The Yawning portal is a lively tavern, folks from all over Faerûn can be found in this bustling boozer. The place is a stone building with a slate roof and several chimneys. Most of the ground floor is taken up by the tavern’s common room, which contains a 40-foot-diameter open well (actually the outer shell of a sunken stone tower) that descends 140 feet to the first level of Undermountain, the sprawling dungeon under Waterdeep. A rope-and-pulley mechanism is used to lower adventurers into the well and hoist them out.
On this night the tavern is particularly raucous, ales, wines and delicious meals are being ferried to tables by the large floor team, and a few of the bar staff are running around but Durnan, a middle aged human in good shape with dark hair, moustache and sideburns, seems calm as he polishes a glass. As Aldenenters he tavern he leans over the bar “Tables are full, come take a stool at the bar. Just don’t go asking me no stupid questions.” he gestures towards a stool next to Dneevar. “So, what’ll it be?”
On a wooden table in the common room, within view of the bar, Rose Red and Trani are sat as Bonnie, a soft featured red haired human, comes over to take their order “Hi, what can I get for you..... oh Trani, I’m so glad you could make it! My friend is just tuning up, you’ll hear him soon! Who’ve you brought here?” She smiles sweetly towards Rose.
As “Threestrings steps into the common room clearing his throat he notices his two young fans Lysslin and Aimee. ”Oh h,h,hi you two! I’m surprised Durnan let you in here.. I mean - thank you for coming.” He stiffly juts his hand out to shake. “Say.. d,do you have maybe a request for the first song?”
Dneevar is an intimidating figure, towering at 6'8" and 285 pounds of mostly muscle, but truly a gentle giant. The dragonborn sits at the counter, fingers rubbing his temples, and appears to be in deep thought. His silvery-white scales almost reflect the light from the lanterns strewn across the tavern. "Mulled wine, extra cinnamon, please," he finally tells Durnan. Dneevar wears a sleeveless vest with loose cargo pants. He traces the deep scars on his chest, which seem not too fresh but not old either. Heartily applauding the musician who just finished their performance, he takes his mind off whatever is bothering him at the moment, as he looks towards Alden, who has just taken a seat next to him. "How have you been this fine day?" Dneevar asks Alden in an attempt to socialize. "Oh yes, can I also get a salted pork brisket?" he interjects towards Durnan, mouth watering. His city watch badge falls out from his pocket, and he leans to try to pick it up off the ground. "So are you new to Waterdeep?" Dneevar turns back to query the young man in the stool next to him.
“Well, j,just be careful in here, all sorts of dangerous people frequent this tavern.” Threestrings warns the halfling. ”And Aimee, make sure Lyss looks out for you.”
The musician strums a slightly off key chord on his three stringed lute. “Yes, “The Beautiful Knight Mare“ One of my favourites! “
"Heya Bonnie," chirps Trani, a young slender gnome in a fine but plain set of robes. "This here is Rose - mind if I call ya Rose? - I bumped into her in the marketplace and she's got something I think I can fix up to make work better. It's a music box like I got for ya," Trani fiddles with a gadget lying on the table, "but not as well made... though I do see some clever ideas at work I may have to use in the future.
"I'll have my usual... ya got roasted chicken, right? And a flagon of wine to wash it down with."
She cringes slightly as the off-key notes are played but tries to cover up her discomfort before anyone sees her reacting to a fellow performer.
"Eh, my dad always says 'stop acting like a damn fool and like the lady ya supposed to be'," laughs Trani. "I'm a fair bit of a disappointment to the old man, but I can't help it. Besides, it's funny to watch his face turn red."
Alden nods and takes a seat at the bars lowering into the stool as he manourvers his equipment so that it does not get in the way. He gives another nod to Dneevar before answering. "I'll take an ale and something to fill an empty belly if you've got anything good for that. Only question I have is of you know anywhere a man with a sword can find work?" Even if he had work currently it never hurts to see what else there was.
“Aimee no!” Threestrings shouts out “That well leads to the undermountain, it’s a very dangerous place, full of beasties.” He composes himself before starting his song, his shrill, wobbly voice just missing some notes and a few chords being fumbled.
