Line #43 Main/TheNeedForMead


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2	%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16713155770.15654700
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5	[[quoteright:350:[[TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mtg_tavern_5.png]]]]
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7	->''"Mead, mead, mead. Would it kill 'em to get a beer now and again? Stupid bees and their stupid honey..."''
8	-->-- '''[[EnemyChatter Random bandits]]''', ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim''
9
10	At times our adventurers feel the need. The need... for mead.
11
12	So they head to a stock fantasy tavern, which will be of wooden or stone construction and generally poorly lit. The drinks, generally either [[AllBeerIsAle ale]] or mead, will be of [[ATankardOfMooseUrine questionable quality]]. Nobody there may even ''realize'' that mead and beer aren't the same thing.[[note]]Mead is made by fermenting honey. No hops or barley are involved. There is a kind of mead/beer hybrid called a braggot, but ''nobody'' outside of homebrewers knows about it these days.[[/note]] Other features may include:
13	* [[BarFullOfAliens A variety of species]]
14	* [[FanServiceWithASmile A serving wench in a low-cut, shoulder- (or more) revealing top]]
15	* Mercenaries for hire
16	* Places to sleep at an inn, if you're lucky, or the barn if you're not lucky
17	* Rumors and other hints at possibilities for adventure
18	* A dark corner where mysterious cloaked strangers sit
19	* A chance for a BarBrawl
20
21	Also a place [[YouAllMeetInAnInn for first meetings]]. Or [[YouAllMeetInACell to set up such meetings]].
22
23	See also MedievalEuropeanFantasy. Compare RestAndResupplyStop, which is where there's more than just the tavern.
24
25	[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused]] with ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeed''.
26
27	----
28	!!Examples:
29	[[foldercontrol]]
30
31	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
32	* ''Manga/{{Claymore}}'': Occasionally a member of the titular groups shows up in the FantasyTavern. When they do, it's a total atmosphere-killer.
33	* ''Manga/InterspeciesReviewers'' has [[YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe Ye Pubbe]], the tavern where Crim and Meidri work and the guys hang out (and post their reviews).
34	* ''Literature/{{Slayers}}'': Lina and her group sometimes take a break in these. Considering her reputation and her temper though, sometimes this is to the detriment of the other customers, the tavern, the city the tavern is located at...
35	* ''Manga/YuGiOh'': Yugi and his friends play two tabletop-roleplaying games in the manga series (where they are trapped in the game world as their characters), and in both, their first stop for information is almost always the tavern. During the second RPG, which was based on actual historical in-universe events, Yugi doesn't even realize it's an RPG they're in at first: being a gaming nerd, [[GenreSavvy he actually goes there compulsively because adventurers tend to go to taverns in role-playing games]].
36	[[/folder]]
37
38	[[folder:Card Games]]
39	* The drink-based card game ''TabletopGame/DrunkQuest'' has classes themed on various alcohols; ThePaladin is mead themed.
40	* ''TabletopGame/RedDragonInn'' is a card game about a band of adventurers spending their hard-earned gold at a tavern. Drinking, gambling, and brawling ensue.
41	[[/folder]]
42
43	[[folder:Comic Books]]
44	* The ''Webcomic/{{Skullkickers}}'' spend a lot of time in taverns. In "Eighty Eyes on an Evil Island", they visit The Gizzard, which is every FantasyTavern ever. Literally.
45	* ''ComicBook/DemonKnights'' begins with Jason Blood and Madame Xanadu stopping at an inn for a quiet drink. It just so happens that while there, they run into Vandal Savage, Exoristos, Sir Ystin, and Al Jabr. It also just so happens that the town they're in is invaded soon after, forcing them to team up with the others to try and fight off the invaders.
46	* In ''ComicBook/SupergirlWomanOfTomorrow'': On her 18th birthday, [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} Kara]] travels to the tavern of a red sun medieval-like world in order to get drunk.
47	* In ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}''/''Franchise/MastersOfTheUniverse'' crossover "ComicBook/FromEterniaWithDeath", after training Adam heads towards the "Dragon's Breath" Inn to drink ale and hopefully pick a fight.
