The Hunter's Square – "Bounty Bowl"

A few miles away from the House of Death, there lies one of the few breaks in the overbearing, towering presence of the factories. The buildings part to reveal an open space, though there is still plenty of large cables that crisscross overhead. The ground here is incredibly uneven with patches of missing and cracked stone. Pipes emerge from the ground, spewing smoke in intermittent puffs. And at the center of this rough terrain is a hole. Built of old, worn stone, the Hunter’s Square features a very obvious hole-in-the ground with old and new bloodstains covering the bottom. Ladders and steep, poorly carved stairs arranged at four points around the circle. Halfway down, an even stone ledge juts out about 5 feet from the walls. Railings of old wood have been constructed, but no repairs seem to have been made where people have been pushed or shoved through.

On the ledge are four doors with crude signs or plaques hanging or secured overhead. These establishments provide drink, food, pleasure, and weapons to the bounty hunters that frequent the City of Smog. With the likelihood of brawls and fight high here, the common rabble tend to stay away, but many gather at the top of the pit to wait and watch… hoping that two bounty hunters might get into a scuff over a bounty posted at the board. There’s a reason the bloodstains remain, surrounding the bounty board at the bottom of the pit…

Crossbones Tavern

Through a thick wooden door made of multiple different types of wood and a smattering of chips and dents, is a singular large room with multiple crudely carved stone pillars covered in graffiti. At the center of the room is a large bar and storeroom, built entirely out of stone. Hanging above the bar and on the walls of the storeroom are a multitude of femur bones arranged in an X-shape: the bones of bounty hunters who picked a fight and died here. If you’re going to make the owner and staff clean up, then they’re going to take something from your corpse as payment for the inconvenience.

The room is lined with old tables and booths that are years past needing replaced. Smoke covers the room, drifting from the pipes of patrons at various seats and streaming out through open slots in the “ceiling”. Patrons are welcome to gamble within the halls, provided that the house be paid a fee and that patrons provide their own methods of gambling. The large open space lends well to sizing up the competition from across the way or just keeping an eye… and space for fights when they inevitably do break out.

Brass & Copper Pipes (The Pipeworks)

Through a relatively new metal door lies the chaotically arranged, multi-level club and tavern, the Pipeworks. Rickety rope ladders and bridges, winding narrow and steep steps, and metal poles and rope pulley systems are the way to move between the haphazard levels and tight spaces of this establishment. The bar and kitchens are nestled – almost hidden – in one corner of the establishment, but no worries if you get lost trying to get a drink! You merely need to find an open seat, slip your order into one of the pipes, and sooner than you can say “Brass & Copper” your drink will be sent on over through the same pipes!

The many twists and turns and closed off spaces of this establishment make it the preferred spot for those looking to avoid prying eyes to speak business in a low level of smoky haze with ominous lighting. Others come here to partake in the other side of the business: pleasure. The owner of Pipeworks was more than happy to convert part of his establishment to a brothel. Brought in more bounty hunters and more money.

Five Overlords

Tattered and stained curtains drift in the archway and partially obscuring the stairwell beyond. Winding down the steps, the smell of smog and smoke slowly fades… and is replaced by the decadent smells of grease, lard, and smoke of another variety – with a hint of some kind of spice too distant to fully place. The stairs level out and a hall lead through another archway to a two-story establishment with a scattered array of wooden and stone tables. A bar is placed alongside one wall in front of a massive kitchen, the spews smoke into the ceiling of the establishment and out through grates into the broader city of Ah’Shal.

Bounty hunters kick their feet up on the table as they partake in (fresh) food and drinks. The staple here, of course, is Ah’Shazza. What is better than dough, grease, cheese, and whatever toppings you want? The perfect snack to give you the energy you need to hunt down any runaways!

Sweet Valentine's

A sturdy metal door bars entry to most – even many of the bounty hunters. If you’re lucky enough to gain access in Sweet Valentine’s, you will have made it to the heaven of quality weaponry at incredibly low prices, provided you’re paying the Valentine membership fee. Otherwise, expect to pay a small fortune for any of Valentine’s wares.

Executioner's Block

The thick wooden doorway seems to have been carved from something must larger… or perhaps ripped from something larger. It takes a bit of muscle to get the hefty door to budge and, when it does, stairs await. After walking down three flights of crudely carved stone stairs, there is another heavy door (perhaps ripped from the same larger thing). The underground space has been carved to create a replica of a wooden lodge, without the windows, but… everything seems a bit on the larger side? The central space is two stories tall and lined with thick, heavy wooden tables and chairs, all with busted legs and hasty repairs, scratches, dents, and nicks. And at the far end of the room is a large bar with bar stools clearly meant for races of the larger variety.

Even amidst the rough, often rowdy, and dangerous crowd, four towering individuals stand out from the rest: ogres. Two move about the room bringing food and drinks, while another stands preparing drinks, and yet one more pokes his head up from the kitchen in the back. Clearly, the place was partially built to accommodate them. Though the ogres are what the place is known for, it’s named after the legend that the greatest of Ah’Shal’s executioners always came here for a drink after their first successful assigned kill.

Type

Pub / Tavern / Restaurant

Parent Location

The Smog-Covered Factory City

Owning Organization

Bounty Hunters of Ah'Shal

Related Report (Secondary Locations)

• Session 74

Lady Crossbones

The Crossbone Tavern's "pretty face" who runs drinks and cigars to the bounty hunters in her father's establishment... sowing discourse and trouble as she waltzes to and fro.

Cadmus

A bartender at Brass & Copper with a particularly gruff and stoic exterior and a glare that feels like fire.

Marla-May

One of the barmaids at Brass & Copper with a soft-spoken voice and the nickname "Beast-Tamer".

Picatso Catstro

The chef of Five Overlords who's always open to feedback! Of course, someone with no experience feeding bounty hunters would know better than someone with nearly 10 years experience! Ha ha... ha... ha...

Valentino Valentine

The owner, blacksmith, and craftsman of Sweet Valentine's who can make the weapon's he sells just as well as he can use them to kill.

Darrius

The half-orc owner of Executioner's Block who swears to The One and back that he has ogre blood running through his veins... just not the height.