Draft:The Centaur and Nymph
The Centaur and Nymph is Rampart's tavern, run by J. Riley. Besides drinks and rumors, it offers one of the city's cheapest cures for poison and disease, and inexpensive overnight lodging.[1]
| Location | City travel name | Opening hours |
|---|---|---|
| Random shop site | tavern | 21:00-06:59 |
City location
The Centaur and Nymph has no fixed street address. The four city sectors below show all 64 shuffled building slots as x; only the actual assignment in your game identifies this business. Read its sign and use the article's travel and opening-hour details.
These are spoiler maps. Coordinates are (column, row), starting at zero. Letters and highlighted symbols are article keys for sites and initial placements, not a literal game screenshot or a promise that a creature remains there.
Northwest streets
Northeast streets
Southwest streets
Southeast streets
Map key
| Key | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ! | Concealed alarm and treasure |
| " | Hedge |
| # | Wall |
| $ | Treasure pile |
| * | Weak wall |
| - | Closed door |
| . | Floor or open ground |
| 1 | Statue |
| 2 | Odin altar |
| 3 | Set altar |
| 4 | Athena altar |
| 5 | Hecate altar |
| 6 | Destiny altar |
| : | Concealed passage |
| : | Concealed passage |
| = | Enchanted pool |
| > | Sewer stairs |
| ? | Random maze encounter |
| A | Coliseum |
| B | Bank and ATM |
| C | Collegium Magii |
| D | Time-lock barrier, initially a wall |
| G | Guard post |
| H | Orphanage and Hospice |
| J | Gaol |
| M | Legion of Destiny |
| O | Oracle |
| P | Order of Paladins |
| R | Portcullis release |
| T | Portcullis trigger |
| U | Greater undead |
| V | Inner vault and treasure |
| X | City gates |
| ^ | Concealed trap |
| c | Castle audience |
| g | Botanical Gardens |
| h | Fixed ordinary house |
| j | Justiciar's office |
| m | Hedge maze entrance |
| s | Circle of Sorcerors |
| t | Pantheon |
| u | Lesser undead |
| v | Vault approach |
| x | Shuffled shop or residence candidate |
| y | City Cemetery |
| | | Portcullis, initially raised |
| ~ | Ordinary water |
The x markers are candidates, not 64 copies of this shop. Two h sites are always ordinary houses and are not shop candidates. Maze layout 1 supplies context in the southwest; other layouts do not change the building slots. See the full city map for a continuous view.
Drinks and lodging
Discover the tavern while exploring the city to add it to city travel. Each visit allows one menu selection; return for another purchase. Its services do not activate while you are in Shadowform.
| Choice | Price | Result |
|---|---|---|
| a: Riley's ultra-dark | 1 Au | A chance to overhear a rumor, subject to the hour restriction below |
| b: Tullimore Dew | 10 Au | Clears poison and disease |
| c: Round for the House | 100 Au | One of four random encounters |
| d: Bed and Breakfast | 25 Au | Advances the clock 6-9 hours, clears poison and disease, and supplies a meal |
The Dew clears both conditions outright; it does not directly heal injuries, restore mana or cure blindness. The in-game hint calling it a panacea is broader than its actual effect. Riley refuses credit for it. A penniless request for a pint receives a friendly line but no rumor attempt.[3]
Rumors and a round for the house
A paid pint has roughly a two-in-three chance to provide a hint when the current clock hour differs from the hour recorded for the previous attempt. An unsuccessful attempt also uses that hour's opportunity. Further pints in the same hour still cost money, but do not roll for a new rumor.
The remembered value is the hour of the clock, not a full date: returning at the same hour on another day does not refresh it unless another hour has been recorded in between. In a fresh game it starts at midnight, so a first-ever pint bought during the midnight hour also provides no attempt. These restrictions apply to pints, not the round's separate rumor result.
A round for the house randomly produces one of four equally likely encounters:
| Encounter | Benefit |
|---|---|
| A grateful patron | A hint |
| A priest of Dionysus | Alignment changes by one point: toward Law for worshippers of Odin or Athena, toward Chaos for worshippers of Set or Hecate; otherwise toward zero, with neutral moving to +1 |
| A thirsty bard | 20 experience |
| Riley's special reserve | An optional drink that can raise current and maximum Constitution by one |
The priest's blessing changes alignment; it does not bless equipment or establish a priesthood. The reserve's benefit becomes less likely as current Constitution rises, and is impossible at 19 or higher. At Constitution 12, the offered drink has a 7/20 chance to help, or about 9% per paid round after including the chance of being offered it. A drained current value can qualify even when maximum Constitution is higher.
Do not order a round without 100 Au. Riley responds with a punch for 0-19 unstoppable damage; a weakened character can die from it.[1][4]
Bed and breakfast
The 25 Au stay advances the clock by 6, 7, 8 or 9 hours and sets nourishment to 40, enough for about forty ordinary hourly hunger checks. It clears poison and disease, but does not directly restore HP, mana or drained attributes. Temporary attribute excess above the normal maxima is trimmed, with equipped-item effects removed and reapplied around that adjustment. Other conditions are not comprehensively cleared.
This is a jump in the clock, not six to nine hours of simulated waiting and natural healing. Ordinary turns before and after the stay still have their usual effects. An early-evening stay can finish before dawn, leaving the tavern open and daytime services closed.
Crossing midnight during the stay does not itself advance the calendar date. For example, a six-hour stay from 21:30 finishes at 03:30 with the same date. Do not rely on the bed to trigger a new day's pawn-shop stock or other date-based services.[3][5][6][7]
Strategy
At night, a 10 Au shot of Dew is much cheaper than the healer's disease treatment and also handles poison, which that shop does not treat. Find the tavern before an emergency: the trip there still takes time, and ongoing poison can hurt you en route.
Choose bed and breakfast when you want the meal and to skip part of the night. Choose the Dew when you only need the cure. For injuries, use the healer or a service that actually restores HP; for broad recovery of damaged attributes and conditions, compare a week's rest at the Arms. The more expensive House of the Eclipse restores HP and supplies additional rewards, but also has its own limitations.
Buying rounds offers flavor and occasional growth, not a dependable training service. Cheap pints are the economical rumor option when their hour check is available.
Trivia
Tullimore Dew resembles Tullamore D.E.W., the Irish whiskey whose initials commemorate Daniel Edmund Williams. The spelling and pub setting suggest the reference; the game's miraculous cure is a fantasy effect. Tullamore D.E.W.: brand history[8]
The visiting priest fits his surroundings: Dionysus is the Greek god of wine. The game brings him into a drinking-house encounter rather than adding an altar to Rampart's Pantheon. Metropolitan Museum: Dionysos and wine[9][1][10]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 site1.c in Omega 0.90.4, line 669 (
l_tavern). - ↑ lib/city.dat in Omega 0.90.4; city.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 9–285; city.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 303–447.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 site1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 669–801.
- ↑ etc.c in Omega 0.90.4, line 8 (
hint). - ↑ aux2.c in Omega 0.90.4, line 737 (
toggle_item_use). - ↑ aux3.c in Omega 0.90.4, line 31 (
hourly_check). - ↑ util.c in Omega 0.90.4, line 500 (
hour). - ↑ Tullamore D.E.W.: brand history.
- ↑ Metropolitan Museum: Dionysos and wine.
- ↑ etc.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 120–240.