Maulie Tankard Champion Lore
Across all Teleria, there are few taverns more famous than the Stout Oak Inn. Nestled within the backstreets of Port Wretched, people from all corners of Teleria have found comfort inside this establishment. With its fine food, roaring fires, and flowing ale, even the bloodiest feuds can melt away upon entering. And who is the proprietress of this beloved watering hole? That would be none other than Maulie Tankard, who can talk the wings off a dragon, sell ice to the Jotunn, and could probably convince Siroth himself to quit his schemes, if she ever wanted him in her tavern. Matriarch of the Stout Oak Inn for years, Maulie has served everyone, from curious kings to the lowest deckhands. While devoted to her inn, Maulie also occasionally hosts her famous banquets back home in Gloomdeep Hold — only on special request.
As a landlady in one of the roughest ports in Teleria, Maulie Tankard is no stranger to violence. From bar brawls and riots, to murders and back-alley ambushes, she has no qualms with intervening to protect her establishment. The stories about her have become the stuff of legend. Some swear — between healthy draughts of Maulie’s finest ale — that she once held off a screaming host of Undead from wrecking her tavern, armed with nothing more than a roasting fork. Others say that she defeated an entire clan of Orcs in a series of arm wrestling contests while still rustling up her famous soup of the day. Ask Maulie about any of these tales, and she will spin an even greater yarn, complete with additional anecdotes that will have even the most serious clients rolling with laughter.
There are days when Maulie dreams of packing her belongings and traveling the world, so she can finally indulge her wanderlust — caused by years of listening to her patrons’ wild stories. Above all, however, she still loves herjob. So while there are drinks to be poured, fights to break up, and vomit to be mopped up, you will find Maulie behind the bar of the Stout Oak Inn, ready to delight customers with a foaming pint, a succulent meat pie, and a story about a drunk patron she had served the night before.
Maulie Tankard Storyline
There is arguably no tavern quite as famous and quite as beloved in the entire Dwarven Kingdom as the Stout Oak Inn, which sits comfortably just a couple of streets down from the capital’s main square. And Maulie Tankard – the ever-cheerful barmaid, whose smile dazzles even the gruffest Dwarf – played an important part in maintaining the reputation of her beloved establishment. Indeed, one would be hard-pressed to find a maiden so chipper and upbeat. Maulie knows when the serve the ale and tell an anecdote that will have the patrons rolling in laughter, and when to goad them into a good old tavern brawl. But when the dust settles and the broken furniture is tossed out of the doors, everyone gets back to drinking and singing and praising their hostess.
Life would have gone on at the same jolly pace were it not for the Demonic invasion of her homeland. For a while, the Stout Oak had fallen quiet, no songs were sung within its walls, no competitions or drinking games took place. Instead, sombre soldiers of the King’s Guard took refuge within. When Demonspawn descended upon them, using wings or dark magic to overcome the city’s walls, so too the Inn came under assault. It was then Maulie Tankard showed her courage. When a monstrous hound knocked the Guard Captain over and nearly brought its jaws snapping at his throat, it was Maulie who save his life.
Seizing a massive fork – one of the sausages that she was cooking still impaled upon the tines – she charged the beast and brought it low with a single precise stroke. Emboldened by her example, Dwarven warriors counterattacked and beat the demons back. Once the siege had been lifted, the Captain found Maulie again and presented her with a masterwork hammer – one of the oldest symbols of Dwarven Warriors – commissioned in the likeness of that fateful fork. Though meant as purely symbolic, the hammer was a potent weapon, and Maulie would have no other when the lure of adventure finally drew her out from her tavern and to the Surface. Though where some seek glory and riches, Maulie Tankard wants nothing more than a wealth of good stories to tell when she returns, and some new recipes to spoil her regulars with.