Rolling Up a Pub

Taberna Celeris's cover image
(via Old Book Illustrations)

I'm doing the final proofing read-through of my new trifold Taberna Celeris. It's a collection of random tables to name and detail a Bar, Inn, Tavern, or Publick House (Pub). I'm viewing this as the second entry in a Random Table Trifold Triptych of Zines (yeah, it's a mouthful), starting with Tabula Mortis, (available in my itch shop) and ending with a third thing that hasn't even been named yet.

So let's grab some dice and roll up a drinking establishment with the latest draft of Taberna Celeris.

(As a quick aside, Taberna Celeris literally means "Quick Tavern", but it also translates as "Fast Food Restaurant". I love that, and I'll take it.)

What's It Named? The Silent Rudder Pub. A black rudder hangs over the door with a dark grey cloth tied around it like an bandit's face mask.

What's Its Vibe? Gaudy and tired. It catered to thieves and pirates when it started years ago, but that was before the owner went straight. Now it's a shabby, declining pirate-themed pub that needs a deep cleaning. The Rudder tries way too hard to be edgy, with weapons and pirate flags all over the walls, but the patrons and staff stopped caring years ago, and it shows.

Wizard's Tower (Promptober 2025 #19)

Arcane Forces Gather

Why do wizards build towers? Do they need thinner air to interact less with their experiments? Are they concerned about explosions and hope to minimize the area of damage? Do they want to be closer to heaven and further from the mud and dust of earth? Or does tradition simply demand that wizards must occupy a tall, unstable structure?

Maybe wizards think a few steps ahead about the third dimension.

Consider the magic circle spell. It creates a 10-foot radius effect with a 20-foot height. If we assume a standard modern floor height of 10 feet, we end up with two floors of the tower completely within the circle. So instead of casting one circle on every floor to ward an area and contain summoned creatures as a safeguard for experimentation, the wizard can conserve spell slots and cover more of the tower in a single casting.

Efficiency!

Abandoned Locations - Derelicts (Promptober 2025 #13)

A roadside derelict.

What happens when you roll a random encounter while your party travels? Do you just wing something? Do you want a little more meat for your idea generation? What about exploring a derelict?

As long as other people have passed this way before, derelicts are surprisingly common in rarely-traveled areas. They work in all genres and all settings, from ruined carts on a roadside to hollowed-out buildings in the aftermath of war, and from abandoned caves used by hunters to hulking starships floating powerless through space.

But what will your party find when they explore this derelict?

Eye Candy

A 30 foot tall, polished marble building stands on the Cliffside of level 12, once the tallest building on the street, but newer construction makes it feel somewhat quaint in an archaic elegance sort of way. In Old Imperial times it served as a temple to Venus, but now vibrant paint, shining tinsel, and colored scarves wrap around the tall columns visible on the facade. A large sign in the shape of a glittering eye hangs out front, reflecting sunlight and moonlight at all angles, and highly visible from both directions. A similarly-sparkly sign above the double doors spells out "Eye Candy" in Common.

A counter greets visitors just inside the massive double doors (use the right one, as the left one sticks and screeches when opened), gracefully funneling people to a comfortable and posh waiting room on the left. Soft music with a driving beat filters in from places unknown, making the reception area feel like a private VIP room at the most exclusive dance club in town. A constructed second floor lies above the waiting room, with a grand staircase leading up from the waiting area. The roomy second floor has several seats and work areas for people receiving haircuts, nail work, and skin treatments, and doors in the back lead to a few private soundproof rooms outfitted for full-body massages. The work space to the right of the reception desk remains at full 30-foot height, where Cass Flamespitter holds court, waving to everyone coming and going.

Alter Bar

Just across The Lift from the College on level 10, a light and airy coffeehouse with windows shares a wall with what looks like a dark and cozy bookstore. A single long wooden sign spans both entry doors, reading "Alter Bar" in a faux runic font that glows pale green after dark. A cramped bar dominates the entry room on the bookstore side leaving room for a few coffee tables, couches, and chairs, and a barely-adequate grey wool curtain hangs over an unfinished hole leading to the coffeehouse side. A smaller counter serves coffee at all hours overlooking a scattering of bistro tables in the single open space.

The name means "old money" in Steinrede, so there's a story behind that which many never learn. The sharp-eyed see a sign above the bar that reads "Dein Blut Gehört Dir" in Steinrede, which translates to "Your blood belongs to you." Wild Magic Sorcerer and Alchemist Kornelia Sonnenstein bought these properties and opened Alter Bar two years ago now. It still has the not-quite-finished feel of a new establishment, and the clientele remains eclectic. Bored nobles from Topside come down to slum it with College students looking to blow off some steam, and adventurers revere the novelty of a drink that can alter the drinker's face or body.

