The Eylfāe Head Tavern

Established about 1130 HK, the Pelkèylfāe Tavern is one of the oldest family businesses in Oð today. It has stood on the same Bōttòn Liçe street corner overlooking Argud’s Sound for over 700 years. Following the 1st century DR, the tavern was known as the Drāton Pèlkar Elyfāe. In more recent years it has come to be known as the Pelkèylfāe Tavern. The establishment is named for the Eylfāe skull which sits upon a wide timber mantle in the tavern’s main room. No one is sure of the skull’s providence, but it is guessed to have been taken from some unlucky soldier during the Occupation of Oð, 600 years ago. The skull rests between a number of candles and animal skulls, the collection of which are supposed to keep Werrids from entering the tavern. This was not an uncommon feature of buildings in the 2nd century as there was an “epidemic” of Werrid at that time.

The proprietor at the beginning of the 2nd century DR was a man named Telvus. He had a wife and several children which lived in a single upstairs room of the tavern. Some versions of the story have it that Telvus added the tavern’s second story to accommodate his family, filling the walls and eaves with all manners of hexes and charms to keep “evil” spirits at bay. One story claims that his grandfather had been a revolutionary in the City of Oð during the Occupation, and that the skull in the main room had been a prize seized during the uprising. There are further claims that the Drāton Pèlkar Elyfāe was a meeting place for the Resistance, a claim that cannot be verified. Regardless, Telvus is said to have come down with a frightful fever one evening after breaking up a brawl in the main room, where a stranger was tossed into the street. When he was carried upstairs to his room, it was discovered that he’d suffered numerous scrapes and cuts during the fight.

In the morning, Telvus was taken with terrible shakes and sweating. A doctor was called from a neighboring village. After a brief visit with the patient, the doctor reported that the tavern-keeper had been stricken with the Werrid plague. She advised that a priest be called to cleanse the place and that Telvus be taken to Gibbet Hill and shackled there for his good and the good of the community. Telvus’ wife relayed this to friends and neighbors who helped her wrap him in a blanket and carry him to the hilltop. There the tavern-keeper was lifted into a swinging cage near others who had also been left to die. A priest of Roð was summoned and bolstered the tavern against Werrid-kind.

For months after these actions were taken, Telvus’ family and the families of all those who had helped his wife would gather in the tavern at night. Every night something would roam through the streets outside, knocking on doors and shutters, asking for its wife and children. It was not until High Lord Orvud began sending hunting parties up and down the Daráda Coast that the visits ended.

Details

The tavern itself has a single-room on the ground floor, and a number of upstairs rooms that are only accessible from an outside staircase.