"Hideaway" inns

With an abundance of megafauna and predatory hypnofauna, travelling the wilds between cities can be fraught with danger. In some areas, with well-maintained roads and regular patrols, the chance of encountering large predators barely registers. In others, like the South of the Theolisian peninsula, the megafauna tends towards the herbivorous, and is usually more of an inconvenience than a threat. Other regions, however - near thin places, like the North of the Theolisian peninsula and the uninhabited regions of the Daïdänt mountains and Acostaal - where settlements are walled enclaves and countries are little more than confederacies of city-states, fortified, or "hideaway", inns are common on both major and minor travel routes.
Resembling more of a fortress than a public house, hideaways have thick stone walls - sometimes more than one - and chain-covered courtyards to protect pack- and riding-animals. In the worst-afflicted areas, they may also have turrets, a moat and/or portcullis, and employ armed guards. A typical hideaway will have several root cellars or attics - space for several more months' worth of firewood and dried goods than is typical for a less-fortified inn - and a large number of rooms. In areas with nocturnal threats, the inns advertise that they operate a strict curfew of sundown with a sun-and-moon motif on their sign, roof, or weathervane. In all areas, the inn remains a private house and no invitation to enter is given. That this causdes no little discomfort to wizards and magen is considered proof of efficacy, not a defect.
The barest essentials of accommodation and stabling are usually free, covered by public subscription, guild dues, taxes, or toll roads, but food and drink can be significantly more expensive than in towns and cities - a combination of 'danger tax' and 'captive audience'. The inkeeper or one of the staff may be a retired member of the Guild of Ratcatchers and Associated Trades, and some hideaways cater to such a high proportion of guild members that they double as unofficial guildhalls.

Type

Pub / Tavern / Restaurant