The Lady at the Crossroads

The earliest known mention of the statue known as the Lady at the Crossroads occurred just over 500 years ago, as the earliest settlers started building on the slope that would eventually become Fellport. The short-haired elven woman has a timeless quality to her, beautiful and patiently fierce, equal parts welcoming and warding, immaculately rendered in impeccably polished granite. The clarity of her sculpted details hasn't diminished in 500 years, and the statue seems to resist graffiti as well as the ravages of weather and time.

The Lady radiates abjuration magic, which doesn't seem to mesh with the popular theory about her being a petrified once-living elven woman. Elves with their long memories recognize neither her face nor her clothing, or maybe they simply refuse to admit who she was out of shame or fear. She resists being moved, so engineers built the Council House and Council Plaza around her. She stands at the edge of the level in the middle of the city, looking out over the harbor, eternally in peril of taking a step forward and plummeting three stories down into Diplomat's Row. Workers erected a sturdy walkway with a stout metal railing in front of her to prevent visitors from accidentally toppling over the edge while trying to look at her from all sides.

Magic Touch Cleaners

This tiny, single-story storefront faces the Lift on Undercampus Way (Level 9). A simple sign declares "Magic Touch Cleaners" in faded black block letters against a sparkling white background. A large restaurant catering to the lunch crowd seems to push this tiny shop into the worked stone cliff at the back of the level from the right.

Behind the windowed wooden door flanked with windows lies a counter stretching from wall to wall that clearly defines the customer and employee areas of the shop. Decades-old painted signs in faded colors cover the counter and walls, advertising the shop's services: Clean Clothes Using Only Magical Means! Same-Day Alterations And Repairs! Non-Human Clothing Is Our Specialty! Satisfaction Guaranteed!

Fey Pools

When traveling through the deep forest, some travelers report finding still pools of clear water surrounded by odd-looking mushrooms. Usually the trees nearest the pool have died out, leaving a large clearing with the pool in the center of it. Smart travelers prefer to camp somewhere else, despite the fact that the ground is soft and level. Rumors talk about campers disappearing, sometimes returning after about a month forever changed.

A dry Fey Pool.

Under the light of a full moon, these Fey Pools function as a portal between this world and the realm of the fey. Sometimes cheerful music encourages the wayward into taking a swim, where they visit the realm of merry tricksters and colorful chaos. Sometimes they stay with the fey, sometimes the fey prevent them from returning. Sometimes they reappear hundreds of miles away. Sometimes shapechangers replace them, and sometimes they just plain disappear.

The Meat Locker

An impeccably-crafted two-story Ionian building made of polished marble in various shades nestles comfortably among the more ramshackle buildings on the Hempenway cliffside (Level 2). The Ionian craftsfolk of 400 years ago really knew how to work marble, though the Transmuters educated at the College have restored and maintained the stone amazingly well. It survived the Godstorm, though it took weeks to polish the stone back to its usual lustre. It served as a private residence initially, and it changed hands several times over the years. The previous merchant owner didn't survive the Godstorm and the family sold it for cheap instead of cleaning it.

A visionary Firbolg bard named Jorgen bought the place and invested some of his adventuring spoils into settling down. He opened a butcher shop and named it The Meat Locker, installing a display case in the expansive entry foyer. The marble helps keep the meats cool, and the occasional ray of frost does wonders to keep the meats fresh for longer in their locking metal chests. Not that it matters, as Jorgen's winning personality brings every wholesaler and restauranteur to his shop to buy nearly everything on offer every day.

Finnegan's

Just to the Lakeside of the Ramp on 5, three wooden buildings of various ages look like giants smashed them into a single structure. A tombstone in front of the wrap-around porch announces:

Finnegan's

Croi An Phobail

Established Anno 445

Ascended At Liberation Anno 679

In Ionian reckoning, it's currently Anno 799, so Finnegan's has been around for quite a while. The second line is Occam for "Heart of the Community". It's one of those neighborhood boars that's been around forever, welcoming to regulars and guardedly cordial to newcomers.

The covered porch wraps around the entire building, giving a great view of the harbor and the outdoor artisan furnaces of the Fellport Glassworks on the level below. The porch's floor slumps in some areas, but it seems solid overall. Many tables, chairs, and stools can handle the crowds, and imperfect masts from Eventide Keelworks make a guardrail that could stop (and has stopped) a giant from falling to the level below.

Terra's Bones

A large human-built utilitarian workshop squats against the Cliffside wall at the far end of the Artist's Quarter. The Fellport Watch maintained it in the early days of independence before consolidating their metalworking services in the base of the Lakeside Spire. It sat abandoned for decades, scavenged clean by the Watch, but it still had the strong memory of metalworking baked into its stone walls.

