The Silver Chariot

"This isn't some meet-up for rowdy frat boys. This place is for honest, tired folk who've served their country."

Nestled in the heart of Zarrid, the capital city of Grand Divide, was a small, unassuming brick building. Indeed, the only thing to draw one's attention to it (aside from its departure from the surrounding lamian architecture) was its name, "The Silver Chariot", displayed above the entrance in white, lighted letters.
However, what appeared to be a modest pub from the outside harbored a cacophony of memorabilia. Some were more sensible; pictures of sporting events, group photos of men and women in uniform, hunting trophies and the like. Others were much more obscure; some posters here, a model of an anti-grav racer or vehicle of war there, and the occasional "legendary" weapon in a display case. One could search every archive and database on the floating continent and still not find the matching properties to the objects hanging on the walls. One may claim that they were sham advertisements to fake movies or shows, but the bartender, Bulgrish, would insist that the production had existed somewhere, at some time.
Bulgrish himself was a gruff old orc, a rarity outside of the far northern marshes of Argenon. While on the surface Grand Divide was freely open to orcs as much as any other race, in practice orcs suffered a degree of discrimination due to stereotypes of orcs being predisposed toward violence. Maintaining a peaceful image was generally a tall order for one whose business was to supply his patrons with alcohol, yet violence was rarely a problem at The Silver Chariot. This was in part because the bartender was also an indomitable bouncer and veteran of war, but also because of the demographic of the clientele; The Silver Chariot was known as a place of peace for men and women of service, be they active or retired, military, law enforcement, or hunter. The Silver Chariot wasn’t the sort of place for one to throw a “party,” but it was rather a place of respite and, for some, reflection.

Architecture

In contrast to the complex concretes and stones typically used in Zarrid's predominantly lamian construction and architecture, The Silver Chariot stood out with its red brick exterior and low-slanting, black shingle roof. Apart from the lighted sign above the front double-doors bearing the bar's name, it had no outward decorations. Nothing about the front of the building was intrinsically attractive or welcoming, and its tinted window's made peering inside difficult at best. Being a single floor in height, it was constantly in the shadows of the surrounding, taller buildings. As such, there was little to entice the curious or ignorant to enter, and that was indeed the owner's intention.

Interior Design

Those who were invited by other patrons would enter into a quiet world of past triumphs and tragedies contained in walls of Argenite pine. The booths and tables were made of red cedar with seats made of treated boarskin leather, and the flooring was of Ferrish sal wood. The lighting fixtures hung from displays of carved bone, and a chandelier of dragon bones hung in front of the bar in the center of the room. To the left of the bar, booths and tables reached back toward the restrooms, and to the right the layout was mirrored leading back to the doors of the kitchen. Bestial skulls, horns, and antlers were scattered about the walls as hunting trophies, some of which were slain by Bulgrish himself throughout his life, while others were gifted to him by his friends and patrons.
However, hanging from the center of the wall above the entrance, overlooking the bar and tables, was a large painted portrait of an older human gentleman with short dark hair streaked with gray, a single hazel eye, an eyepatch over the left socket, and a wide and jovial smile. He wore a green military uniform decorated with countless pins and medals and a black shoulder cape over his right arm. A brass plaque under the portrait read "Major General Alexander Grimlocke," with the quote, "So long as violence burns in the hearts of men, beasts, and demons, there will always be a need for soldiers."

Denizens

Many who frequented The Silver Chariot were veterans of some notoriety. There was the sniper and hacker William "Winter" Green, retired DKS Lieutenant "Mad Dog" Zack Leerhart, the GDDI Director Arlin "the Dragontongue" Ran, just to name a few. Even most of the staff were veterans of some form, including the assistant manager, "Iron Knuckle" Leanne Fisher. Everyone of them had stories to tell, but even among such a seasoned crowd there were was one who stood out among the rest.
Doctor Vrelli Akonda was one of the most accomplished professional athletes and hunters of any century. She was a gorgeous lamian woman of layered mossy hair and grass green scales, who was often wearing a wide-brimmed leather fedora. However, her beauty belied her age of sixty-four summers. At one point she held numerous titles and records in the sports of Rex Wrangling, competitive judo, ballistic gunslinging and marksmanship, and she held many of the highest commendations a hunter could receive. On top of her physical capabilities, she was also one of the leading experts in metamorphosis magic, a versatile but extremely complex branch of arcana which she had used to bolster her outstanding prowess as a hunter.
She frequently and proudly referred to herself as "the greatest hunter this rock has ever seen," and there were few who would dare challenge her claim, let alone have the skill to outperform her. Not even Old Bulgrish himself. In fact, he was often the first to vouch for her stories, and several of the photos hanging above his bar featured Vrelli wearing combat armor in differing forms of camouflage in front of various beasts she had slain, including one of her, Bulgrish, and Winter standing in front of a slain titanosuchus.

