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Annon
2006-02-14, 03:58 PM
ll right! I'm going to give this contest thing a try. This is probably the second thing I have wrote for a game, and the first to be judged, but I gotta start somewhere, right?

Here's a bit of an introduction. I'm probably going to proofread and refine it a bit later, but it's what popped into my mind at the time.



ANNON

You look at the sign and wonder if you can possibly be in the right place. This has to be the drabest tavern fron you have ever seen. The building doesn't even merit its own plot; it is wedged between a scribe's office and an apothecary, as if trying to fade into the neighboring buildings to evade detection. You must have passed this door half a dozen times before finally realizing what it was.
It has no windows on the front, nor any crack in the door to see the inside. There are no frills or decorations outside. Even the sign is nothing more than an ancient plank with the big block letters which--with a marked lack of artistic flair--confirm that this is where you intended to go.
As you walk in, you are struck by the size of the front room. It definately didn't seem as though this enire space could fit into the area you imagined the tavern could take up from the outside. While not immense, there is no lack for open seating, and it isn't because of a lack of patronage.
The room is even more colorless than the front stoop. The walls are colored absolute gray, which makes the dining area seem even larger. The floor is blue carpet, kept scrupulously clean by the faculty here. The bar in the back seems to be the only object in the room that wasn't made for the purpose of sucking all color out of the room. It has a mirror-like surface, as if made out of pure platinum. Behind it stands an alien looking thing--almost half-doppelganger--with a featureless gray face and white hair.
The biggest thing that hits you about this bar has nothing to do with appearances, however. The room has a hush to it, a silence, that almost seems to reverberate. And it exactly this quiet that has brought you, as well as most of the patrons here, to this nondescript little tavern.

Description:

Annon was built to be a quiet, serene setting to have a drink and a quiet chat with a friend, without interjection from anyone else. No newcomer is ever asked their name, nor obliged to tell anything about themselves if they don't wish it. Neither do the faculty or other patrons offer any gossip or information unless asked, and even then the usual answer to any inquery is awkward silence.
While the general-turn-your-head-the-other-way attitude of both the staff and the patrons would seem to sow the seeds of criminal activity, there a number of factors prevent the widspread corruption of the patrons. First, there is a policy of full compliance with the guard in asisting in the apprehension of a criminal (totally reactively, however--they only supply information when asked, never pro-actively). Second, anytime anyone makes an excess amount of noise, they are visited by two of the biggest orcs ever born, and warned to quiet down or be kicked out. The defintion of "excess" here is "more noise than one would make in a library." This tends to diffuse rowdy bar brawls long before they have a chance to get started.
However, the same "hands-off policy" also makes this inn a haven for those that do not wish to be found. No creature is ever turned from the door. No information is given about a patron unless the local town guard asks for it either, without considerable effort. This makes this tavern both useful for characters making the worng enemies and as an obstacle for those characters in pursuit of an enemy.
The faculty consists of the orc bouncers (who are actually carrying on their family tradition of protecting the inn) and the doppleganger behind the counter, who never, ever speaks within the tavern. Mindreading attempts will also meet with unexpected effects. Noone knows a single thing about, beyond the fact that he owns the place and serves some pretty mean drinks. In fact, there is a pool going to the first man to get him to say a single word. Everyone just calls the barkeep Annon, because they assume that is what the sign on the front alludes to.

History:

Anyone trying to read up on history will find very little on the business. As far as any account is concerned, it just appeared one day long long ago with no fanfare or advertizement beforehand. No one--not even the elves--can remember a time when it wasn't present in the town, nor has live long enough to have been around when the tavern opened. What little information can be had about the business's origins is passed down knowledge. It is registered with the local government, but the documents haven't fared as well as the proprieter and business, and thus likewise can't provide information about either's origins.
Abraxil is the true name of the proprieter. He is an pre-epic to epic ex-adventurer who travelled in search of a key to immortality, and foud it in a Shard of Infinity. By merging with the shard, he ceased his aging, and gained some cryptic knowledge of eternity. He is 1373 years old. The visions show him a darkness that covers the enitre world, originating--as near as he can guess--from a location near that of Annon. Sleepless, Abraxil now spends his days seeking meditation, solace, and peace within the tavern, and the night doing all that he can to find the source of his dreams, investigating newcomers to the town under different guises each night.

Annon
2006-02-14, 04:05 PM
Important NPC's

Abraxil: Much has already been said about this character. He is fused with the Shard of Infinity, an extremely powerful artifact. In addition to granting the shapeshifter the effects of immortality and keeping him relatively well rested (like a Ring of Sustenance, except he still needs to eat), it has an interesting effect on anyone who tries to read his mind. Anyone using detect thoughts on the barkeeper must make a DC 16 Will save. If successful, their spell is redirected to the shard, and the images it imparts, rather than the surface thoughts of Abraxil. They can then see what Abraxil first saw when he merged with the shard, taking repeat saves to continue observing. It runs as follows:

First Save

You see befre you a town mcuh like this one, with a few minor details changed. A groups of traveller's, faces hidden in shadow, ride through, stop, and stay in the town a night before leaving...

Second Save:

In their wake, reality seems to shift, as if their mere prescence caused reality to bend upon itself. In the middle of the town proper, you see a distortion, as if a hole is tear in the very fabric of the multiverse itself...

