Tavern

Taverns, in addition to marketplaces, are a primary place to trade for information, help, and services. They are populated by a rotating cast of characters and reset periodically. Some quests terminate within taverns. Taverns are not linked, so each cities' tavern is a separate entity with the same characters rotating through them. Taverns are the only places to recruit new & unmet NPC companions, sell prisoners, buy books... They are also the only places where mercenaries may be directly recruited. Many taverns have bedrooms in the back or upstairs.

NPCs you might meet in a tavern include:

• Tavern keepers: Tavern keepers welcome those who keep the peace. Life as a tavern keeper is one possible outcome of a player's retirement.
  • Tavern keepers are also the masters of gossip in their factions, and will let the player know if specific lords need to rescue family members, if lords need bandit camps cleared out, if other lords need unspecified (and generally unsavory) work done, and if Guild Masters have set bounties on any bandits.
  • Players Deliver Wine for Guild Masters directly to tavern keepers of destination cities
  • Tavern keepers have stored reputation, affected only by bar fights. The purpose of this reputation is unknown.
  • Since 3.9, they will trade 2 Various Loots for 1 Baggage Train talking to him. Only works if the player has no Baggage Train with him, meaning he has to fully consume the previous one to get the next one.
  • Since 3.9, player can pay 2,000 denars to ask a tavern keeper for a report of all the Spawns existing in Pendor that were reported recently. For a spawn to be reported, it has to go near any Fief so it gets spotted, meaning that if (for example) a Jatu spawn never leaves the Jatu plains, tavern keepers will not be able to tell the player their most recent spot.
• Mercenaries: Groups of 2-9 men looking to fight loyally for pay, represented by a head mercenary in the tavern. The player can choose to hire some or all of them for a hefty fee. They all come from the mercenary tier tree, that is calculated using ((level+5)²+40)/5 (rounded down to the closest tenth) (multiplied by 2 if they are mounted). These troops are the only ones that will suffer the mercenary wage penalty (166% of the wages they should have). Once hired, mercenaries disappear from that tavern until a new band moves in. These mercenaries can be:
  • Sellsword, Mercenary Infantry*, Mercenary Warrior*, Mercenary Sergeant*, Mercenary Crossbowman*, Mercenary Armored Crossbowman*, Mercenary Sharpshooter*, Mercenary Horseman*, Mercenary Cavalryman*, Bounty Hunter, Singalian Spearman, Young Mercenary Nobles (all the 5), Vanskerry Marauder, Jatu Outcast Rider, Mercenary Highlander, Melitine Free Brother, Adventurer, Town Thug, Veccavi Man Hunter*, Mettenheim Avonteurer, Barclay Aventurero*, Maiden Scout and Maiden Warder.
  • * - added to the list in 3.9
  • Since 3.9, mercenaries wage bonus was raised from 166% to 200%. So you better upgrade that troop when you hire it ASAP so that it doesn't suffer this bigger wage penalty.
• Travelers: Travelers roam the land of Pendor, brokering information and gossip about the entire realm. They offer the player advice about life in Pendor. They also offer information on where to find claimants and lost NPC companions for a 30 denar fee. There are 10 travelers: Erix, Emala, Greydan, Havadar the Bard, Sister Mora, Jeran Longshanks, Mython Vale, Clarissa of Pent, Corum of Bray and Ashton the Wanderer.
• Ransom Brokers, AKA Red Brotherhood and Ramun the Slave Trader: Ransom brokers buy prisoners (they pay different prices based on the level of the prisoner) from the player. They also provide information about the whereabouts of imprisoned party heroes and the possibility to ransom them. You can ask them for rumors to get a chance to hire some random troops for your party. To see the list of posible options, go here. There are 10 different Red Brotherood Agents traveling between the towns as well as Ramun the Slave Trader, a special ransom broker who can be always found in Singal.
  • Since 3.9, you can hire mercenary packs from the Red Brotherhood (containing 30 random troops from the Mercenary Troop Tree. If the player handles a Gold Bar, the quality of these 30 soldiers will be maxed (to see how this works, go to either Gold Bar or the Red Brotherhood pages).
  • Since 3.9, Ramun the Slave Trader will also sell troops through a gamble. These troops are different than the ones the Red Brotherhood Agents sell, they are cheaper and most belong to the Special troops category. Attempting the gamble has a 1 week cooldown.
• Wandering poets: There are 5 poets, each knows 1 poem, they are: Jammand, Christopher the Bard, Kaladan the Ashik, Svarngen the Skald and William. They are the masters of Pendorian romance.