48	* In ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'' comics this is done straight and played with. In the standard version of this trope, Jane meets the Warriors Three in a tavern. There, they give her a series of quests to do before they will accept her as a rightful Thor (they also had her do a drinking contest as well to see if she could hold her liquor).
49	* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman2006'': One of the first places Diana visits when she's stuck in an illusionary world/mental world by Stalker is a tavern with mead and barmaids where the patrons are all fur wearing viking pastiches. She meets her first ally there, a HotBlooded barbarian hero.
50	[[/folder]]
51
52	[[folder:Fan Works]]
53	* In ''Fanfic/TheGoodHunter'', [[AdjectiveAnimalAlehouse The Prancing Pony]] is one of the many fantasy inns. Notably, TheProtagonist Klaus is hired as a guard and a cleaner in the ''[[StoryArc Sheffield Arc]]'', having been offered a permanent place here.
54	* ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'': The original version features a couple of these, namely Hound's Head Bar and [[BadGuyBar Talon Bar]], the former of which is where [[FanServiceWithASmile Grace]] used to work in, while the remastered version has the Half-Moon Inn. Whenever several main characters bump into one of these, you can guarantee that a BarBrawl is going to happen sooner or later.
55	[[/folder]]
56
57	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
58	* ''WesternAnimation/TheFlightOfDragons'' sees the heroes stop at the Hell's Way Inn, the last bastion of civilization before passing Gormly Keep and entering [[BigBad Ommadon's]] hellish realm. It's here that Elder dragon Ssmrgol introduces human-turned-dragon Peter Dickenson to mead... by the barrel full. The innkeeper is most distressed by this but soon has other problems to deal with.
59	* ''WesternAnimation/Shrek2'' features one, appropriately named [[Literature/SnowWhite The Poisoned Apple]], where Puss In Boots is hired.
60	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'' features the Snuggly Duckling. Flynn takes Rapunzel here in an effort to scare her into cutting her day trip out of the tower short, but then she saves him from the thuggish clientele and kicks off a CrowdSong.
61	[[/folder]]
62
63	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
64	* Both the 1982 and 2011 ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian'' films feature scenes of the title hero celebrating a successful adventure at a tavern with free-flowing alcohol and half-naked wenches.
65	* T meets Leonardo in one of these in ''Film/QuestOfTheDeltaKnights'', complete with buxom serving wenches, sleeping quarters and drunken, superstitious peasants.
66	* In ''Film/TheThirteenthWarrior'' Ahmad ibn Fadlan explains that, as a Muslim, he is forbidden to drink alcohol made from either grain or grape. His Viking host laughs and says mead is made from honey. Drunkenness ensues.
67	* ''Film/{{Swashbuckler}}'': The day after stealing the Barnet treasure from Major Folly, the crew of the ''Blarney Cock'' take their celebration into a combination tavern/brothel. They are interrupted first by the arrival of Jane Barnet, and then by a squad of soldiers. Needless to say, a BarBrawl erupts.
68	[[/folder]]
69
70	[[folder:Literature]]
71	* The Prancing Pony at Bree in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', one of many in that verse, but this one is probably the TropeCodifier.
72	* ''Literature/{{Hurog}}'': In ''Dragon Bones'', Ward finds his younger brother, Tosten, in such a tavern, where Tosten works as bard. This comes as a bit of a surprise as Ward had actually left him with a cooper, as apprentice. However, Tosten is a good bard, and apparently manages not to be molested by the [[HelloSailor sailors.]] (Ward was worried about this, as in the setting, the sailors ''don't'' wait until they've spent ninety days at sea. [[DepravedHomosexual Nor does anyone else.]])
73	* In Creator/RobertEHoward's ''Literature/TheTowerOfTheElephant'' where Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian hears of the title tower.
