"Greetings! Welcome to the Coach and Horses. Do have a seat, take this one by the fire where you will be nice and warm. Would you like drinks and food? Yes? Of course, drinks first, how foolish of me."
- —Gustav, Proprietor, Coach and Horses Inn[1a]
A coaching inn bustling with travellers and adventurers from across the Old World.
For most travellers, a coaching house, sometimes also called a coaching inn, is an ideal place to stay. Scattered throughout the Old World, these places serve many important purposes. They provide stopping places for road-weary travellers, offer places for coaching companies to trade for fresh mounts, and provide services to repair damaged coaches and equipment.[1a]
Coaching inns also serve as temporary headquarters for the Road Wardens, and many also feature a set of cells to hold unruly prisoners. Coaching inns are also some of the best places to find work as a mercenary because, especially in times of war, no one is safe enough to travel without a little protection.[1a]
Most coaching inns are family-owned and operated, although one family owns a chain of coaching inns along a particular route. Income comes from guests and from the rent paid by the various coaching companies using their facilities. For travellers, coaching inns offer a safe place to sleep and catch a warm meal. For those looking for news and rumours, there are few places better than in a coaching inn's bar.[1a]
Travel in the Empire of Man is difficult and perilous. The roads are uncertain -- unsafe in the best of times, impassable in the worst. To ameliorate the worst of the difficulties, a number of powerful coaching services erected coaching houses along the various heavily-travelled routes through the Empire.[2a]
The most famous of these is the Four Seasons Coaches, which has expanded beyond its base in Altdorf and along all the routes out of the Imperial capital. Other Coaching Lines include Cartak Lines and Ratchett Lines, both centred in Altdorf; Red Arrow Coaches of Averheim: Wolf Runner Coaches and Castle Rock Coaches of Middenheim; Cannon Ball Express and Imperial Expressways, both of Nuln; and finally Tunnelway Coaches out of Talabheim. In addition, there are hundreds of smaller coach lines that run between the towns and villages of the Empire.[2a]
Travel by coach provides armed guards, a somewhat comfortable trip, and a faster journey. In addition, the passage on a coach provides a discount at affiliated coaching houses, up to twenty-percent off room and board. While no means secure, paying the steep prices for good coach service improves one's chances at survival in the hazardous wilderness of the Old World.[2a]