Stewich

The small hamlet of Stewich, which mostly consists of a market square, a single coaching inn (the Maiden & Cask), and a handful of small craftsfolk and others who tend to the needs of the many farms all around Stewich.

The Maiden & Cask (1)

Inn
There is a single coaching inn in the town's market square, called the Maiden & Cask. The sign shows a young woman, seated on a keg, leaning far back (past the tipping point) as she finishes a mug of ale. The Maiden & Cask is a large two story affair, stone on the lower floor and wood above, with leaded glass windows. The inn consists of a cobbled courtyard, the main inn building (right), a stables (left), and a bathhouse (middle).

• Main Inn: The bottom floor of the main inn has a taproom and a common room. The top floor has individual guest rooms, plus the owner's rooms, with staff having dwellings in the village or in the garrett.
  • The inn serves chicken and dumplings, with wedges of sharp herbed cheese and flatbreads, or roasted pork chops with mashed, buttered and cheesed neeps. They have a good stout and a decent ale.
  • It is run by a couple: Vrella "the Maiden" Landishall and her wife, Rissyna "the Cask" Landishall. Vrella is the older of the two, in her early 40s, with comely features. She plays hostess by and large, and has a lovely singing voice. Rissyna is the younger of them, in her early 30s, with a stout, strong girth. She tends the back of house, and brews the inn's stouts and ales.
  • Other Workers: Nothar, a suspicious, brute of a doorman • Hleran, a young Ata-San boy who works as stablehand
• Stables: The stables have room for up to a dozen horses, plus an attached carriage-keep with good locks. The floor above is a hay loft, with a small living space for Hleran and his older sister Lothissa (who works helping a local laundress, across the market plaza from the inn).
• Bathhouse: A stone bathhouse built above a hot springs, with basins for scrubbing, and a large stone tub for soaking in hot water.