  • Poets provide all of a kingdom's gossip on courtships. They provide details on the personality of eligible ladies, as well as news on courtship developments in a kingdom. Both personalities and news are recorded in the player's character log along with the relevant date. Married ladies leave the poet's list of newsworthy maidens.
  • From this courtship news, male players may issue duel to lords rivaling for their ladies' affections.
  • Poets also teach new players the intricacies of wooing and eventually marrying in Pendor.
  • Poets teach players poems, based on their specific poem set, that are used during courtship. These poems cost 300 denars and time will pass as they are taught. There are only a total of five poems. Only male characters can learn poems. Upon knowing all, special equipment will be unlocked for the player's CKHO (Lyre and Lute).
• Belligerent Drunks: Men who drank too much and are looking to fight. Players with high renown can coax drunks into submission and to leave the tavern. Otherwise, the player has a bar fight on their hands (unlike Native, projectile weapons are allowed). Killing or incapacitating the drunk will yield the player the drunk's common iron sword and 200 denars, along with either a slight positive or negative reputation gain with the tavern keeper (-1 for calling drunk 'animal' or killing him without a chance to draw his weapon, +1 for killing/knocking him unconscious after he draws his sword, or apologizing). A bar fight will also send all tavern occupants scrambling for cover.
• Book Merchants: Educated men peddling books for those who wish to better themselves. There are only three (Finneas de Digit, Brother Randalf and Vorador the Scribe). Books are expensive but often well worth the benefit. All them offer something special to the player.
• Quest Merchant: A merchant of the starting City, this local merchant will guide the player through his or her first steps in the dangerous world. This quest is inherited from Native and is optional in PoP. Talk to the city merchant to start these small quest at the start of the game.
• Companions: The backbone of a player party, all heroes are initially met and recruited at a tavern. Companions lost from a party, either from a loss in battle or over a disagreement with the player, after trying and failing to make it in Pendor will eventually wind up in taverns. The player may only attempt to recruit a companion a twice in one day, after, the companion will be mad with the player and will refuse to talk with him until the next day.
• Farmers: A farmer from a nearby village who asks the player for help "evicting" a band of marauding bandits. The farmer gives no direct rewards, rather a choice of rewards will be offered by the saved village. The quest he gives is called "Save village from marauding bandits".
• Hired Assassin: Very rare. Assassins are hired by enemy lords (with less than -20 relation) that have a sadistic (harsh) personality. They become active without notice once the player comes close to them. Each lord can't hire these more than once a week.
• Knighthood Orders' knights: There's a 5% chance each time the player enters a tavern that the knight of a random order will show up. Interacting with them will start a dialogue in which the player asks him/her about his/her order and the Knight will reply and explain it, this dialogue may be started as well if the knight is in your party and you talk to him, selecting "I'd like to learn more about your Order". Each order has their own unique story, only the knights from these orders will their story:
  • Order of the Radiant Cross
  • Order of the Raven Spear
  • Order of the Ebony Gauntlet
  • Order of the Shadow Legion
  • Order of the Dawn
  • Order of the Silvermist Rangers
  • Order of the Clarion Call
  • Order of the Falcon
    • Since 3.9: all Order Knights may appear, each will tell its order's story
    • Note: if a knight of an order with whose relation towards you is -30 or lower, shows up on a tavern and a Belligerent Drunk or hired assassin attacks the player, that knight will join the enemy to take down the player. As defeating both a drunk and the knight gives no extra reward, it is suggested that if the player spots a belligerent drunk and an eventide knight, that he should leave fast the tavern and re-enter (so that the knight is no more, but the drunk will remain to be) if the player cant disuade the drunk from fighting (requires 1000 having renown). Eventide knight will be the only knight that without altering relations, will attack the player.
      • Since 3.9, the renown required to disuade the Belligerent Drunk successfully from fighting was raised from 500 to 1000.