The Split Table

Varnhalt's oldest tavern, named for the enormous oak table at its center that was split by a sword blow during a dispute that became local legend. Both halves remain, pushed slightly apart, and new patrons are expected to choose a side. The food is unremarkable but the ale is the Frontier's best. On the Varnhalt Frontier, this site sits inside the patchwork of crossroad towns, mesa camps, and trade-protected routes that radiate from Old Varnhalt. The Loosening is constant here — mile markers contradict, paths loop — so settlements rely on local pacing and on the small island of stability around the Black Stone Tower in the eastern hills. The Frontier has no central authority; this place answers to whoever its trade depends on this season.