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Fenton
House
'Hospitality House for Female Adventurers'
by Robert
V. Droz
Fenton House is known for its current use as a Hospitality House for Female adventurers and is run by Baroness Elspeth Fenton and Lira Musskin. This house has been in the Fenton family many generations. See also Fenton Hall, female adventurers academy, located in Fentonford.
Fenton House is a small noble estate located at the edge of the noble’s quarter of Fellaren-Krae. The construction date of Fenton House is unknown. About a decade ago, major renovations were done to the property.Fenton House is small compared to most of the other noble’s homes, with a frontage of a mere sixty feet, and only a hundred feet deep off the path. Under the direction of Baroness Fenton the house has been in use as a hospitality house of sorts for female adventurers. The house has a staff of two to five female adventurers in training. In addition to instruction to the arts of combat and urban survival, they keep the house tidy.
Lira's staff of four maids keep watch day and night incase Fenton House’s services are needed. Darcy Stonebrook stays at the house, should mage support be needed. There is always clean water and warm stew available for weary ladies. The staff has been trained in the basics of combat. Usually they are first level fighters fresh from Academy training.
Most people entering the house pass through the main entryway. Lira will meet all guests to Fenton House. During the day, the twin wooden 10’ x 10’ gates are open, allowing access to the courtyard. Late in the evening, the gates are shut. There is a door on one of the gates to allow nighttime access.
First Floor
The outer ten feet of this 60’ x 50’ courtyard is covered, allowing a 40’ x 30’ open space. There is a decorative and functional horse trough in the center of the open grassy courtyard. Ringing the courtyard and seemingly supporting the overhang are twelve columns, placed as shown on the map. The columns radiate magic for those who can detect it, and a second look at them shows them all to be styled in the form of female warriors, swords drawn and held to their sides, like a Caryatid Column. (Look under Golems in the Monstrous Manual.) If they are Caryatid Columns, they have not been activated in a long time. Under the roofed area are stalls for stabling horses and a rack of wooden training weapons. The only other way out of the courtyard is the double doors to the main house. There is usually a guard on duty in the courtyard; she will call out or ring a bell for assistance if there are many visitors or intruders.
The foyer is ten feet wide and twenty feet deep, with hooks for hanging traveling cloaks and racks to store weapons. There are a few stools in here to sit on. Double doors lead to the dining hall on the left, the sitting room on the right and deeper into the house straight ahead via the downstairs hall. Official guests are lead to the sitting room; those needing a hot meal or a place to rest are lead to the dining room.
The dining hall is one of the most used rooms in the house. It and the sitting room are as far as men are usually welcome. This 20’ x 25’ room has a fireplace on the far wall and a double swinging door to the kitchen on the right. The table is 10’ by 8’ and takes up most of the room, eight chairs ring the table with plenty of elbowroom and more chairs and stools line the walls. There are small shutter-able windows on either side of the fireplace, and three looking out over the courtyard.
The sitting room is the same size as the dining room, 20’ x 25’, and also has a fireplace on the far wall. The walls are lined in plush couches and sofas; an elegant rug from then lands of Zakhara cover the floor. There are small shuttered windows on either side of the fireplace, and three looking out over the courtyard. Fresh cut flowers sit in the vases on the small tables, and a pot of potpourri sits by the fireplace. The only way in or out of this room is through the foyer. Drinks are served to ladies looking to take a rest from daily life and discuss current events (gossip).
The downstairs hall used to be bigger, but two 5’ by 5’ sections have been walled off, with shafts downward from them leading to the city’s sewers. The older privies used to be out back or in chamber pots. Single doors lead to each indoor privy; another one leads to the stairs down to the cellar, another leads to the kitchen, yet another door leads to the baths. A set of double doors at the back of the hall leads to an alley. There is also a set of stairs leading upwards beside the door to the attic.
The kitchen is 20’ by 30’ but seems smaller. A huge fireplace / stove is on the facing the alley wall. On the right of the fireplace is a door; on the left is a shutter-able window. The wall to the left of that has three shutter-able windows amongst the cabinets and tables. The opposite wall from that has a sink / washtub. The center of the room is a long table, hanging above it are all the necessary implements of cooking. Double swinging doors on the opposite wall from the fireplace lead to the dining hall.
