) differ greatly according to the culture and customs of the population.

The Inn

Inns have always been centres of culture. People meet here, locals as well as strangers; stories are told here and songs are sung. The exchange of opinions can get so heated that it even comes to fists.

It may be a single room with a hearth in the middle, where people eat, drink and sleep.

More expensive inns (or inns in a more advanced culture) have a common room and separate rooms for guests.

A very good inn may even have its own bathhouse or baths.

Events

Bard

A bard stops by the inn.

Important Guest

An important person with an escort stops by the inn. Everyone, including the characters, is to leave the inn. But outside it is already dark and raining ...

Brawl

A fight breaks out in the tavern. Will the characters join in, or stay aside? The brawl will be less about the art of combat than about luck (even a strong fighter is reliably knocked out by a blow from a chair from behind).

Arrest

A squad of soldiers bursts into the inn and arrests one of the guests. Or one of the characters?

Mourning

The inn is draped in black cloth, no one is having fun and a gloomy atmosphere reigns.

Theft

In the morning one of the merchants raises a fuss because he has been robbed. All the lodgers are searched. What if the stolen item is found in the pack of one of the characters? Or if it is not found, will the characters help with the search?

Unpleasant Awakening

The characters wake up with a headache, stripped and tied up somewhere in a forest.

Strange Regulations

In the inn, the region or the whole land, regulations may apply that will seem very strange to foreigners. It may be merely a whim of the lord, the will of the locals, or a necessity (a curse, a decree of the gods, a demand of a conqueror).

The inn closes at nightfall.

A ban on serving alcohol, or only one drink per person.

A ban on loud talking.

Farmstead

A larger farm consists of several buildings that form a farmstead. There we find dwellings, stables, a hayloft, a pigsty, a granary, a barn and other buildings. A farmstead outside a protected village may have its own defences, for example a palisade or buildings arranged to form a single courtyard with an easily defensible entrance. In some cultures we find many such farmsteads scattered across the countryside.

Inhabitants

Farmer

The farmstead is owned by a farmer, who works here with his whole family (see also Village).

Farmhand, Maid

On a larger farmstead the farmer cannot manage all the work even with his family, so he hires farmhands and maids. They own no farm themselves, and so they mostly work for board and a small wage.

Serf Labour

A peasant who must perform serf labour on the lord's land (for the land he rents) can send hired maids and farmhands to do his work, so that he can tend to his own farm.

Isolated Farmstead

If a farmstead stands in isolation, even several dozen people may live here. It will often be fortified against possible raiders or thieves.

Castle

A castle symbolises power, status and strength, and it is also an important stronghold. Building a castle is a very expensive and time-consuming matter, which tends to be the privilege (and duty) of the nobility. When conquering a land, the rule applies that you cannot leave an unconquered castle behind an attacking army (every army needs supplies and an unconquered castle is a dagger in the back of the supply lines). Castles are built to control a certain territory and to block the path of an enemy army.

Besides the strategic location, the tactical position is also important - such that the castle is as hard to take as possible. Castles are therefore found on hills, on a promontory surrounded by a river, on an island or another place that sufficiently hinders an attack and has a good view. A castle will rarely be built in a valley or right next to a forest.

A castle needs a water supply, ideally its own well (or river). Supplies of food and weapons are stored in it. It is protected by walls with arrow slits and towers, with an easily defensible gate (ideally approached by a road beneath the walls) with a drawbridge. In front of the walls there is usually a moat or another obstacle (if there is no natural one).

Inside, besides storerooms, there are barracks, quarters for servants, stables, a smithy, an armoury, cellars, often a prison with a torture chamber and, of course, the chambers of the lord of the castle and other nobles.

Inhabitants

Lord / Lady of the Castle

The most important person in the castle is its owner, the lord of the castle, usually a nobleman.

Relatives and Other Nobility

Together with the lord of the castle live his wife, children and other relatives, and possibly other nobility (friends, acquaintances).

