Strange Inns and Unusual Taverns

Compatible with the Dragonbane RPG.

The Brigadoon Inn

Overview:
This time-lost inn appears only once every seven days in the same woodland glade—or does it? Some guests swear it’s the same spot, others say they woke up miles from where they began. Built of heather-stone and thatch, with a warm peat fire always going, the Brigadoon Inn exudes a timeless, medieval Scottish charm. Kilts, pipes, and thick brogues abound.

Strange Effect:
Every second night spent here transports the inn and its occupants to a different time—or occasionally another realm entirely. Patrons may find themselves waking up in a foggy version of the future, or sharing breakfast with fae nobility from centuries past.

Notable NPCs:
– Mistress Fenna MacRaith – Stern but kind innkeeper. Older woman with long silver hair in a braid. Wears tartan skirts and keeps an enchanted dirk under her apron. She is the stabilizing anchor that keeps the inn from drifting too far in time. Offers guests “just the right thing” from the cellar, though she never explains how she chooses.
– Hamish the Piper – One-legged, loud, and proud. Hamish plays his war pipes near the fire every evening. He’s actually over 300 years old, kept youthful by the Brigadoon’s time magic, and remembers many versions of history that never came to pass.
– Lilias the Ghost Bride – A tragic and radiant spirit who appears only on nights when the inn is between worlds. She’s searching for her lost groom, and those who help her may receive cryptic warnings or boons from beyond time.

Food & Drink:
Smoked lamb, oatcakes with honey, whiskey that warms your soul and your toes, and teas that brew with steam even in freezing weather. Meals here seem simple, but leave guests feeling unusually whole and well-rested.

Adventure Hooks:
– A patron goes missing after the inn jump. Did they vanish into another age?
– A time anomaly threatens to collapse the inn into a single moment forever.
–  Someone brings a cursed object into the inn, and the timelines begin to fracture.

2. Smiley’s Gas, Garage, and Groceries

Overview:
An old-school 1940s American gas station stranded in a fantasy world. Its pastel signage, rusted pumps, and cheerful advertisements for soda and tires look wildly out of place along the dusty forest road it occupies. No one knows how it got here, including the owners.

Function:
Smiley’s doesn’t sell gas anymore. The pumps don’t connect to anything, but it does sell snacks, basic supplies, home-canned goods, and will trade for tools, horse shoes, and advice. The garage bay is surprisingly good at repairing wagons, cart wheels, and Jimmy has figured out how to put horseshoes on horses.

Notable NPCs:
– “Smiley” Sam Pickens – A middle-aged, friendly, and sunburnt man in a grease-stained button-down and suspenders. Sam just wants to help. He’s got a little radio that somehow still plays jazz and Big Band hits. He believes this is all temporary and they’ll wake up back in Indiana any day now.
– Jimmy – A teenage helper who’s slowly adapting to his new life. Learning to shoe horses, milk goats, and speak Elvish (poorly). Has a can-do spirit and a growing sense of wonder about the world. Occasionally starts inventing things that shouldn’t work—but do.
– Granny Mabel (the Freezer Witch) – Not actually related to Sam or Jimmy. She lives in the walk-in freezer and only comes out when someone opens the wrong door. Wears curlers, a nightgown, and has powerful ice magic that she trades for chocolate or gossip.

Food & Drink:
Root beer, pickled eggs, cold soda in glass bottles, cans of Spam-like meat, peanut butter sandwiches, and cinnamon doughnuts (thanks to Jimmy’s wild success with a stone hearth oven).

Adventure Hooks:
– Someone wants to buy Smiley’s for nefarious reasons. Perhaps a warlord or dark fey entity.
– The garage repairs something it shouldn’t have. and now it’s on the loose.
– Granny Mabel makes a prophecy in the frost on the fridge.

3. The Hearthmother

Overview:
More than just an inn, the Hearthmother is a living sanctuary that descended from the Fifth Dimension into this physical plane. Built entirely from smooth, warm clay and set with inlaid pebbles and polished stones, the rooms are perfectly rounded—there are no corners anywhere. Even the furniture has grown naturally from the floors and walls. Visitors often say it feels like they’re inside a hug.

The inn is alive—sentient, nurturing, and stern when necessary. It shifts slightly to protect its guests and will not abide violence within its walls. Guests wake refreshed, emotionally unburdened, and well-fed… unless they misbehave.

Notable NPCs:
– Claire (Elf, female) – Graceful and patient, Claire serves as the “face” of the inn. She wears flowing gray robes and speaks calmly to all who enter. She came to the Hearthmother after it appeared in a dream. Serves a tea that changes flavor to suit the drinker’s mood.
– Edward (Human, male) – Claire’s husband and co-caretaker. A sturdy, kind-eyed man who handles the heavier chores and keeps the cellar stocked. Has a quiet sense of humor and a deep trust in the inn’s sentience.
– Bobble Burrfoot, the Penitent Robber – A once-thief now bound in magical servitude. He does the hardest jobs such as cleaning chamber pots, scrubbing, scouring. He lives in a small round room near the basement with paintings on the wall that scold him at night and again in the morning. He’s slowly becoming a better man.

Food & Drink:
Fresh bread with honey, soups that reflect the seasons, gentle herbal teas, soft fruit, goat cheeses, and wines that relax the soul without dulling the senses. Never any meat. Guests never go hungry, even if they can’t pay.

Adventure Hooks:
– The Hearthmother detects a terrible wound in the forest nearby and sends guests (aka the group) to investigate.
– A piece of the Fifth Dimension is trying to call the inn back, but what happens if it leaves?
– A noble guest tries to claim ownership of the inn, threatening its harmony.