74	* The Mended Drum in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' is a parodic exaggeration; it's been rebuilt several times, and is widely regarded as the best tavern of ill-repute in the world. The regulars are rough, in a rather specific way; someone coming in and calling himself "Urblad the Undefeatable" would soon have the entire bar proving him wrong with a wide variety of sharp and blunt instruments, but a ten-year-old popping in for a glass of lemonade would never get worse than a clip on the ear (and that more likely than not from ''his mother'', when she hears her child's expanded vocabulary). By ''Literature/GoingPostal'', the brawlers rehearse their moves to look the best for tourists and the bar brawls have become Ankh-Morpork's most popular organized sport.
75	* ''Literature/DragonQueen'' features such a tavern. The protagonist works there.
76	* The Inn at the Crossroads in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' is the setting for a few important scenes in the first book.
77	* A rather large fraction of the main characters of the ''Literature/SwordOfTruth'' run into these at some point, and their responses run the gamut from avoiding attention to intimidation and in some cases just outright killing people.
78	* ''Literature/AmericanGods'' really kicks off the quest with Shadow, Mr. Wednesday, and Mad Sweeney meeting for mead. Shadow doesn't quite like the taste, comparing it to "pickled honey." The sharing of mead is important to the plot, though, as the host is playing by old Norse [[SacredHospitality rules of hospitality]], and drinking the mead [[MagicallyBindingContract seals their deal]].
79	* The Inn of the Last Home in ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}''. It serves as a central point of meeting and reunion for the heroes of many of the books and short stories and has the best home-brewed ale.
80	* The main setting in ''Literature/TheWanderingInn'' (named after the inn in question) offers everything ''but'' alcohol to its guests, much to their dismay.
81	[[/folder]]
82
83	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
84	* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': Waldreg owns an poorly lit inn Tirharad, where people go to drown their sorrows daily. His inn is also the place where the people of Southlands and the Elves show their contempt for each other.
85	* In ''Series/RobinHood'' [[spoiler: the Crownkeeper has made a fake crown for Prince John. Robin and Kate, the latter doing a DirtyHarriet, distract him in one of these inns so they can steal the Keeper's keys]].
86	[[/folder]]
87
88	[[folder:Music]]
89	* The Music/{{Alestorm}} song ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbUXysD_b-A Wenches and Mead]]'' is about exactly this.
90	* Music/MiracleOfSound did a song called ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL4vR3PB2oY Nord Mead]]'' about how awesome the Nords of ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'' think their mead is.
91	-->''You can keep your filthy skooma!\
92	It makes our bellies bleed!\
93	'Cause when we raise our flagon\
94	To another dead [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragon]]\
95	There is just one drink we need!\
96	Nord Mead!''
97	* Music/AmonAmarth [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mClSA1LZPIs has their own recipe!]]
98	* Try to find a song by ''Music/{{Steelpreacher}}'' that ''isn't'' this trope.
99	* Music/{{Feuerschwanz}} has many songs about mead, for example [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXWqDAwx9EU "Metnotstand im Märchenland,"]][[note]]Mead shortage in fairy tale land[[/note]] "Met und Miezen"[[note]]Mead and Pussies[[/note]] or "Verteidiger des wahren Mets."[[note]]Defenders of the true mead[[/note]]
100	[[/folder]]
101
102	[[folder:Podcasts]]
103	* ''Podcast/HelloFromTheMagicTavern'' is set in one of these. The podcast is hosted each week from a tavern called The Vermillion Minotaur, a tavern that mostly serves mead. It's run by a half-elf by the name of Otok Barleyfoot, who vends rumors along with mead, and adventurers and all sorts of magical types are constantly coming through and can be interviewed by the podcast. They also have rooms, and host Arnie lives in the tavern in exchange for allowing Otok to run ads on the podcast.
104	[[/folder]]
105
106	[[folder:Pinballs]]
107	* ''Pinball/TheChampionPub'' takes place in one of these, offering good drink, attractive serving ladies, and fine fisticuffs for entertainment.
108	[[/folder]]
109
110	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
111	* Extremely common in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''. Stereotypical behavior for bad players is to ignore plot hooks in favor of visiting the nearest tavern to get drunk and either start fights or pick up chicks. The frequency for campaigns to [[YouAllMeetInAnInn start in an inn]] is a trope all to itself.
112	* Enforced in the ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian'' d20 RPG -- the game rules state that most of the treasure the [=PCs=] acquire is blown on ale and whores (even if the PC is female) between adventures.