“I could be a sweet steeed or a beautiful knight mare, either way I- I just want to be a hero.”
The awful noise fills the room, causing much discomfort to poor Trani. Bonnie finishes up totalling their bill “So Trani, that will be 7 shards, did you want white or red? and for you Rose, wow, it’s a pretty expensive wine, 10 dragons for the bottle, and 8shards for the meal.” As Rose hands over the dragon bonnie goes red “Why, thank you! That’s so kind! I’ll get on that right away!” She hurries over to the bar.
At the bar, Durnan looks at Dnee with puzzlement, “Mulled wine? In the middle of summer? You Dragon folk sure are a strange lot. Right, it will take a minute that’ll be 4 nibs, and 3 shards for the brisket.”
He grunts at Alden, “We got some leftover meat and potatoes ye can have for 6 nibs if ye like. The ale will be 4.” As he pours out the ale he responds ”Looking for work huh, just like everyone here. You can find it if you’re not too picky about who ye do business with. Meloon over here is a bit past his prime, but he used to be a big deal over at force grey. He’s the old fart trying te impress those lassies over there. The half-orc lady making a small fortune arm wrestling those boys gets a lot of work out of Davil. Just... do yerself a favour and steer clear of Jalester in the corner over there, you don’t want any trouble with him.”
Bonnie strides over to the bar with a grin on her face, “Hey mister,” she addresses Dnee, brandishing a gold dragon. “Seems like you’ve got an admirer, that beautiful lady over there - goes by Rose Red. She’s paying for your next round.”
Durnan scoffs “Ha, the Ulbrinter girl! Boy you’re in it now Mulled Wine, she’s broken hearts all over town.”
"I have no plans of making trouble. Just looking for honest work to pay for my time in the city. Either way I thank you." Alden says as he sets the coins with a few extra for the advice on the bar. He slowly turns his eyes over to the girl that they named as Red Rose. It see he had found the one he had been paid to check up on.
Alden sips at his ale as he keep a close watch on her.
While Threestrings is reliably distracting folks, Lyss takes a quick lap and snags a few bites for her and Aimee. A drumstick here, a few bites of spicy fish there...
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
DM:Forged in Chaos, Spiders of the Abyss, The Sundered Way, Champions of the Citadel
As the song continues, food and drinks are brought out to all who ordered. The common room seem to chatter over the music, but don’t seem offended by it. (Can Lysslin make a sleight of hand check please.)
Lysslin is easily able to steal food of the red lady and her gnome friend, she manages to take a bit of offalfrom the armoured man at the bar, and feeling confident decides to tempt fate by stealing from the Dragonborn city watcher. Dnee notices a little hand reaching for his brisket.
As Dneevar reaches for the nibs and shards to pay for his meal and his wine, he is utterly surprised when Bonnie comes around to tell him that his round has already been paid for. "Oh... uh, thanks," he manages to say. "Tell her thanks for me." Dneevar sips his mulled wine absent-mindedly. "What kind of idiot," he thinks out loud, "would fall for someone like me?" His voice has a gruff tone. The dragonborn is about to chow down on his brisket, when suddenly a little hand comes out of nowhere. He knows instantly who it is. The little halfling pickpocket. He holds back a smile as he pretends not to notice her taking a piece of brisket, uttering an almost silent "You're welcome" to no direction in particular. As Threestrings plays his tune, Dneevar hums along, but he can't help but staring back at the girl with fiery red hair. Why would she choose me? he wonders, before suddenly recognizing her as his old pupil from when he took up tutoring as a side job. Odd how she's still trying to thank me after all these years... He goes back to sipping his mulled wine.
As much of the tavern crowds around Aimee, in awe of this manic, grinning girl, clapping and singing enthusiastically, a few patrons throw some nibs and shards at her feet.
A burly 7ft tall Half-orc comes over to the bar and slams a handful of shards down, making Bonnie jump slightly “Get me an ale new girl, winning makes me thirsty.” She flexes her muscles as she waits for Bonnie to pour her ale. A shout behind her, drowns out the sound of threestrings’ and Aimee’s song“Hey ya pig, like killin’ my mates do ya?” As the half orc turns she is hit by a wild swinging punch to the jaw, knocking her back into the bar.
