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The Inn of the Last Home is a tavern in Solace that is famous for its wonderful food and ale, as well as being the meeting place of the Heroes of the Lance. It has seen several owners and a number of incarnations, but is still one of the coziest and most welcome inns for anyone wandering through Abanasinia.

The Foundation of the Inn[]

When Solace was first founded following the Cataclysm, it was only a few short years before a powerful man known as Krale the Strong, decided to build an inn. In these early times of the Age of Despair, desperate marauders would come through the village, prompting the residents of Solace to build their homes in the trees. Krale built the base of the inn from one giant stone, which he raised into a great vallenwood tree through a winch system. Thus suspended and secured forty feet above the ground, he built the rest of the inn into the tree and around his base with the staircase running around the tree. As one would enter the inn they would see a large bean-shaped common room with the only stonework being the fireplace. The floor and ceiling was supported by the vallenwood's smaller limbs. There was only one other exit to the building, and it was a hole in the kitchen that a rope dangled from.

Within a few years, the inn was built. Krale built the inn to last, as he considered the vallenwoods to be the "last homes of Solace". After Krale, the inn saw a number of different owners through the next several hundred years, and by the time a young adventurer named Otik Sandath came along a decade or so before the War of the Lance, it was already run-down and in bad repair.

Otik's Stewardship[]

Before young Otik came into Solace, the previous owner had let the Inn go somewhat. The walls were grimy, the building itself was shabby and in need of extensive repairs. The Inn was known for serving watered down ale and food that was barely edible. When Otik offered to purchase the inn, the previous owner practically leapt at the chance and offered it to the young adventurer for a "kender half-penny", according to the saying. Over the course of the next few months, Otik repaired the inn to become a lovely and cozy place, hiring some new staff, including a wonderful cook, and developed his own fine ale and spiced potatoes. In a short time, the Inn of the Last Home became a famous stop for travelers through Abanasinia and gained a good reputation far and wide.

Otik himself became fast friends with the residents of Solace, who knew the man as a cheerful soul, and the townsfolk were mostly all regulars in the inn. Amongst the folk who almost lived at the Inn was a circle of friends, all of who later became Heroes of the Lance. During the War of the Lance, the Dragonarmies attacked and devastated Solace, destroying most of the buildings in the town. The Inn was one of the few places preserved, however it was lowered to the ground and the great vallenwood on which it was perched, was burnt to the ground. The Inn was then effectively taken over by the Dragonarmy forces, until they were later driven out of Solace and the Whitestone forces reclaimed it. Otik continued serving even the Dragonarmies through the war period, but once they were gone from his inn (and he'd scrubbed everything clean thrice!), it resumed operation and his old regular patrons returned.

At the end of the War of the Lance, Otik planted a vallenwood sapling in the ground where the old former vallenwood had been, so that in generations to come, the inn could again stand in the trunk of another great tree. Rumors purport that a certain gray-robed wizard was seen talking to the tree after the war, and that the tree then grew extremely fast and far larger than anyone expected. It was just after this point in 353 AC that Otik retired and handed over management of the Inn to Tika Waylan Majere, whilst still remaining as the owner.

Caramon and Tika[]

Tika and her husband Caramon Majere operated the inn for Otik for five years from 353 AC to 358 AC, until they had saved enough purchase to make Otik an offer. The kindly old man gladly sold the inn to the couple, remaining a regular patron of his former inn. Once purchased, Tika and Caramon undertook reconstruction the inn in the new vallenwood tree, so it could be raised above the ground once more. The Inn was fully completed in 363 AC and reopened once more in the trees with an Opening and Consecration ceremony, which was attended by many of the most influential folk in Ansalon.

Caramon and Tika ran the Inn successfully throughout the rest of the Age of Despair and into the Age of Mortals. In 388 AC, at the beginning of the Dragon Purge, warring dragons fought over Solace. Several green dragons knocked the Inn of the Last Home from the vallenwood tree it rested on and sent it crashing to the ground. The inn was devastated once more and was rebuilt once again, where it was raised once more into the mighty vallenwood trees.

The Inn Today[]

In 420 AC, Tika Waylan Majere passed away, leaving the inn to be managed by her husband Caramon. By this stage, Caramon himself had already had to hand over most of the duties to his daughters Laura Majere and Dezra Majere. When Caramon passed away in 421 AC, ownership of the Inn of the Last Home went to his three surviving children, Laura, Dezra and Palin Majere. With Palin forsaking magic and returning to Solace, he now assists his sisters in running the Inn.

In the Age of Mortals, the Inn of the Last Home is still notorious for its fine dark ale, spiced potatoes, and warm hearth.

References[]

  • Atlas of the Dragonlance World, p.10-11
  • DL1: Dragons of Despair, p.5
  • Dragonlance Campaign Setting, p.137, 140
  • Dragons of Autumn Twilight, p.7-10, 24-25
  • Kendermore (Novel), p.21-30
  • Leaves from the Inn of the Last Home, p.7-9
  • The Magic of Krynn, p.99-138
  • Tales of the Lance, World Book of Ansalon, p.100-101
  • Tanis, the Shadow Years, p.9-12, 194-196
  • Time of the Twins, p.33-36
  • War of the Lance (Sourcebook), p.185-186
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