113	* The entire concept of ''TabletopGame/RedDragonInn'' are about adventurers drinking at the tavern after a hard day's dungeon raiding. The objective of the game is to be the last person to not get too drunk/beat up while not going broke, using whatever talents or trickery your character has up their sleeves.
114	[[/folder]]
115
116	[[folder:Video Games]]
117	* ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' has a fair number of taverns. These run the gamut from the Blushing Mermaid, which is a dive avoided by all but the roughest members of the titular city's underworld, via the Red Sheaf, which is a respectable, modestly priced inn for the frugal merchant, to the Helm And Cloak, which is more like an upscale boarding house for adventurers with plenty of gold who want a nice, quiet place to relax between adventures, and which very adamantly does not serve beer because "We aren't running a tavern here, m'lord!".
118	* Very common in the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series, but ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance'' deserves special mention for making these the only place to pick up quests. (Going by the English translation, it also calls them "pubs" and avoids specifying what anyone's drinking, but that's [[FrothyMugsOfWater another trope entirely]].)
119	* Also common in ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' games
120	** You organize your party in one in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIII''.
121	** In ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIX'', in the inn in Stonewell, you can organise members of your party, do alchemy, and connect to the internet to do multiplayer or look for guests for your inn (Characters from previous ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' games.)
122	* Several Zelda games include them, though the only one to play a significant role is Telma's bar in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'', where LaResistance meets.
123	* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' has many of these, usually one per faction per zone (except for zones designated as starting zones), though some zones have a single one run by a neutral faction for use by players of both faction and each capital city features at least one. The exact nature of the building varies depending on the which race is running it with human inns fitting the trope description the most, except for being fairly well lit and Forsaken inns resembling a run down, rotting version of the Human inns (until they got their own unique style of architecture in the second expansion). They're used as safe points to log off and you get XP bonuses for your character staying in them while logged off.
124	** In ''Warcraft III'', players could swing by the local Tavern to hire neutral heroes in certain multiplayer maps.
125	* ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'' has the Typical Tavern, where there is never not a brawl going on. Your second real quest involves [[{{Ratstomp}} clearing the rats out of the cellar]].
126	* In the ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic'' games, there's one in every town, possibly two in a large city, and a few outside of towns. These are {{Rest And Resupply Stop}}s for the franchise, although each varies in cost and the quantity you can buy. Many have various other functions, like obtaining information and hiring henchmen.
127	* ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic'' has these available as an ''upgrade'' to your towns. Uses include hiring heroes, improving morale when the town is under attack and receiving cryptic clues about your enemies.
128	** In ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic III'', it's a prerequisite to the "Town Hall" upgrade (whence "City Hall" and "Capitol"). That's right, before you can get the most basic civic infrastructure up and running, the inhabitants need somewhere to go for a drink!
129	* In ''VideoGame/MedievalTotalWar'', an Inn allows you to hire mercenary armies, a Tavern allows you to hire assassins.
130	* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''
131	** Throughout the series, virtually every town, from massive cities to the tiniest of villages, has at least one such place. Plenty of others can be found randomly along the sides of roads. Many of them fit the AdjectiveAnimalAlehouse naming convention. For many of these places, said bar/tavern/inn is also the SoleEntertainmentOption. In many cases, they're good places to pick up [[LoadsAndLoadsOfSidequests sidequests]] and learn general information about the game world.
132	** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', set in the home of the [[NorseByNorsewest Viking expy]] [[HornyVikings Nords]], kicks this trope up a notch and also plays it literally, with mead being a favored beverage. You can also engage in {{Bar Brawl}}s, ogle the barmaids, overhear snippets of InfallibleBabble in conversations between the other patrons, and hire mercenary companions. Amusingly, a few bandits will complain about the native Nords' love of mead, since they prefer a good beer.
133	* The Hanged Man tavern in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' is where you go when you need to have a conversation with [[PirateGirl Isabela]] or [[TheStoryteller Varric]].
