Object Post: The Harvest Hob

The Harvest Hob

From the Counterpoint series and Sunshower

Source: Established in 1839

Where: Adelaide

Who went there? Tab and Josefa in Sunshower and Court and his mother Nanette and her husband in the Counterpoint series

The Harvest Hob, est. 1839. Licensee Nathaniel Applebee.

That’s the provenance of The Harvest Hob pub situated somewhere in an alleyway in Adelaide, probably not too far from the station.

The first time we encounter it is in Sunshower, when Tab Merriweather takes his lover Josefa there. She has evinced interest in meeting other fay, and Tab, a halfling, suggests that with a name like that, the pub is likely to be run by hobs. So it turns out.

The publican, Nathaniel Applebee, runs the place with his barmaid and betrothed, Sheelagh Chalk. Tab and Josefa stay the night, and Josefa discovers the true strangeness of the place when she goes upstairs to a room that is really over there.

In the mini-series Counterpoint, Court Leopold goes to the Harvest Hob to meet his mother, Nanette who, despite being a courtfolk lady, has married a human and elected to live human in Adelaide.

           

The Harvest Hob, the cosy Adelaide pub to which Yvanne directed Court before returning to her family manor, was an anomaly. It was a fay establishment planted in the middle of a capital city, with the gateway between over here and over there cunningly masquerading as a scullery door.

The publican, Nathaniel Applebee, inclined his head in acknowledgment as Yvanne ushered Court through the door. He never blinked as she gave Court a chaste kiss on the cheek, backed out alone and stepped out of view.

“Greet thee, master. Through to t’ taproom and my colleen will see to thee.”

“Thanks.” Court stepped through as directed.

The taproom seemed a pleasant place, with watercolours on the walls and a selection of patrons, fay, human and several mixes in between, propping up the bar.

He spotted his mother immediately. “Greet you, Maman. It’s been a while.”

The Hob is a comfortable, welcoming place, with rustic charm. It serves humans and fay, and anyone in between.