The Ten-foot Hearth

Inspired by musings in a +Kasper Blomdell DCC game, with +Jenna Kramer +Joshua Blackketter and +Richard Balmer

Pubs, taverns and inns across the realms are notoriously run by former adventurers. This is nothing new. The hearths of these adventurer-run taverns are often decorated with the shields and swords of these former warriors as a memento of their glory days. However, a new trend is overtaking the inns and taverns along the way. The ten-foot hearth is a powerful reminder of the near-miss, the party members lost, the strange traps of wizards and worse. Ten-foot poles are appearing with greater frequency above the hearth, a new replacement to the swords or spears or axes of old.

The Ten Foot Shop is always restocking shelves.

This table makes describing that ten-foot reminder all the easier.

1. Eight-foot pole, yew: lightning-scarred and cleanly clipped at a slight angle at one end. Plaque reads: Beware the ways of Wizards and Djinn.
2. Twelve-foot pole, oak: ivy continually grows from both ends of the pole filling the inn with the pleasant scent of small purple flowers. Plaque reads: For my beloved and her beloved grove
3. Three three-and-a-quarter-foot poles, birch: Cleanly cut at each end. Plaque reads: Sometimes the trap is the set-up for the real trap.
4. Ten-foot pole, bronze: Rows of tiny runic markings are etched in painstaking detail. Plaque reads: Beware the ways of wizards and gin.
5. Fragments of pole, maple: Resting on a shelf above a copper urn. Inscription reads: X. D. C., esq.
6. Ten-foot pole, walnut: Impeccable condition, completely unscarthed. Plaque reads: Lady Luck.
7. Two five-foot poles, elm: linked by a short piece of iron chain. No plaque.
8. Six-foot pole, pine: both ends appear to have been severely singed. Plaque reads: BeWare the Wayes of Ginne-Wizardes.
9. Ten-foot pole, fur: the entire shaft is made of fur, unsettling yet pleasing to touch. Plaque reads: Cat-sorcerer… weird traps.
10. One-and-a-half-foot pole, cherry: splintered tip remains. Plaque reads: The Unlucky Basterds
11. Shards of mahogany: resting on a blue silk sheet are the remains. No plaque.
12. Eleven-foot pole, chestnut: splintered, cracked, chipped, charred, but mostly intact. Plaque reads: The Wizard.