©Novel Buddy
The Retired Abyss Innkeeper
[ Late check-ins accepted. Abyss residues surcharges apply. ]The Last Neutral Inn, a small establishment run by a retired man named Aldous. He serves good soup, honest tea, and the only guaranteed neutral ground between the mortal world and the Abyss.He used to change the world. He doesn't do that anymore, but he has opinions about bread. He will share them.In a place where exiled gods need somewhere to sleep, demon courts require neutral venues for negotiations they can't afford to lose, and abyssal entities older than civilization occasionally need a simple word with someone who won't panic, Aldous runs the only establishment that qualifies. His guests aren't only human. His inn shouldn't exist. The Abyss stops exactly at his property line, which nobody has satisfactorily explained.Aldous makes soup. He fixes the stairs. He files the paperwork.He is no hero. No king. He runs an inn.The question nobody had the courage to ask yet is why.
- C.62: The Bowl Came Back Empty. I’m Taking That as a WinNEW
- C.61: You’re Welcome Comes Second. The Cup Has Strong Feelings About ThisNEW
- C.60: Teaching Is Harder Than I Expected. This Is How You NodNEW
- C.59: The System Said Nothing. Some Things It Has Learned to Let StandNEW
- C.58: The System Would Like to Note That It Did Not Ask to Care About the Sewers EitherNEW
- C.57: Voss Said It Was a Good Map. Sera Was SilentNEW
- C.56: I Did Say Come Back and Tell Me About the Third Stop. The Sewers Also Need Looking AtNEW
- C.55: The Outside Walls Are Available. He Can Look at ThoseNEW
- C.54: The Broth Was Fine. I Cannot Account for the Rest of ItNEW
- C.53: He Was Explaining Something. Nobody Was Listening. I Brought BrothNEW
- C.52: She Threw a Spell at Him. He Returned It to the Candles. I Kept ServingNEW
- C.51: These Are Fine Chairs. I Have Opinions About ThisNEW
- C.50: I Was Working Out the Hallway. Something Opened the AirNEW
- C.49: The Third Loaf Came Out Fine. The Count Did NotNEW
- C.48: He Was Very Reasonable About the Sewers. The Room Was NotNEW
- C.47: She Had Concerns. He Had Been There the Whole TimeNEW
- C.46: She Required Reparations. I Required Lunch OrdersNEW
- C.45: The Room Was Already Having a Bad Morning. She Made It About HerselfNEW
- C.44: I Finished the Sign. The Room Had Already Started Without MeNEW
- C.43: My Old Companion Had a Lot to Say. So Did INEW
- C.42: The Cellar Always Had That Room. The Ventilation Was Better Before, ThoughNEW
- C.41: Three Domestic Umbrellas, One Forgotten God’s Hammer, and a City That Would Like to Remain a CityNEW
- C.40: The System Filed It Under Lamp Schedule. The System Would Like to Amend That EntryNEW
- C.39: The Cellar’s Been in Good Humour Every Season. I’ll Just Go and CheckNEW
- C.38: The Entity Has Not Advanced in Eleven Minutes. The City Has Lost Three Streets AnywayNEW
- C.37: The Walker Said It Was Too Present. I’m Working On ThatNEW
- C.36: Form 7-W Return Signatures Detected. The System Is Updating EverythingNEW
- C.35: The Scale Entry Remains Incomplete. The System Is Working On ItNEW
- C.34: The Second Floor Knows We’re Up HereNEW
- C.33: The Re-Haft Did Itself. We’re Still Discussing ThisNEW
- C.32: It Said Thank You. The Bracket Was Still LooseNEW
- C.31: The Flask Was Labeled Stock Reduction. The System Is Updating That EntryNEW
- C.30: We Were There for a While. We Were There for a Long WhileNEW
- C.29: The Carver Line Was Holding. The System’s Prose Style Was NotNEW
- C.28: Kern Came Back at an Odd Hour. I Was Still Thinking About the RateNEW
- C.27: The Rate Is Reasonable. The Rate Is Also a HammerNEW
- C.26: The System Did Not Have a Category for What the Umbrella Did. It Does NowNEW
- C.25: The System Filed a New Protocol. Kern Filed Nothing, Because Kern Was BusyNEW
- C.24: The Eastern District Was Having a Moment. The Soup Wasn’t Going to Wait for ItNEW
- C.23: The Upper Floors Are on the List. They’ve Been on the List for a WhileNEW
- C.22: He Asked About the Hammer. I Told Him About the Re-Haft. We Were There for a WhileNEW
- C.21: The Schedule Held for Four Days. That’s Longer Than ExpectedNEW
- C.20: The Handle Is Original. I’ve Been Meaning to Replace ItNEW
- C.19: The Abyss Suite Is Finished. The Rest of the Inn Has Opinions About ThisNEW
- C.18: Three Of Them Knew Each Other. I Got The CupsNEW
- C.17: She Brought a Bottle. I Accepted the Bottle and Not What the Bottle Was ForNEW
- C.16: Form 9-A Has a Contractor Now. We Haven’t Discussed RatesNEW
- C.15: She Asked Very Good Questions. The Answers Were the ProblemNEW
- C.14: The East Corridor Has Opinions Now. I’m Consulting On ContractorsNEW
- C.13: Form 9-A Did Not Previously Exist. I’ve Been Informed This Is My FaultNEW
- C.12: The System Would Like To Note That It Did Not Ask To Care About ThisNEW
- C.11: The System Saw It Coming Before the Party Did. This Was UnusualNEW
- C.10: The Outer Field Was Not Dark. This Did Not Make It BetterNEW
- C.9: I Watched From the Window Until the Road Took ThemNEW
- C.8: The East Rooms Get Abyss Light in the Morning. I May Have Undersold ThatNEW
- C.7: My Guests Discussed the Road Conditions. The Roads in Question Were Not RoadsNEW
- C.6: The Inn Got a New Classification. I’ve Been Meaning to Update the SignNEW
- C.5: The Guest Had Errands. The Abyss Had Opinions. Lunch Was FineNEW
- C.4: The Rumor Got Here Before the Guests Did, Which Is Usually How It GoesNEW
- C.3: My Guest Had an Existential Crisis. I Recommended a Morning RoutineNEW
- C.2: The City Watch Came About the Alarms. I Offered Them PorridgeNEW
- C.1: The Late Check-In Fee Applies Regardless of Divine StatusNEW























