The Copper Bell Brothel

This entry is our first example of a business in Cinder Gulch.  There are a few characters who work here, and each comes up FATE aspects and skills. There's also character options, for you to decide how these characters could interact with your players.  You could take the Stalwart option for a friendlier version of the character, or Sinister if you want them to be antagonists in your game. Some characters also have Secret Aspects you can hint at or build up over a few stories.

One of the first businesses to open in the town square was the Copper Bell tavern and brothel, where early settlers would come to spend their earnings for recreation.  Ladies of negotiable affection have saved up and become financial leaders in the community, investing and founding businesses around town.  The Copper Bell is owned by the madam Merediva, who was one of the first tavern working girls, but also practices making charms and magic trinkets. She is incredibly secretive about her own past, but her knowledge of magic is an open secret in town.

The tavern is a mainstay of tabletop role playing games, as a place where characters from different walks of life gather to enjoy themselves, mix company, or look for work.  The Copper Bell holds a high-roller gambling tournament periodically.

The tavern is serviced by several insectoid Myrmex waiters who’ve adopted Merediva as a nest queen.  She makes for a very unusual queen, but they care for this building and she takes care of them.

Madam Merediva

I built this town on my own mattress

I know tricks and magic tricks

Play nice or you’re out

SECRET: I was here waiting when the first white men came

Skills

Contacts +3

Magic +3

Rapport +2

Notice +2

Options

Stalwart: Dark Arts can save lives

Sinister: Secure my finances before securing the town

Jolene Eliot

New in town, looking for friends

Hungry for opportunities

Secret Smarts

Skills

Academics +3

Rapport +2

Atheltics +2

Scarlet Sweets

I should be running the [Flagon Wagon]

Always got a game on the side

Get rich or die trying

Secret: I lift tips from oblivious patrons

Skills

Deceive +3

Notice +2

Security +2

Rapport +2

Story Uses

One of Merediva’s working girls was roughed up by a customer, and the Myrmex boys killed him in retribution.  Now the rest of his gang want to kill the girl and the servers in revenge.

The Tavern has a well, but the well water is making people sick.  Merediva needs a few special ingredients for a ritual that can purify the water, but players may have to sneak into the Dinetah lands to harvest a special turquoise turtle.

One of the working girls has been possessed by a spirit of greed, and started killing wealthier patrons and burying them outside of town.  One such patron has now returned as a revenant and is stalking all of the girls, trying to find the one who wronged him.