134	* You can build a Tavern in ''VideoGame/TheSimsMedieval''. It lets you make a [[WanderingMinstrel Bard]] Sim, and provides full casks for Sims to drink from. Some quests even have you start a drinking contest or a BarBrawl there.
135	* Many players of ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' will build a nice place for their alcohol-dependent TooDumbToLive smiley faces to get properly soused, but it would technically be a "dining room" or "meeting area" until .42 (released late 2015) allowed players to officially designate taverns.
136	* ''VideoGame/BrutalLegend'' lacks a tavern, but it's got a Sacred Beer Tree that serves a similar purpose. Iron Heade loves parties, and beer's a very essential part. Eddie asks about flagons of mead, this being a vaguely fantasyesque setting and all, only to be informed that, no, beer is the drink of choice, and it comes by the keg.
137	* ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' has multiple taverns in Sigil and one in Curst, but the most prominent one is probably the Smoldering Corpse bar in the Hive. So named because of the floating, burning [[spoiler: mostly]] dead guy in the middle of the floor that serves as both decoration and a source of heat and light. It's home to a number of different people including planar travelers, a party member, several Devils, and a barfly who's tab is so high that you can get free drinks forever if you convince her to pay ''part'' of it.
138	* ''Franchise/TheWitcher'' games have these all around the place. They are places to buy drinks (which are useful for making potions or just to get drunk), gambling, getting sidequests, and at times are also where you meet people for your main quest.
139	[[/folder]]
140
141	[[folder:Web Comics]]
142	* ''Webcomic/{{Exiern}}'' has had two of these so far.
143	** The first is the spoof of the YouAllMeetInAnInn trope, where Denver joins the party and Tiffany discovers [[GenderBender she]] can [[CantHoldHerLiquor no longer hold her liquor]].
144	** The second one found the unfortunate owner having to cash in his literal [[ImpossibleInsurance Impossible]] HeroInsurance when Tiff and Faden finally had their big confrontation.
145	* ''Webcomic/{{Nodwick}}'', being a spoof of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', naturally has a bar called The Fang & Flagon, where Yeagar likes to spend a lot of his time drinking when he's not out adventuring. It's a popular and rowdy place, due to being the only bar one can get [[GargleBlaster Skullwhomper Ale]] in.
146	* In ''Webcomic/RustyAndCo'', Ye Olde Proverbial Hook
147	** [[http://rustyandco.com/comic/2/ In the first level, the traditional usage, to find a hook]]. (Though they did not all meet at the inn. Mimic found the others on Krogslist.)
148	** [[http://rustyandco.com/comic/level-5-6/ In the fifth level, to find an informant.]]
149	** [[http://rustyandco.com/comic/level-7-title/ Presti and Roxy are hanging out, and overriding Stabs's objections on the grounds that only barbarians and plot hooks arrive at that hour.]] Then Rusty staggers in lugging an even more seriously wounded Madeline, and says, "...help..."
150	* In ''Webcomic/PvP'', Skull's dwarf character in the company's ''D&D'' game spends his treasure on "ale and whores". A couple strips after Valerie, possibly a real dwarf, is introduced she is seen demanding mead at a bar.
151	* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'':
152	** In the beginning of the Tarquin arc, Elan enters a tavern trying (unsuccessfully) to get some rumors about Girard.
153	** Later in the same arc, Roy and Belkar sleep in an inn where they meet the headhunters who had previously kidnapped Haley, Elan, and V. A bar brawl ensues which get all of them arrested.
154	[[/folder]]
155
156	%%[[folder:Web Video]]
157	%%* Many of the tropes are parodied in WebVideo/KnightSquire's ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPEsELDa3rQ Indoorsia]]'' short. %% Weblinks are not examples
158	%%[[/folder]]
159
160	[[folder:WesternAnimation]]
161	* ''WesternAnimation/CountDuckula'': The village close by the Count's castle has an inn called "Ye Tooth and Jugular" frequented by locals for ale and beer. Occasionally other characters will stop there such as the Crow Brothers or Scott and Laura in "Igor's Busy Day". Duckula has never actually been shown though visiting the inn.
162	[[/folder]]

Context Main / TheNeedForMead