Ten years ago, a merchant named Ryn came to town looking for a workshop far off the beaten path. They found the old forge and petitioned the Fellport Council to use it, with support from the Monk of Paint, the de facto leader of the Artist's Quarter. The council agreed, and Ryn brought the place to life again, calling it Terra's Bones.

Dragon Peak: The Elements Puzzle

Puzzle Props

After solving the Trial of Moonlight, the illusion in the room fades. The entry arch disappears, making the room an empty 60 foot diameter cylinder with a 20 foot ceiling. Five channels or grooves run the circumference of the wall at about waist height for a human, and carvings appear in the wall where the exit arch should be. This final puzzle unlocks the door and allows access to the interior of Dragon Peak.

Five alchemical symbols appear etched in the wall, one above each channel. Each has a corresponding opening to allow access to the channel which exactly fits the five stones with elemental symbols that the characters earned by solving each prior trial. The word "Harmonize" in Draconic appears on the wall above the channels. Sharp-eyed characters will notice faint words corresponding with each symbol/channel pair, each appearing in the viewer's native tongue. The words are:

• Moon: Thrive
• Fire: Ice
• Air: Bright
• Water: Shade
• Earth: Lost

Dragon Peak: Trial of Moonlight (Level 5)

Trial of Moonlight
Level Map

The stairs up from the Trial of Fire end at the now-expected landing with white onyx inlaid in the floor spelling out "Trial Of Moonlight" in Draconic. The archway opens onto an endless plain of skulls and bones under a starless twilight sky. Gravestones, tombs, sarcophagi, and menhirs commemorate the endless dead, sticking up through the pile of bones seemingly at random. Ghosts flicker their way through the air in the foreground above wandering skeletons and zombies, as black dragons circle in the distance. Sharp-eyed characters will notice a huge red-skinned demon with a goat skull and bat wings (Orcus) in the distance, walking around and raising undead from the ground.

Anyone entering the chamber through the arch will immediately draw the attention of the skeletons, zombies, and ghosts in the area. Occasional blasts of black dragon breath will raise more undead from the ground, as will area effect spells and any ranged attacks which miss their mark. Character can easily avoid the slower undead, but the ghosts will taunt anyone with demoralizing speech in their native tongue, inciting feelings of dread and hopelessness and causing 2d8 psychic damage every round to anyone in the chamber unless characters succeed on a Charisma saving throw (DC 14) to negate the damage.

Dragon Peak: Trial Of Fire (Level 4)

Trial of Fire Level Map

The stairs up from the Trial of Air end at a sizeable landing with white onyx inlaid in the floor spelling out "Trial Of Fire" in Draconic. The archway exposes a spacious cavern with white and red dragons flying in the distance. A twenty foot tall pillar of fire swirls on the right, and a matching blizzard swirls on the left. Between the two lies a Taijitu (Yin Yang) made of fire red and ice blue stones inlaid into the floor, with the small circles of the opposite element in the heart of each teardrop shape. Opposing devil armies assemble for war, Stygia's frozen legions on the left, and fire devils on the right.

A conflict between fire and ice looks ready to erupt, and detritus of lava and snow lies scattered around the chamber. Occasional missiles and dragon breath weapons streak across the chamber, threatening to singe or freeze anyone entering. The elemental pillars swirl and throw out bolts of fire and ice, seemingly at random.

Dragon Peak: Trial Of Air (Level 3)

Trial Of Air Level Map

Trial Of Air Level Map

The stairs up from the Trial of Water end on a familiar-looking landing with white onyx inlaid in the floor spelling out "Trial Of Air" in Draconic. The archway opens onto empty air with wind whipping upward at terminal velocity. Five stones float level with the arch, free falling through an endless vista of blue sky. Each stone holds a different object: a platinum brooch, a fine dagger, a pair of stout gauntlets, a delicate hourglass, and a black wand with a tiny skull tip. Clouds fly past, sometimes discharging bolts of lightning, and blue dragons circle the stones at some distance, unleashing their lightning breath weapons across the scene. A mind flayer floats calmly above and behind the arch, not visible unless looking from within the chamber, calmly watching the scene to see what unfolds.

Inspection of the arch will uncover the words "Choose One Wisely" faintly scratched into the stone of the arch, in Common. Sticking a head into the chamber will literally take one's breath away. The lack of a ground to fall toward may cause vertigo (Wisdom save DC 14 to avoid disadvantage on all skill checks for 1 minute). Everything falls through the air so quickly, and the air pressure is so low that breathing doesn't supply sufficient oxygen. Suffocation rules apply while inside the chamber.