Dnee and Alden feel their plates and glasses rattle as they see the assailant, a human male with a shaved head, covered in eye shaped tattoos, backed up by four other men. The half-orc roars, cracks her knuckles and leaps at the tattooed figure. As they career across the floor, a crowd engulfs them, leaving Aimee and threestrings without an audience.
Aimee looks at the coins at her feet in delighted surprise as the fight is going on behind her. She scoops the nibs and shards up and hands them to Threestrings,
"They love you! Look at all this money!"
She notice the fight then, her grin widening, and says,
"You should play the song about the crabby crab fighting with the grabby octopus! I always thought it would be great background music for a real fight!"
The Yawning Portal
The Yawning portal is a lively tavern, folks from all over Faerûn can be found in this bustling boozer. The place is a stone building with a slate roof and several chimneys. Most of the ground floor is taken up by the tavern’s common room, which contains a 40-foot-diameter open well (actually the outer shell of a sunken stone tower) that descends 140 feet to the first level of Undermountain, the sprawling dungeon under Waterdeep. A rope-and-pulley mechanism is used to lower adventurers into the well and hoist them out.
On this night the tavern is particularly raucous, ales, wines and delicious meals are being ferried to tables by the large floor team, and a few of the bar staff are running around but Durnan, a middle aged human in good shape with dark hair, moustache and sideburns, seems calm as he polishes a glass. As Alden enters he tavern he leans over the bar “Tables are full, come take a stool at the bar. Just don’t go asking me no stupid questions.” he gestures towards a stool next to Dneevar. “So, what’ll it be?”
On a wooden table in the common room, within view of the bar, Rose Red and Trani are sat as Bonnie, a soft featured red haired human, comes over to take their order “Hi, what can I get for you..... oh Trani, I’m so glad you could make it! My friend is just tuning up, you’ll hear him soon! Who’ve you brought here?” She smiles sweetly towards Rose.
As “Threestrings steps into the common room clearing his throat he notices his two young fans Lysslin and Aimee. ”Oh h,h,hi you two! I’m surprised Durnan let you in here.. I mean - thank you for coming.” He stiffly juts his hand out to shake. “Say.. d,do you have maybe a request for the first song?”
Gilgin Hardhammer - Mountain Dwarf Cleric (Forge Domain) - Icewind Dale
Petal - Forest Gnome Druid (Circle of the Land - Forest) - Unsung Heroes of Embera
"Yup, ol' Durnan let us right in... How about the one about the silly horse that wanted to be a knight?", pipes up the little halfling girl.
DM: Forged in Chaos, Spiders of the Abyss, The Sundered Way, Champions of the Citadel
Active Characters:
Breldo, Halfling Ranger | Kathryn, Wood Elf Rogue/Ranger | Kroshav, Dragonborn Paladin | T'laren Farsiel, Wood Elf Fighter | Trill, Kenku Bard | Val "Janellae", Mark of Shadow Elf Warlock
Dneevar is an intimidating figure, towering at 6'8" and 285 pounds of mostly muscle, but truly a gentle giant. The dragonborn sits at the counter, fingers rubbing his temples, and appears to be in deep thought. His silvery-white scales almost reflect the light from the lanterns strewn across the tavern. "Mulled wine, extra cinnamon, please," he finally tells Durnan. Dneevar wears a sleeveless vest with loose cargo pants. He traces the deep scars on his chest, which seem not too fresh but not old either. Heartily applauding the musician who just finished their performance, he takes his mind off whatever is bothering him at the moment, as he looks towards Alden, who has just taken a seat next to him. "How have you been this fine day?" Dneevar asks Alden in an attempt to socialize. "Oh yes, can I also get a salted pork brisket?" he interjects towards Durnan, mouth watering. His city watch badge falls out from his pocket, and he leans to try to pick it up off the ground. "So are you new to Waterdeep?" Dneevar turns back to query the young man in the stool next to him.
