#83 The Owl & Toad Tavern

Age: 100 years

Hidden or Lost?: No

History: They say that the cops and crooks are just two sides of the same coin, and either one can be spent at The Owl & Toad.

Sitting at the center of the inland trading hub of Noc Therm, The Owl & Toad is a large public house which serves as the cultural center of the small city, attracting patrons from across the moral spectrum. The central bar space, a wide, high-ceilinged main hall known as ‘The Scrum’ is lined with shadowy snugs, attracting clandestine dealings between criminals, lawkeepers, and everyone in between.

In fact, Noc Therm is ruled by two opposing factions and both operate out of The Owl & Toad, giving the tavern its name. Operating in the daylight hours is The Righting Front, the city’s sworn police force. They are known to the locals as ‘The Owls’ for their habit of perching in the spindly watchtowers across the city, barking the same gruff quarry, ‘WHO?!’, asking after perpetrators of crimes. The Owls are notorious for their invasive, violent tactics, routinely dragging folks out into the streets to be beaten or executed as an example to others. While they officially operate out of a precinct house, it's an open secret that the true operations are based on the upper floor of The Owl & Toad where their leader, Captain Divix commands The Front and keeps an off-the-books jail.

However, once the sun goes down the streets belong to The Toads, a cutthroat gang of robbers and killers who are at constant odds with The Owls. Where The Owls use brute force and the boot of the law to get their way, The Toads use blackmail, subterfuge, and extortion to exert their control over Noc Therm. Their base of operations is also located in The Owl & Toad in a small network of secret cellar chambers where The Toads’ leader, Kella Lighthand, stores the city’s secret wealth. Despite the conflict and violence between the two groups, Divix and Lighthand meet most evenings in The Scrum to compare notes and discuss the future of their shared city.

The regular citizens often feel trapped under the twin powers centered at The Owl & Toad, however few feel they can do anything to change things. But they know where to go when they’re ready.

1. The Challenge Foyer

2. Fat Obel’s Bar

3. The Scrum

4. Hotel Mezzanine

5. Lost Evidence

6. The Secret Cells

7. The Owl’s Nest

8. The Blind Court

9. Divix’s Shrine of Justice

10. Bouncer’s Lounge

11. Interrogation Hall

12. Vault of the Taken

13. Eyes-In-The-Walls

14. Thieve’s Lounge

15. Sin’s Meet

16. Lighthand’s Chapel of Vice