Details of Harbor House Coffee

Stories: three. Ground floor is a restaurant/coffeehouse. Second floor is a mezzanine level with an open center to look down on to the floor below. This floor also has movable partitions (heavy curtains) to create ad hoc meeting rooms. Above it all a third floor of scribes, lawyers, and pages, all bent to the purpose of serving the dining deal makers on the lower floors. The establishment may also be rented out for special occasions. At such times the main floor can function as a dance floor, with the mezzanine level being opened for those who want to get away from the revelry of the main floor. Harbor House Coffee is open 20 hours a day, 6am to 2am.  

The main floor is a study of rich elegance used in a very refined manner. The décor exudes elegant richness, and seems to stimulate the customers to live up to the same standards. At any given time a visitor can find other businessmen working hard on financial contracts, and even when the bargaining becomes intense, the décor influences their behavior. Without realizing it everyone speaks in controlled voices, taking pains to not disturb their fellow businessmen. 

This coffeehouse also serves as a brokerage and trade center. By no means the largest of its kind, this coffeehouse allows any to trade their wares, although local laws do apply. Exclusive membership may be purchased for the following benefits: preferential seating, discounts for renting the house for a special event, discounted legal services (contract writing, document certification), first option on house contracts.  

Many days and the occasional night, one of the owners, Jaspiikar, can been seen walking about the mezzanine railing, carefully observing the trades below. Lately, Jaspiikar’s older brother, Janaos, has been seen again walking the grounds with his brother. While it has been rumored that the brothers have taken advantage of their positions as owners, nothing has been proven beyond the normal advantage taking of a trading house in the heart of the great city of Amber. People’s real concern has been that the brothers are Royals and that they should be above the common greed and trading. This has not deterred the brothers since they have even been overheard speaking about opening a second house of trade. Indeed, the coffeehouse and the brothers have flourished despite the common complaints of an outspoken few. 

One of the most noted features of the coffeehouse is the speed that a merchant can close a deal with a perspective client. Waiters are within easy summoning range and take orders for both legal and food orders. Easy to obtain, short-term loans are also available for those short of ready cash. Often times the lender will settle for a percentage of deal in lieu of interest charges. The success of the coffeehouse has spawned a couple of copycat establishments, but none can compare to the original. 

From its location at the border of the harbor/merchant districts both brothers have been known to use their own coffeehouse to conduct deals that have led to the improvement of the harbor district. The subtle changes of Amber associated to the brothers can usually be traced back to a deal struck at their house of trade.

Harbor House Coffee Physical Description 

Exterior:

• Foundation: Dark gray granite, with 12 inches exposed above street level.
• Street Level: Tightly fitted, dressed fieldstone with a faint greenish tinge. The mortar has been lightly tinted with green to reinforce a very subtle effort to bring out the green in the stones. The wall isn’t overtly green, but it does leave an impression that these aren’t your typical stones.
• Second Level: Solid post and beam construction with a slightly purple stucco finish. Again, the effort is to be subtle about the coloration, giving an impression, but nothing more.
• Third Level: This is actually a very deep roofline rising to a dramatic peak. At regular intervals dormers peek out to reveal that this is an occupied level. The building is roofed in a charcoal gray slate that borders on black.

Interior:

• Basement: This is a full basement, which is used for storage. The walls are plastered traditionally, with shelving attached at regular intervals. A climate-controlled wine cellar occupies one corner. Fully half of the basement has been set aside for storage of documents. The entire basement is tightly sealed to prevent water infiltration, primarily for the sake of the documents stored down here.
• Ground Level: The floor is composed of 12” x 12” deep green marble tiles. Inset at each intersection, rotated 45 degrees are 1” x 1” ceramic tiles with the family symbol embedded. In the corner by the door to the kitchen is a sizable masonry stove. In the opposite corner of the building, next to the main entrance is a small masonry stove. The benches are topped with charcoal gray marble slabs. Next to the one by the door is a small coat check booth, and there is a shoeshine stand for those why might want a touch-up or somebody to take the mud off their shoes. The walls have a beadboard wainscoting made from a richly finished purple hardwood, with an understated chair rail. Stretching from the chair rail to the ceiling the wall is finished with brushed silk wallpaper, which has been dyed a deep emerald green. At random intervals very small medallions of the family symbol have been worked into the design, breaking up the solidity of the field. Scattered about the floor are several tables and chairs, all of which are made of the same hardwood as the wainscoting, having been finished with a rich satin finish, however, each table has a heavy emerald green tablecloth, and each place setting has deep purple linens.
• Mezzanine Level: The mezzanine is accessible from a staircase that runs up the back wall of the coffeehouse. The staircase to the third level duplicates the run of the staircase from the ground floor. At the landing of the stairs leading to the third level is a door that opens onto a short passageway which has three doors opening off of it to the inside of the building. The first two are restrooms, clearly labeled for Ladies and Gentlemen. The third opens into a small food preparation space with several dumb waiters that drop down to the kitchen below. The mezzanine itself is about 20’ deep running about the perimeter of the ground floor, and is normally divided up with emerald green velvet draperies, trimmed in a rich, deep purple. The draperies are hung from brushed brass rod frames that can be easily broken down and moved, making it easy to customize the space, as need dictates. The walls on this floor are finished with a smooth eggshell white plaster, with the post and beam construction showing through to the inside. The flooring on this level is of the same hardwood as below, finished with a deep satin finish.
• Third/Dormer Level: Unlike the mezzanine level this level isn’t open to the floors below. While certainly much plainer than the levels below, attention has been paid to detail here as well. Each room is lined with the same wainscoting detail as the first two levels, though this time with a much lighter wood. This level has been broken down into one large room with several smaller ones lining the exterior wall. The interior room, being the largest, is filled with scribes’ benches, and a small masonry stove is located directly above the position of the large one on the ground floor, sharing the same flue. The smaller rooms around the exterior open up to reveal offices set-aside for the barristers and lenders kept on staff.