“Well, j,just be careful in here, all sorts of dangerous people frequent this tavern.” Threestrings warns the halfling. ”And Aimee, make sure Lyss looks out for you.”
The musician strums a slightly off key chord on his three stringed lute. “Yes, “The Beautiful Knight Mare“ One of my favourites! “
Gilgin Hardhammer - Mountain Dwarf Cleric (Forge Domain) - Icewind Dale
Petal - Forest Gnome Druid (Circle of the Land - Forest) - Unsung Heroes of Embera
Aimee walks past the proffered hand and hugs Threestrings with a wide smile. Not releasing him she says,
"This place is great! Durnan? That guy over there at the bar? He was busy!"
She lets him go and waves at Durnan before spinning back on Threestrings to agree with Lyss,
"I love that song! It's great! You know we look out for each other! I'm homeless now too so we can always do that, great huh!"
She heads over to look down the hole,
"Lyss! Have you ever been down there? Look they got a rope we can use!"
"Heya Bonnie," chirps Trani, a young slender gnome in a fine but plain set of robes. "This here is Rose - mind if I call ya Rose? - I bumped into her in the marketplace and she's got something I think I can fix up to make work better. It's a music box like I got for ya," Trani fiddles with a gadget lying on the table, "but not as well made... though I do see some clever ideas at work I may have to use in the future.
"I'll have my usual... ya got roasted chicken, right? And a flagon of wine to wash it down with."
She cringes slightly as the off-key notes are played but tries to cover up her discomfort before anyone sees her reacting to a fellow performer.
"Eh, my dad always says 'stop acting like a damn fool and like the lady ya supposed to be'," laughs Trani. "I'm a fair bit of a disappointment to the old man, but I can't help it. Besides, it's funny to watch his face turn red."
"Aimee, if we go down the well, we'll miss Threestring's song.", Lyss placates her friends exuberant excesses.
((Knight Mare wasn't even a pun I was consciously aware of when I posted the song suggestion. Well done!))
DM: Forged in Chaos, Spiders of the Abyss, The Sundered Way, Champions of the Citadel
Active Characters:
Breldo, Halfling Ranger | Kathryn, Wood Elf Rogue/Ranger | Kroshav, Dragonborn Paladin | T'laren Farsiel, Wood Elf Fighter | Trill, Kenku Bard | Val "Janellae", Mark of Shadow Elf Warlock
Alden nods and takes a seat at the bars lowering into the stool as he manourvers his equipment so that it does not get in the way. He gives another nod to Dneevar before answering. "I'll take an ale and something to fill an empty belly if you've got anything good for that. Only question I have is of you know anywhere a man with a sword can find work?" Even if he had work currently it never hurts to see what else there was.
“Aimee no!” Threestrings shouts out “That well leads to the undermountain, it’s a very dangerous place, full of beasties.” He composes himself before starting his song, his shrill, wobbly voice just missing some notes and a few chords being fumbled.
“I could be a sweet steeed or a beautiful knight mare, either way I- I just want to be a hero.”
The awful noise fills the room, causing much discomfort to poor Trani. Bonnie finishes up totalling their bill “So Trani, that will be 7 shards, did you want white or red? and for you Rose, wow, it’s a pretty expensive wine, 10 dragons for the bottle, and 8shards for the meal.” As Rose hands over the dragon bonnie goes red “Why, thank you! That’s so kind! I’ll get on that right away!” She hurries over to the bar.
At the bar, Durnan looks at Dnee with puzzlement, “Mulled wine? In the middle of summer? You Dragon folk sure are a strange lot. Right, it will take a minute that’ll be 4 nibs, and 3 shards for the brisket.”
He grunts at Alden, “We got some leftover meat and potatoes ye can have for 6 nibs if ye like. The ale will be 4.” As he pours out the ale he responds ”Looking for work huh, just like everyone here. You can find it if you’re not too picky about who ye do business with. Meloon over here is a bit past his prime, but he used to be a big deal over at force grey. He’s the old fart trying te impress those lassies over there. The half-orc lady making a small fortune arm wrestling those boys gets a lot of work out of Davil. Just... do yerself a favour and steer clear of Jalester in the corner over there, you don’t want any trouble with him.”