Burgrave (Castellan) or Steward

Since the lord of the castle himself usually has neither the time nor the inclination to manage the ordinary affairs of the castle and the land, he is helped with these tasks by a castellan or steward (the names vary, but the role is the same). This high-ranking person is mainly in charge of the economy.

Squire

This is the lowest noble title, which usually belongs to the sons of the nobility before they come of age and gain (or inherit) a higher title. A squire usually serves a nobleman (knight) and learns from him.

Advisor

The lord of the castle may have his advisor (or several advisors), who help him govern his land. The advisor may even be the burgrave himself.

Soldiers

Since the castle is the centre of political and military power, it is the natural seat of the army. After all, without a garrison the castle would lose its purpose.

Captain of the Guard

Just as the burgrave is in charge of economic matters, the captain of the guard (again, we may come across various designations and titles) takes care of military matters. All lower officers and non-commissioned officers are subordinate to the captain, and at the very bottom stand the rank-and-file soldiers.

Other Inhabitants

A castle is home to a whole range of persons who hold the various professions necessary to keep the castle running.

Cook and Kitchen Boys

A very important profession is the cook with his helpers (kitchen boys). Good food is the basis of a contented garrison, and every good burgrave knows that only a contented garrison is loyal. Of course, he must also provide food for the lords' tables, since, as is well known, the nobility in most cases cares very much about its stomach.

Servants

Cleaning, carrying things and water, keeping poultry, seeing to the comfort of the nobility and officers, dressing, making beds and washing clothes, and much more keeps a whole troop of servants and maids busy.

Groom

If the castle has a mounted garrison, or the nobility likes to go out riding, it needs a groom and stablehands who take care of the horses.

Armourer / Smith

Since the castle is inhabited by an armed garrison, it cannot do without its smith or armourer. A village smith from below the castle could handle many kinds of metalwork, but making and repairing swords, armours, crossbows and other tools belongs only in the hands of a qualified master.

Jailer, Executioner

The castle is also a centre of executive power and needs someone to guard and punish criminals. With a probability bordering on certainty, we will find a dungeon beneath every castle (sometimes located in a tower), often equipped with a torture chamber, where the executioner carries out justice on murderers, thieves and rebels. The task of the jailers is then to guard the prisoners and bring them food.

Temple

The form of a temple depends greatly on the cult and on the purpose for which the temple was built.

Typical Temple

Probably the most common temple is intended for spreading the faith and addressing believers. It will have a sufficiently spacious main hall that holds as many believers as possible. There may be an altar (its form and purpose again depend on the deity), statues, paintings or other decoration. Other parts of the temple are the priests' living quarters, utility spaces (storerooms, workshops, a well, stables, a library), and the temple may also have a hidden part intended only for the initiated or high-ranking priests (a secret altar, a forbidden library, a shrine of a forbidden deity).

A temple can be partly or completely self-sufficient - the priests keep poultry, grow vegetables and the like.

Battle Cults

Temples of deities of battle resemble fortresses or barracks more. The ceremonial part is smaller, but there are many more other rooms, such as armouries, smithies or training grounds.

Secret Temples

Deities that are not permitted or are generally condemned will have temples either in inaccessible places or cleverly hidden, often behind the front of an honest trade or another cult.

Events

Apparition

A god appears in the temple. The experience is so powerful that it moves even complete unbelievers. What if the god asks one of the characters for a favour?

Volunteer

The son of a local nobleman has set out on the path of faith. The family has learned that he joined the local peaceful temple. The young man will not hear of returning, and force is out of the question, since the temple is respected and esteemed.

Murder

A high-ranking priest has been murdered. And right on temple ground! Who could have committed such a shocking crime?

Theft of a Relic

Some daredevil has stolen a holy item of the temple. A curse and a cruel fate will surely befall him, but the high priest would like to get the item back.

Blessing

It is the feast of the temple's patron and the priests give a blessing to everyone who comes.

Strange Events

It is said that strange things happen in the temple. By day all visitors are allowed to enter, but at night it becomes an impregnable fortress.

Kidnapping

A little girl has gone missing in a nearby village. It is said that she is to be sacrificed on the temple altar at the Spring Festival, to bring luck to the whole region.