The Tollhouse
A small, practical hall where the holders of the nearby gates meet to trade information, arrange expeditions, and settle disputes over claims. The main room holds a long table, mismatched benches, a notice board, and a hearth large enough to dry a handful of soaked travelers. A narrow stair leads to two cramped sleeping rooms; a barred inner door protects the records and map cabinet. The place feels more like a working club than a grand institution, and visitors quickly learn that gate business is discussed only after someone has checked their token.
The Tollhouse
- Type
- Guild Hall
- Condition
- Weathered but serviceable
- Size
- Small
Overview
A small, practical hall where the holders of the nearby gates meet to trade information, arrange expeditions, and settle disputes over claims. The main room holds a long table, mismatched benches, a notice board, and a hearth large enough to dry a handful of soaked travelers. A narrow stair leads to two cramped sleeping rooms; a barred inner door protects the records and map cabinet. The place feels more like a working club than a grand institution, and visitors quickly learn that gate business is discussed only after someone has checked their token.
Atmosphere
Warm lamplight pools over damp cloaks and scarred tables. The room smells of wet wool, woodsmoke, and old ink; rain ticks against the shutters while quiet talk breaks whenever the outer door creaks open. A faint metallic tang clings to the gate fragments in the back room.
Style
A modest, late-medieval timber-and-stone guildhouse, built from a converted toll office. Its broad ground-floor room has exposed beams, a steep slate roof, and a stout plank door reinforced with iron straps.
What stands out
History
The hall began as a toll office for a road that lost much of its traffic when the gates became the safer, faster route. The gate holders bought the neglected building rather than let it collapse, and kept the old toll counter as their contract desk. A scorched mark above the hearth dates to the first winter after the purchase, when an expedition returned with a gate fragment that heated the room without flame. The holders still leave that patch untouched, though no one agrees on what caused it.
- Membership and Gate Tokens
Anyone may ask for work, but only a recognized holder of a gate token can post a contract, claim guild backing, or use the locked map room. New applicants must be vouched for by a current holder and complete a supervised job. The hall keeps no formal ranks beyond holder and applicant; reputation is tracked in a ledger of paid debts, failed promises, and names of those who returned.
- Open Contracts
Current postings include escorting a survey team through a gate-scarred pass, recovering a missing pack from the near side of a newly opened crossing, and identifying who has been buying old gate charts. The last contract offers good coin but requires proof before the guild will put its seal to the accusation. Payment is held in a bolted strongbox until the claimant brings back a witness, a marked object, or a reliable account.
- Gate Records
A narrow room behind the common table holds charcoal rubbings, route sketches, and a few carefully wrapped fragments gathered near the gates. The guild does not claim these as magical treasures; members are warned not to touch unfamiliar pieces bare-handed. The map cabinet is kept locked, and its key stays on the owner's belt.
People
2 peopleNew person New person
Rumours
Secret
Media
0 imagesNo images yet.
Turn The Tollhouse into a sheet
A high-res, share-ready sheet you can post or print.