"Don't tell it to anyone that I told you will you, but a friend of a friend tells me if you ever want to talk to someone about seeing someone dealt a mischief you've only got to find a man who drinks at the Holy Hammer of Sigmar. The place is like a veritable assassins' guild, so he says."
- —Anonymous drinker, Street of a Hundred Taverns[1b]
The Holy Hammer of Sigmar is a tavern in Altdorf located where the Street of a Hundred Taverns meets the Konigplatz.[1a] It is a tavern with a very particular clientele -- assassins.[1c][2a]
Unlike a typical tavern, the Holy Hammer of Sigmar does not have a public bar. Rather, it consists of several private rooms where about six people can sit. Orders of food and drink are brought directly from the kitchen to the rooms.[1c] In order to access the rooms in the tavern, one must have a key. It's said that a key to the Holy Hammer of Sigmar is more difficult to acquire than an audience with the emperor.[2a][3a]
Patrons of the Holy Hammer of Sigmar are dedicated to the vocation of the hired killer. They consider themselves above petty political, religious, and gang-related disputes, although they show a genuine reverence for the murder-god Khaine.[3a]
The ownership of the tavern doesn't seem to mind that the establishment's guests are vicious criminals. The staff is particularly discreet -- they're paid well with the understanding that they won't divulge anything they happen to hear from the Hammer's patrons. Fights between rival gangs of killers are common in the tavern, and the staff are careful not to intervene. They might, however, side with their clients if a group of watchmen or Verenan templars charged in.[1c]
There's a trap door leading from the the tavern's cellar down to Altdorf's sewers. A group of grave robbers enter the inn through it to collect the bodies of any patrons who are killed in a fight.[1d] There's also a shrine to Khaine below the tavern, where the cellars meet a tunnel system which connects to Altdorf's undercity.[3a]
A gallant by the name of Quex is the closest thing the tavern has to a public face. He can connect a customer to the right man for their job, whether that be a simple thug or an experienced assassin. It's very dangerous to get on Quex's bad side. Every year on Trickster's Day he circulates a list of estranged patrons of the Holy Hammer. Anybody who can kill someone on the list earns the right to use their key.[3a]
An odd assortment of public figures are rumoured to possess keys to the Holy Hammer of Sigmar.[3a]
The Holy Hammer of Sigmar served as a meeting place for Yevgeny Yefimovich and his associates, a group which included Prince Kloszowski, Stieglitz, Professor Brustellin, Ulrike Blumenschein,[2b] and Dien Ch'ing.[2a]