A brightly painted clapboard depicting a dwarvish tuber and a bright orange human root vegetable hangs out in front of this plain, two-storied building. The Kort and Carrot is Lari's inn and tavern, catering to a clientele that includes the odd dwarf.

The Building

Downstairs
The framework of the inn is of thick, strong timber which supports the floorboards of the second story. Walls between the timbers are simple daub and wattle, covered over with whitewashed clay. While they keep out drafts, these walls aren't terribly sturdy - more than one brawl has ended with someone being thrown through the front wall. Anyone planning on making a clandestine visit to the second story had better plan on climbing up the timbers, too.

The first floor changes with the seasons and Zazabeth's whim. Thick timbers poke down from the ceiling at regular intervals, and she uses these to anchor interior walls (also of daub and wattle). Near festival time, she often takes down all the walls and burns them, creating a single spacious taproom. During winter, she'll close off the entire back half of the tavern so that the hearth only has to heat the front half.

The hearth is of stone, set in the front-middle of the room, away from the flammable walls. A small hole is cut in the ceiling above, so smoke can (more or less) find its way out. Breakfast, lunch, or dinner is typically boiling in an iron kettle hung over the hearth. Cooking implements hang on hooks set into nearby pillars. One is a griddle, and Zazabeth's sweet griddle cakes are a great treat, if she can be coaxed into making some. Bread is also always available - Zaz prefers to just buy it daily from Lari's baker, rather than rent space in her large ovens and make it herself.

Beverages are kept in an underground cellar in large casks. During a very busy time (like during a trade festival), one of these might be rolled up into the taproom. But usually, Zazabeth or one of her employees runs downstairs to get drinks. There is almost always wine, fresh ale, and a few jugs of kortai in the cellar. In autumn, Zaz brews a fine cider that's quite locally popular.

Upstairs
Surprisingly sturdy wooden stairs lead up to the second floor. There are ten rooms, total, and two are reserved for Zaz's private use. The other eight vary in size and accomodations. Three have small but solid furniture, for dwarven visitors. The other five are suitable for humans. Each has a bed and chamberpot. One of the human-sized rooms also has a table and chair, as well as a hand-knotted rug.

With the exception of Zazabeth's own rooms, the walls are again daub and wattle and are really quite easy to hear through. Doors are wooden and can be secured with a sliding latch on the inside.

Zazabeth has reinforced her own walls with wooden planks. There is some danger in opening up one's home to strangers off the road, after all! And her door locks with a dwarven device that opens only with the use of a key.

A Stay at the Kort and Carrot

Another penny will buy an evening's worth of drinking, if you're drinking ale. It goes about half as far with wine (that's imported, after all) or will get you one small cup of kortai. That's right - one glass of kortai costs as much as a full night and day's stay. Dwarves, as Zaz will tell you, drive a hard bargain.

Hassling the innkeeper for food other than what's in the kettle costs however much Zazabeth feels like charging. A request for a raw turnip likely costs nothing extra; a request for a roast chicken with sage stuffing might run two or three pennies, if Zaz doesn't just laugh at the concept.

The rooms upstairs let out for a premium. Typically, only the wealthy or the paranoid (read: adventurers, who are usually wealthy) feel the need for private accomodations. Zaz has no moral qualms about sizing up the purse on a woman's hip and charging her accordingly for a room. A silver coin is not an uncommon charge.

The Proprietor

Zaz and her last husband elected not to renew their ten-year marriage contract five years ago. The parting was not terribly amicable, and her husband left Lari to seek employment elsewhere in Ritone. Their oldest son chose to go with his father; two daughters and younger son remained in Lari. They all work with their mother at the Kort and Carrot. Zazabeth's brother is similarly employed. All five share the two rooms upstairs. With so many hands, Zazabeth rarely needs to hire outside help - only if cider brewing and the Autumn Festival overlap, in fact.

Zazabeth is an amiable woman with a shrewd streak in her. Her acts of charity are limited and come only after her own family is provided for. On the other hand, she's not a ruthless cheat who bulks up the morning porridge with sawdust. She's a businesswoman.

The family makes regular offerings to the Corn Mother and Hearth Mother. Zazabeth, barley and hops in her hair, has stood in for the Corn Mother at more than one celebration. Her son is also enchanted with the Warrior Maiden, and entertains notions of joining Countess Charlee's entourage - or the Lari Watch, failing that. Of course, he's only seven, so there's time to see what happens.

The rest of Lari considers her good to keep around. There's the ale and cider she brews, which she sells for reasonable rates. (Actually, in Lari itself, Zaz is more likely to have barter agreements. The potter provides so many bowls and cups each year for a cold one each night; she trades milk for ale on a one-for-one basis, and so on). The conversation at the tavern is generally agreeable, and it's a fine spot for getting away from one's husband for a bit. Zaz boards as few "shady" characters as she can afford to turn away, so the place isn't seen as a haven for troublemakers. The exact source of the friction between herself and her ex-husband was never widely known, and serves as interesting gossip to this day.

Back to Lari.

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