The bathing room is tiled in white and pink. Statues of Sune Firehair watch over the bathers from pedestals. There are two 10’ x 8’ baths set in the floor. The bath farthest away holds the warmer water, heated from below. The closer bath has cold water. The baths are both set up with places to sit and relax. There are two small fireplaces on the facing the alley wall. Stools and benches line the walls; there are posts to hang bathing robes, and towels for drying. The windows in this room have two sets of shutters. The outer sets are closed at night for security, and the inner set are closed when the baths are being used. The inner shutters are designed to make looking in difficult, and air still flows through.
(not on map) There is not much down here. The shafts from the privies upstairs are obvious. There is an oven-like place for a fire to be set underneath what would be the ‘warm pool’. The chimney flumes connect to the two small fireplaces in the bathing room. There are sealed barrels of foodstuffs, racks of wine, and boxes of whatever the Fenton family decided to keep down here. There is no money in any of the boxes, just food and clothing. A thorough search with find an old locked chest tucked in a corner. The lock is rusty, and is trapped with an old needle (It was poisoned many years ago, and the poison has lost potency.) Inside the chest is 1500 copper pieces covered in flaking gold paint.
Second Floor
The staff will not allow any men upstairs. The upstairs used to be configured differently. Baroness Fenton had it rearranged to accommodate her desire to provide hospitality, including bedding for the night.
The second floor hall is 10’ x 40’, allowing access to the sleeping quarters. There are a few chairs and a couch here, with flowers in vases like in the sitting room downstairs.
To the right of the stairs is the Baroness’s room. It is usually kept locked unless the Baroness or her representative is in town. To the immediate left are the stairs to the attic, roof, and house cistern. The door up on the roof padlocked, to prevent unauthorized entry. There is no way to pick the lock from outside.
Just past the stairs is the room and office of Lira Musskin, who runs Fenton House. The door on the next wall, to the left, leads to a room occupied by Darcy Stonebrook.
The two doors on the next wall, the ones opposite the stairs, lead to the dormatory rooms. The room to the left is the Staff dormatory, and the room on the right is the guest dormatory, reserved exclusively for guests. On the far side of the hall from Darcy’s room is the door to a semi-private room.
Baroness Fenton’s room is pleasant, luxurious, and spacious at 20’ x 20’. All the furniture in the room is mahogany, engraved with a woodland scene. There is a large bed for the Baron and Baroness, draped in red velvet sheeting. Red silk pillows await a noble head. Large glittering windows let in fresh air on both sides of the bed. There are two wardrobes, one for the Baroness, and one for the Baron. Both are locked with fine locks. Both wardrobes contain clothes and jewelry to enable them to attend social functions in style without dirtying their clothes on the road. Baroness Fenton keeps a shrine to the Red Knight in here.
Lira Musskin’s room is not very big, 10’ x 20’ deep. There is a small fireplace on the far wall, with two narrow windows beside it. There is barely enough room for her wardrobe and bed, along with a desk and chair. She keeps the house’s operating funds in here, a small chest with about 2000 silver, another chest with around 3000 gold, and a small chest with another 2000 gp worth of precious gems. All three chests have fine locks. Lira hides them in her room, somewhere. As a retired thief, she is good at hiding, and setting traps.
This semi-private 10’ x 30’ room is currently only being used by Darcy Stonebrook. Darcy’s things are on the far bed and wardrobe, next to the small fireplace. The near bed and wardrobe are empty. Two narrow windows look out over the alley from either side of the fireplace, and three other windows look out on the side of the estate.
This is the staff dormatory. It is 20’ x 30’ and provides a place to rest for up to eight ladies on the four bunk beds. Each bunk bed has a cabinet / wardrobe assigned to it. There are two desks, one on each side of the fireplace on the house’s sidewall. There is also a small table and chairs set. Windows look out over the side of the house and over the courtyard.
This is the guest dormatory, a mirror twin of the staff dormatory. It is 20’ x 30’ and provides a place to rest for up to eight ladies on the four bunk beds. Each bunk bed has a cabinet / wardrobe assigned to it. There are two desks, one on each side of the fireplace on the house’s sidewall. There is also a small table and chairs set. Windows look out over the side of the house and over the courtyard.
This is the semi-private guest room, a mirror twin of the semi-private room Darcy Stonebrook is using. It is 10’ x 30’, with two beds and two wardrobes. Two narrow windows look out over the alley from either side of the fireplace, and three other windows look out on the side of the estate.
(not on map) The attic is small, just a crawl space under the slant of the roof. The roof above is slanted to keep the rain flowing off. The door is set in the roof so water flows around it. A wooden cistern takes much of the roof up. The cistern collects rainwater to be used for cooking, cleaning, and bathing. Piping from the cistern allows water to flow downward into the house.
