Gerald's is a noisy local tavern and rooming house.  Gerald
is a retired ships hand who's father left him the place.  He
keeps it up in the tradition of his favorite kind of bar.  The
tales here tend to run wild and most ofhe patrons are
pretty fiesty, heavy drinking sailors. There is always a
card game going on at the corner table.

Gerald himself is pretty easygoing (when he isn't drunk) .
He'll listen to any story, the wilder the better and will
give free drinks for good ones.  In spite of the seeming
uselessness of the patrons, Gerald knows a lot of people
with a lot of skills, and he is always willing to help
people (except aristocrats).  He does hold a grudge against
the rich, especially against sea captains.  In fact, if those
types stay too late at night, they are bound to get rushed
out of the bar, or maybe thrown into the river.

Gerald lives alone, but a serving girl comes in from across
the way.  She is an easy lay (small fee), and would love to
milk a rich adventurer for anything she could get.  Her
name is Lisa, and she is rather pretty.  Her manners aren't
the best, and she's not ashamed of anything, but she is
awfully cute when she wants to be.  She sleeps with
Gerald sometimes, but there isn't anything serious there.

Next door to Gerald's, in the same building, is a bakery.  It
is usually also called Geralds too since the sign hangs
over the middle of the front  In fact, since most of the
patrons at the bar call Gerald "mate", the old woman who
runs the bakery gets called Gerald sometimes.
 She almost looks the part, and is quite old.  She bakes
good bread and meat rolls though.  Gerald likes her and
would do just about anything for her.

As well as being a bar, Gerald's rents rooms.  The
buildings upper storry is mostly one large room with a
couple of seperate beds.  Space in the outer room costs
4cp, and a seperate space costs 8cp . Anyone who gets too
drunk to leave when Gerald goes to bed gets charged the
seperate room rate, even if they didn't make it upstairs.

Gerald's usually has a good crowd from lunch time on.
There are out of work sailers, local fishermen, etc. here is
the early afternoon, and as the day goes by, more
prosperous folk (never very prosperous, otherwise they
wouldn't come here) come in.  As noted above, there is
always a card game in the far corner from the door.
During the day, it is likely to be mostly out-of-work
blokes playing for drinks or IOU's.  In the evening, Gerald
sponsers his son (illegitimate and not popularly known to
be Gerald's son) as a dealer and house man for poker.  In
the late hours, Gerald is willing to let people play without
the house take, and there are sometimes sizable games.  
(That means pots on the order of a gold piece.  I think
in terms of an artisan earning 5 silver pieces a  month
after paying for his lodging and food and other
necessities.  A sailer might come in at 2 sp/month
disposable income.)   People sometimes tell Gerald of
their adventures and if its a good story, he makes them
start over for anyone who wants to listen.  Occasionally,
there are wrestling matches in the alley on the right side
of the bar.  Gerald usually goes out and supervises the
match, leaving his son in charge of the bar.

There is no prostitution at Gerald's and he tries to keep 
the thieves out.  (Actually, Lisa is a prostitute and she
does take patrons from Gerald's customers, but she is sort
of a fixture of the bar not a real whore.)  He refuses to pay
any kind of extortion money and with his buddies he
protects himself and "Gerald" next door.  This has made
him a bit unpopular with some of the dock gangs, but he
doesn't care.  They can come in and drink, but if he sees
anything he doesn't like, he'll run them out with full
support from his patrons.  

Prices for beer and other refreshments.  The local cider 
(fermented, the standard beverage of the bar) is .2cp a 
20 oz. mug.  This is the standard drink.  (Its only lightly
alcoholic, leading to the bar tradition of a shot of rum
added to the top of the mug (.1cp extra).  Rum is .2cp for
a 2oz. pour.  Beer is 1cp a pint, it's a heavvy dark brew, 
malty thick and rather still.  Food can be brought from 
next door and Gerald roasts meat on request (served with
bread from next door), price .3cp.  

The important people at Gerald's are:
	Gerald     "retired seaman"  He was a crewman on
many a merchant ship in his time.  About 32, he runs the
bar now that it was left to him by his father.  He has one
lame leg from a pirate arrow.  Usually he tends bar and
exchanges stories with the regulars.  He is friendly
enough, but can get mean if he's been driinking   (Which
happens occasionally.)  From his time as a seaman and his
longer time as a figure on the waterfront, Gerald knowns
many people.  He can usually set someone up with a friend
who happens to have just about any desired talent. (for a
fee of course.)  Sometimes the people are less than
reputable, but mostly they are people of the waterfront
who while not respectable, are honest and trustworthy.
	Jon     Gerald's illegitimate son.  He and Gerald know
his origin, but no one else does.  He grew up around the
docks, living at the rooms of a prostitute friend of Gerald.
Now he works skimming card games and tending bar at
Gerald's.  
	Lisa     About 19, pretty and smart mouthed.  She
sells herself around the docks for a modest fee (5cp), but
gets most of her money as a fortune teller during the day.
To do that, she dresses and acts the part of a much older
woman.   Most people don't know the two are actually the
same girl, but Madam Lystra's fortune parlor does an ok
business.
	Keller     28 or so.  About average height, but wide.
He acts as bouncer for Gerald. (his payment is free drinks)
He tried being a ship's crewman for a while, but found it
to much work for the money.  He lives now on whatever he
can panhandle from the foreigners and some earnings as a
dock worker.  He is good with his fists and carries a billy
club at his belt.  The regulars at Gerald's know him as a
tough brawler, and most respect his requests that they
leave if they are being destructive.
	Gramps     An old fisherman.  He takes a spot at the
end of the bar, next to the wall.  Sometimes he comes in
with money, mostly he doesn't have much.    He owns a
fishing boat, but his son-in-law works it.  Mostly he
sleeps at the bar, but sometimes he tells tales he heard as
a kid, or laughs at the stories others tell.  If one can get
him talking, he has a story about a treasure he found one
time that he loves to tell.  Most of the patrons don't
believe that the island of gold stones he mentions exists.
He does seem to have money from an unknown source
though.
	Manny      21, tough punk.  He is the only street thief
that Gerald seems to like.  He comes in fairly often, but
hardly ever stays long.  He is proud of his skills with the
dagger and proud of his looks.  He saved Gerald's life once
in a fight on the waterfront.  Now, he helps keep the gangs
away and Gerald helps him any way he can.  Gerald has
been known to fence goods for Manny, but mostly he just
gives him a place to hide if necessary.

Again, I'm using the Rolemaster system so stats wouldn't mean
much to most of the net people. Besides, the stats anyone can
come up with, they just depend on what type of normals and 
others you like in your world.

Doug bonar@math.rutgers.edu