A common site across the galaxy, the Mead Hall is a gathering place for spacers of all sorts, though its cultural origin is distinctly Syk'aran. Originally the Mead Halls were a place for Syk'arans to gather for social, cultural interactions; ceremonial fires burned at the center of a large circular room, where offerings were poured from each pitcher of mead. These traditions were born of Syk'ara, and carried across the bythos where the seeds were planted on every planted the people settled. In short order the Syk'aran mead became popular with Apsu people living in close quarters and visiting Syk'aran settlements. Through the centuries the Mead Halls became ubiquitous across the galaxy as Syka'ran spacers settled around major space ports and on space stations.

These modern Mead Halls are more than just a place to wet ones whistle. Rooming accommodations and secure storage are often available along with a menu of meals from every known world, as well as a few not listed on the star charts. Though not required, or even suggested a few spacers still indulge in the old ceremonial libations; pouring the last of their pitcher into the fire that continues to adorn the center of every good Mead Hall. Usually located in a basement or other sub level is a walk in safe or small keep (depending on the size and quality of the facility.) For people who live in the stars it is difficult to find a place to store valuables or personal effects. So the Mead Halls offer secure storage on site where a spacer can stash his earnings or takings, whatever the case may be.

The upper floors of the Mead Halls provide living quarters; rooms for rent or purchase. Some spacers will maintain permanent quarters on a friendly world, a place to lay his head, a familiar place that he can always come back to. But mostly the rooms are strictly transient, a place to crash for a night, a week or a few months while he waits for his next trip to the stars. In the mean time meals and drinks are available just down stairs.

The level of security at a Mead Hall depends totally on the proprietor, and the location. The more secure facilities are equipped with a scanning vestibule; while the customer stands in a small room he is scanned from all sides a full accounting is taken of who he or she may be, and what types of weapons he may be carrying. This info is broadcasted on a display above the fire or over the bar; also the same data is transmitted to each occupied room, giving a head start for anyone who needs to make a hasty departure. In less secure Mead Halls a surprise visitor can create quite a disturbance for an unsuspecting spacer with a debt or a bounty on his head.

Aside from unwanted disturbances the Mead Halls are places for spacers to share a pitcher of drink, see old friends and make new ones; to strike deals and share meals, but most importantly to swap stories. There is nothing a well traveled spacer loves more than to boast of his exploits, with or without exaggeration. And the Mead Hall is the best place to find an audience that wasn't there, and can't verify or deny the story. At any port in the galaxy a curious young man or woman can walk into a Mead Hall to hear tails from the stars to either quench their thirst for adventure vicariously or get a taste of what lies beyond his home. While on most planets you can access the Galactic Record to learn about far away planets, those encyclopedic descriptions lack the flare of a good yarn woven by a well oiled spacer half way through a pitcher of mead. And usually, the more they drink, the better the stories get.