Cut from a chunk of local limestone and set above the tavern’s front door, the luridly carved face of an orc identifies this place as the infamous Orc’s Head. Notorious throughout the duchy as the haunt for adventurers preparing to dare Gloamhold’s depths, the Orc’s Head is a place of tall tales and hard drinking. Decent folk rarely venture inside.

The tavern’s proprietor, Einar Salonen, was once an adventurer. A giant of a man standing almost 6 and a half feet tall, Einar was a mighty warrior in his prime. Now inactivity and too much drink have robbed him of his physique. He is still strong, though, and it is a brave—or spectacularly drunk—customer who risks his ire.

Within the Orc’s Head, the drink is cheap, the music loud and the customers (often) drunk. It is a raucous place; brawls are not uncommon. The Shadow Masks operate—cautiously—in the Orc’s Head but, in the main, limit their activities to information gathering.

The Orc’s Head is an oddity in that its common room is in the cellar. The first Orc’s Head burnt down mysteriously decades ago. The owner—desperate to get back into business as quickly as possible—converted the cellar into the common room and later—when funds allowed—rebuilt the rest of the inn. The common room comprises four separate, snug and shadowy chambers perfect for plotting and scheming.

Of the two above-ground floors, the ground floor is given over to guests’ lodgings while Einar, his family and several servants dwell on the upper level.

Einar stores his vitals and other supplies in a long, low structure behind the main building where he also brews his own beer.

Tariff

• Food & Drink: Meal (cold sausages, hard cheese and bread) 3 sp, weak ale 6 cp, wine (pitcher) 3 sp.

• Accommodation: Two-bed chamber 10 sp; four-bed chamber 20 sp; common room 2 sp.

Notable Folk

• Einar Salonen (N middle-aged male human fighter 5): The Orc’s Head’s proprietor is gregarious and welcoming. Relatively lax in the running of his establishment he doesn’t much mind the occasional brawl as long as no-one is seriously hurt and nothing valuable is broken. He is popular with his customers, but not beloved of the city watch who see the Orc’s Head as a perennial trouble-spot.

Hooks

• Adventurers seeking to join or create an adventuring company often visit the Orc’s Head. Adventurers seeking hirelings or henchmen are also well advised to speak with Einar, who knows many such folk.

• A brawl breaks out. Soon, many customers are enthusiastically participating. (The fracas is cover for a thief to steal a rival party’s map of their recent Gloamhold exploration.) Check out Barroom Brawls for tools to run a memorable and exciting brawl!

Four Nights at the Orc's Head 

Notorious throughout the duchy of Ashlar as the haunt of adventurers preparing to dare Gloamhold’s depths, the Orc’s Head is a place of tall tales, hard drinking and the occasional barroom brawl. Decent folk rarely venture inside. Nights at the Orc’s Head are rarely boring, but most time-crunched GMs gloss over the time between adventures because there are more important things to prepare. Use this eventure to add flavour and interesting events to your PCs’ next visit to the Orc’s Head!

This eventure is suitable for any level PCs and can be used with any size group. It has also been designed to be easily adapted to virtually any GM’s campaign.

Four Nights at the Orc’s Head is set in the City of Languard but is easily adaptable to almost any fantasy city.

Want More?

The Orc’s Head appears in the City of Languard Collection, which is available in 5e, OSR and 1st edition Pathfinder versions.