The Three-Colored Mask

City

Festive

Modest prices

The Three-Colored Mask

the carnival-quarter beer hall where the city dances once a week

You push through a curtain of bunting into a long, low room swathed in paper lantern light. Laughter and brass seep from the far end, where a raised bandstand and a tumble of mismatched chairs crowd a sprung floor scored with footprints and wax. The air smells of malt, fried dough, citrus, and something floral—scented oils burned in tiny braziers along the rafters. Masked patrons lean on the bar between spins on the dance floor; half the crowd still wears their carnival masks, painted or feathered, and they trade gossip as easily as tankards. Every week the hall rearranges itself: stalls and paper pennants are rolled away to reveal a clearer ring for the masked dance. Behind the bar, drawers clack and a low chest sleeps under a shelf of stamped mugs; eyes glance at it when coins change hands. The noise is warm and clever rather than rowdy—people here come to be seen, to trade secrets under color and rhythm, and to forget the city that waits beyond the paper streamers.

Over the door

A weathered, oaken ovoid sign painted in three vertical bands—crimson, saffron, and teal—showing a stitched mask with one eye winking; the paint flakes, but a faint smear of confetti still clings to the lower edge.

The keeper

Bram Gullock

Human

Manner

Bram runs the hall like a ringmaster who learned restraint: hospitable to regulars, delightfully theatrical with newcomers, and always quick to clap and spin a small tale to keep the mood buoyant. He keeps the peace with jokes and measured firmness, preferring to de-escalate with a coin or an offered spiced roll before hauling anyone outside.

Quirk

Bram taps a three-beat rhythm on the bar whenever conversation veers near a secret he prefers to bury.

Stats

Use the Commoner stat block; AC 11 (stout cotton coat), wields a dagger hidden in his apron and knows minor sleight-of-hand tricks.
House special

Masquerade's Kiss

5 sp

A flaming, layered cocktail of spiced red wine, citrus liqueur, and a dusting of sugared herbs; it loosens tongues and for one hour gives the drinker advantage on Performance checks made while masked as they fall into the night's persona.

Prices

Modest (5e lifestyle: about 1 gp a day)

The menu
Food
Spiced meat on a stick
3 sp
Sugared carnival fritters
3 sp
Braised root and barley pot
3 sp
Smoked fish with pickled citrus
3 sp
Drink
House ale (mug)
4 cp
Citrus cider (glass)
6 cp
Spiced red (warm carafe)
1 sp
Midnight bitters (small, herbal dram)
8 cp
Rooms
Shared chamber (bunks)
5 sp
Private room (small, single bed)
8 sp
Locked room (private, simple lockbox for valuables)
2 gp
Staff

Fenn Oars · barmaid

Fenn glides through crowds with trays of mugs and a grin, remembering everyone's favorite dance-step and ale.

Torik Brum · bouncer

Once a carnival strongman, Torik stands by the door in a painted vest and politely refuses anyone who brings steel onto the floor.

Nim the Fryer · cook

A lithe halfling who tosses sweet dough and spiced meats with the same flourish as he tosses a handful of confetti.

Regulars

Merek Jolt

A wiry man in a half-mask who fences curios and collects rumors—he's always watching which pieces of the city turn up in new guises.

Captain Hessa Grove

A retired ringleader whose prosthetic brass fingers still twitch to cue the dancers; she is looking for the lost gear of a ruined carousel.

Silvi Kett

A city watch informant who sells tips over a tankard and listens for a particular name tied to a string of carnival thefts.

Rumours
  1. 1

    The Night Ledger lists who paid to have a small gilded carousel horse 'acquired' last month; Bram says it vanished from Hessa Grove's troupe after a midnight run.

  2. 2

    A masked dancer called 'The Azure Fox' has been seen slipping beneath the hall during the weekly ball and emerging with a bronze cog stamped with the crest of the Old Fair; Captain Hessa believes it's a piece of her ruined carousel.

  3. 3

    A traveling weightmaster from the Ferris Quarter named Dola Venn was threatened to hand over the brass axle of her ride; she was last seen arguing with a man who smells of sawdust and perfume near Merek Jolt's table.

Look out for
Weekly masked dance: once per week the hall clears to a sprung ring for a formal masked dance; during it, all performance checks get a +1 courtesy of the house (GM fiat).Confetti cannons above the bandstand fire on the last beat of the evening, momentarily imposing disadvantage on Perception checks relying on sight in the hall for one round.A false floorboard behind the bar hides the Night Ledger (keeper's secret)—it can be discovered with a DC 15 Perception or DC 12 Investigation check.

Made with the free LoreKeeper Tavern Generator · Free to use at your table · Licence

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