Dragon Peak: Trial of Water (Level 2)

Trial Of Water Level Map

The stairs up from the Trial of Earth end on a familiar-looking landing with white onyx inlaid in the floor spelling out "Trial Of Water" in Draconic. The archway opens onto a forest glade being drowned out by an overflowing fountain. Trees stand around the edge of this small clearing, and several fallen trunks and branches litter the area, sticking up through the standing water. Green dragons circle, spewing clouds of gas and hastening the transformation into swamp. A twenty-foot-tall water elemental rises from the fountain, scanning the area for intruders. Once again, stepping through the arch gives the illusion of entering an expansive new environment rather than a circular room.

The water rises to the level of the landing's floor, concealing the actual floor under six inches of water. Anyone entering the room will draw the elemental's attention, and it will shoot a water geyser at any intruders (+7 attack, doing 2d8 bludgeoning damage, plus the target is knocked back 10' and lands prone unless they succeed on a Strength DC 14 saving throw). Damage done to the elemental will heal the next round, since it uses the endless water supply to reform any injury.

Dragon Peak: Trial of Earth (Level 1)

Trial Of Earth Level Map

The stairs up from the entry level end on a sizable landing. Especially paranoid characters may feel like someone watches them on the landing. Letters inlaid in white onyx on the floor spell out "Trial Of Earth" in Draconic, acting as a perverse welcome mat.

An archway opens onto a plain of broken rock and sand, with a battle raging as far as the eye can see. Demons, devils, aberrations, giants, humanoids, and dragons fight and die only to rise again and rejoin the battle. Tiamat circles the battlefield and uses her variety of breath weapons to indiscriminately kill. Broken equipment, body parts, and blood cover the ground. Giant hands made of stone appear to reach up through the stone, and the jagged rocks make walking treacherous. Shadow and gloom darken the scene under a leaden sky, the eternal night broken only sporadically with flashes of magic detonations and dragon breath.

Dragon Peak: Entry Level

Entry Level Map

Under the glacier next to Dragon Peak, a twelve foot tall stone double door provides entry into the mountain. The door has images of tree trunks carved into it, realistically mimicking a dense forest with textured bark and the occasional knot. One of the knots goes a little deeper than the rest, and if a dragonborn inserts a hand into the hole, the door will quietly swing open.

A round room fifty feet in diameter lies beyond the door, its walls carved to look like an old elven forest. The ceiling twenty feet above looks like a canopy of leaves blocking out the sky above. The rotted remains of a long wooden table pile up near the similarly-sized door opposite the entry. Two smaller doors provide egress through the side walls.

Examining the carved walls reveals deep knots carved into the walls for the smaller doors, but the larger door has none. The carving itself seems like an elven design with its eye for realistic detail, but the elegant workmanship feels very dwarven. The remains of the table show evidence of a braided ivy border detail and carved writing in three languages: Draconic, Gladlam (Elven), and Steinrede (Dwarven). Sharp-eyed and lucky investigators may piece together the words five, trials, prophecy, and scale, but the wood has rotted over the past 500 years and utterly obliterated any further words.

Dragon Peak

Far in the northwestern mountains stands a steep and sheer peak next to a glacier flowing off a cliff into a valley. Here the silver dragon Shaxalar made her lair, and here the dragons departed this world five centuries ago. A huge gate filled with shimmering liquid magic stands open within the lair, leading to the plane of dragons, guarded by an elderly dragonborn ranger names Sheridan and his pseudodragon companions.

Dragonborn started dying out after the dragons left. The bloodlines grew thin once the draconic influence left Beneterra. Ionian scientists identified the draconic marker in blood samples and noticed its remarkable absence around 200 years ago.

The Lost Library of Stonemoor

From the notebooks of Tilly Redmoon.

About 300 years ago, Caragh, the Mage of the Moor traveled from castle to castle and sold her services to many of the Banner Kings across Dunhill. She usually collected spells and lore in exchange for her time and talents, and she needed somewhere to keep all of that information. She bought the rights to the Stonemoor and built a stone tower at the center of a labyrinth cut into the peat bog.

Researchers came from far and wide to walk the labyrinth and consult with Caragh and browse the Library of Stonemoor. The bard Blayne Doss recorded in his Wanderwords II how he walked up four flights of stairs and through a glowing doorway to get to the library, and in Fabula De Colligendis Cognitionis (The Story of Knowledge Gathering) the philosopher Stilo Aelius mentioned a trap door in the basement of Caragh's Tower. None of the written accounts agree on where the library lay within the tower, leading me to believe that it still exists in a pocket dimension somewhere. Does the entrance still exist in the Stonemoor? All accounts agree that the knowledge stored in the library would take several lifetimes to fully read through.