Defenses

The primary defense of The Silver Chariot was Old Bulgrish himself. For many years he was owner, bartender, and bouncer of his establishment. While he had long since retired from active duty, the old orc would not hesitate to personally remove those who disturbed the peace of his bar. He recently employed an undead Delphinian woman, Mileena Zealan, as a bouncer, though this was more out of respect for her and her late father than necessity. Indeed, Bulgrish's longstanding reputation and the respect of his loyal patrons kept altercations at the bar to an astonishing minimum. Every one of them who had been served or employed by the old orc would in turn come to his defense if the need ever arose.
That is not to say that Mileena was unfit for her job. Far from it, in her rebellious youth she was the leader of the Jack Knives, a band of delinquents that once roamed the streets of Delphinus, much to the frustration of her godfather and Delphinian Police Chief, Aaron Bestahl. While growing up as the daughter of a retired DKS Major, Marcus Zealan, she had learned how to fight from both him and Aaron, who had served under Marcus as his lieutenant. Indeed, Mileena was a woman with strength of will and body, both in life and in undeath after being resurrected by her daughter, Arlee.
The Silver Chariot had a number of conventional security measures, as well.  The tinted windows looking out onto the street were made of ballistic resistant panes and were attached to an alarm system, as were the fire exits by the kitchen and the restrooms.  In addition, if one were to sneak past the kitchen and enter the orc's living quarters, one could find a trapdoor leading down to the basement, which had been built as a bomb shelter.  It held a stockpile of water and rations, Bulgrish's vast armory of melee weapons and firearms, and an auxiliary mana generator that could power not only the building's utilities, but also a variable ray shield matrix that can encase the entire facility.

History

During Bulgrish's time with the mercenary unit Grimlocke Corps, he bought the plot in 9902 to use as his own personal safehouse.  However, it wasn't until 9928 that Bulgrish decided to drastically expand and renovate the property into a bar, filling out the rest of the plot and officially opening "The Silver Chariot".  
One of the first employees he hired was a fellow squad captain in the Grimlocke Corps, "Iron Knuckle" Leanne Fisher, a sylvic elf of tanned skin and blonde hair in her "youthful three-hundreds" who Bulgrish had worked with for decades.  She received her moniker after losing her right hand to an arborraptor and replaced it with a fully articulate, high-carbon steel prosthetic before returning to active duty.  Bulgrish and Leanne had a deep mutual respect for each other, and when she was hinting at retiring from the Corps, Bulgrish convinced her to move to Zarrid and help him with his bar.  The two of them operated it as a front to establish an information network, often cooperating with the Grand Divide Department of Investigations.  
In 9985, Bulgrish finally retired from the Corps after his two-hundred-fiftieth birthday, consolidating his assets and turning The Silver Chariot into his primary residence.  While he and Leanne no longer actively gather intelligence, they remain apprised of current events through their many and various connections.

Founding Date

9928 AA

Type

Pub / Tavern / Restaurant

Assistant Manager
"Iron Knuckle" Leanne Fisher
Head Chef
Gabi Nightingale
Bouncer
Mileena Zealan
Hours of Operation
Yaday:  13:00 - 22:00
Doday:  13:00 - 22:00
Leviday:  13:00 - 22:00
Vesperday:  13:00 - 22:00
Flareday:  13:00 - 22:00
Arcday:  13:00 - 22:00

Menu

The menu at the The Silver Chariot had an astoundingly wide array of meats, the cuts of which Bulgrish purchased from various licensed hunters.  From great river bass to Malen razorback to dune wyvern, anything that was available in the Zarrid and Lorek markets.  His list of beers on tap and bottle was even more impressive, including Ferrish pale ales, tenjin umeshu, Argenite peat wines, and even Devoidian black lagers.  Naturally, having such a wide array of liquors at his disposal meant he could make a great number of cocktails, and the most well-known and restricted was Bulgrish's signature "Neon Tiger."  While Bulgrish kept the finer details of his recipes a secret to everyone except Leanne, the Neon Tiger was a mixture of lemon moonshine, Malen grapefruit juice, Lake King's vermouth, a Malen orange wedge, and a single chilled crystal of refined lightning mana.  

Purpose

The Silver Chariot was known by its patrons as a haven for veterans and men and women of service. Bulgrish not only provided food and drink for his friends and patrons, but he also frequently employed those with backgrounds in military and civil service. Furthermore, should anyone require sanctuary, he would provide them shelter in the back of his establishment, past the kitchen and in his own living quarters. Indeed, The Silver Chariot wasn't simply his place of business, but also his home. In spite of his coarse and humorless demeanor, he understood the pains of war, crime, and disaster very well. Bulgrish wasn't a saint by any means, but the old orc had experienced enough in his long life to harbor a great deal of empathy.

Sensory & Appearances

The carved bone fixtures hanging over the booths and around the ceiling provided warm, moderate lighting, and though the scent of food and drink was thick and pleasant, there was little in the way of noise outside the ambience of soft chatter and the clanking of plates, utensils, and glasses. There was but a single television above the bar, and the only thing Bulgrish ever played was the local weather station. According to the old orc, nothing could break peace between brothers worse than politics, sports, and anime.

Valuables & Treasure

While many pieces of Bulgrish's decor were indeed rare and unique, because they were representative of intellectual properties that no one could recognize or verify, it was nigh impossible to appraise any one of them. As such, their value was purely sentimental, save for the Dragonbone Chandelier and the portrait of Alexander Grimlocke.