Third save:

As you watch, mortified, a shadow falls accross the land. The hole then expands, destroying the whole town. It does not stop there however--it continues, gorowing, feeding off everything in its path. By the time it is through, all the land--including some lands you have never seen before--have fallen into the maw of that great balck hole. At the end of the vision, you see before you a shadow of a man, laughing as the worlds ends...


After the last clip, one more save is required (DC 20). Failure of one of the first saves ends the the vision, and the character is affect as if the were hit bby a scintilating pattern. If they fail the last save, they are affected as if by a nightmare spell, with a +5 modifier to the save unless they have given their name out in some way in the tavern (even by entering a bet in the pool). They will have recurring nightmares every night until a removecurse or restoration effect is used on them.

Brug: Brug is the lead bouncer, a large, aged full-blooded orc. He is 36th in the line of descendants from Annon Kragskull, the first bouncer to work for Abraxil. Kragskull was the only other surviving member of Abraxil's adventuring company, but did not make it far enough to be granted immortality as well. It was Kragskull's idea to found the tavern, to both give Abrixil a prescence in the town to gather information from, and to give him a place to find shelter and peace from the outside world. He is also the where the name of the establishment truly comes from.
Bouncing for Annon is Brug's family trade--he has trained all his life for this purpose, and is treated well by his boss for it. He is a loyal guard. He is also the main spokesperson for the business, and who the characters will be dealing with if they want to look for information here.
In appearance, Brug looks like what he is. He is big and burly, though somewhat older than your average orc lives. He lacks any visible battle scars, as those of his occupation usually sport, but it is obvious that he is a very capable fighter. One can see him carrying more than a few daggers at various easy-to-get-to places on his body, and a greataxe strapped to his back. He has a friendly demeanor and a face showing more intelligence than is common to orcs. He is quick to banter with those who do not cross him, and quicker to admonish those that do. He never, however, engages in gossip without very strong persuasion.

Drux and Alfga: Drux is Brug's son, carrying on the family legacy. He is a young adult, with more strength but less wisdom than his father. Alfga is his wife--a human barbarian woman. Drux is the first in the family to take a human for a wife, and it has created some friction between the father and the son. Alfga is almost as big as he is, and twice as fierce in battle. The pair make up the real muscle of the place, and are well capable of quelling any brewing trouble should it arise.

Doodle: Doodle is a gnome who can be seen daily partaking of drinks and studying in the bar. Also, on Abraxil's payroll, he brews a few unguents of timelessness when Abrixil needs them, for reduced price. He is a crafter for hire. He is also the only one who has seen the attic of the building, where Abrixil keeps his stock.


Dendy: Dendy is the only average commoner seen in the place. See serves the drinks and the food, socializing with the patrons and making them feel welcome. She also informs newcomers of the rules of the establishment. While she probably knows the most of the people who come through, she is the most reluctant to ever reveal information--her job there pays well, offers a relaxed atmosphere, and is safer and more prestigious than any other similar job. She considers herself lucky to be in her position, and doesn't want to jeopardize it with loose lips.

Annon
2006-02-14, 04:05 PM
Layout:

It may not look it at first glance, but this place has a lot of money sunk into it. Abraxil--a successful adventurer with millions of GP--through all of his considerable wealth in to keeping this place running. In fact, for the first few centuries, the place operated at a loss. While little has changed since that day--Abrixil is still the generous, mute propieter of his 'youth'--the inn has since attracted enough poeple to at least break even, these days.
The first floor consists of the bar and dining area. It holds about eight round tables suitable for seatin four to six patrons. The room is small for a dining area--fifty by a hundred feet or so. in the back of the room is the bar, with stairs leading up to the right. Behind the bar is a small door and a few steps down to a kitchen small enough that only one preson can usually fit down there comfortably.
Up the stairs, on finds much much more space than downstairs. Abraxil owns the entire second floor of the building, giving him three times as much space for rooms. This is all very fortunate, considering that half of Abraxil's clientelle constist of renegades on the run. There are ninteen rooms on this floor, including Abraxil's master bedroom. All the rooms except his are 20' by 20' and as sparsely furnished as the rest of the place, with nothing but a simple bed and a table with an oil lamp on it. Unlike the rest of the tavern, however, some of these rooms actually have windows, so long as they have a border on an exterior wall, making it slightly less dull than the common area.
Abraxil's room is larger, with a desk and a large bed. Neither look like they have been used in years. In one corner, with a DC 15 search check, one can find a trapdoor in the ceiling, leading to the attic. He keeps this room locked at all times, with an expensive lock.
The attic--only reachable through Araxil's room--is expansive. In preparation for the coming hardships, Abraxil had stockpiled massive amounts of food and supples, kept fresh using the magic potions he buys from Doodle.
Barrels upon barrels of supplies line the walls. It takes hours to do a through search of each one. Diligent huunters, however, will find a ring gate hidden among the many boxes and barrels. Investigators find the true place where Abraxil stays when not working--he becomes a pixe and travels through the gate, where he has stored a tiny sized desk and all his paperwork, as well as a journal.

Annon
2006-02-14, 04:05 PM
filler. will remove when done

Annon
2006-02-14, 04:06 PM
filler. will remove when done


I think I have adquate filler in here now six panles should be plenty. Please, feel free to post any suggestions you may have.