Bonnie strides over to the bar with a grin on her face, “Hey mister,” she addresses Dnee, brandishing a gold dragon. “Seems like you’ve got an admirer, that beautiful lady over there - goes by Rose Red. She’s paying for your next round.”
Durnan scoffs “Ha, the Ulbrinter girl! Boy you’re in it now Mulled Wine, she’s broken hearts all over town.”
Gilgin Hardhammer - Mountain Dwarf Cleric (Forge Domain) - Icewind Dale
Petal - Forest Gnome Druid (Circle of the Land - Forest) - Unsung Heroes of Embera
"I have no plans of making trouble. Just looking for honest work to pay for my time in the city. Either way I thank you." Alden says as he sets the coins with a few extra for the advice on the bar. He slowly turns his eyes over to the girl that they named as Red Rose. It see he had found the one he had been paid to check up on.
Alden sips at his ale as he keep a close watch on her.
While Threestrings is reliably distracting folks, Lyss takes a quick lap and snags a few bites for her and Aimee. A drumstick here, a few bites of spicy fish there...
DM: Forged in Chaos, Spiders of the Abyss, The Sundered Way, Champions of the Citadel
Active Characters:
Breldo, Halfling Ranger | Kathryn, Wood Elf Rogue/Ranger | Kroshav, Dragonborn Paladin | T'laren Farsiel, Wood Elf Fighter | Trill, Kenku Bard | Val "Janellae", Mark of Shadow Elf Warlock
As the song continues, food and drinks are brought out to all who ordered. The common room seem to chatter over the music, but don’t seem offended by it. (Can Lysslin make a sleight of hand check please.)
Gilgin Hardhammer - Mountain Dwarf Cleric (Forge Domain) - Icewind Dale
Petal - Forest Gnome Druid (Circle of the Land - Forest) - Unsung Heroes of Embera
Sleight of Hand: 21
DM: Forged in Chaos, Spiders of the Abyss, The Sundered Way, Champions of the Citadel
Active Characters:
Breldo, Halfling Ranger | Kathryn, Wood Elf Rogue/Ranger | Kroshav, Dragonborn Paladin | T'laren Farsiel, Wood Elf Fighter | Trill, Kenku Bard | Val "Janellae", Mark of Shadow Elf Warlock
Lysslin is easily able to steal food of the red lady and her gnome friend, she manages to take a bit of offalfrom the armoured man at the bar, and feeling confident decides to tempt fate by stealing from the Dragonborn city watcher. Dnee notices a little hand reaching for his brisket.
Gilgin Hardhammer - Mountain Dwarf Cleric (Forge Domain) - Icewind Dale
Petal - Forest Gnome Druid (Circle of the Land - Forest) - Unsung Heroes of Embera
As Dneevar reaches for the nibs and shards to pay for his meal and his wine, he is utterly surprised when Bonnie comes around to tell him that his round has already been paid for. "Oh... uh, thanks," he manages to say. "Tell her thanks for me." Dneevar sips his mulled wine absent-mindedly. "What kind of idiot," he thinks out loud, "would fall for someone like me?" His voice has a gruff tone. The dragonborn is about to chow down on his brisket, when suddenly a little hand comes out of nowhere. He knows instantly who it is. The little halfling pickpocket. He holds back a smile as he pretends not to notice her taking a piece of brisket, uttering an almost silent "You're welcome" to no direction in particular. As Threestrings plays his tune, Dneevar hums along, but he can't help but staring back at the girl with fiery red hair. Why would she choose me? he wonders, before suddenly recognizing her as his old pupil from when he took up tutoring as a side job. Odd how she's still trying to thank me after all these years... He goes back to sipping his mulled wine.
"Oh, ya!"
Aimee turns back to stand and watch Threestrings.
She sings joyfully along with him and claps to the melody!
"...A hero on fours legs, not simply one of the dregs..."
Performance: 10
As much of the tavern crowds around Aimee, in awe of this manic, grinning girl, clapping and singing enthusiastically, a few patrons throw some nibs and shards at her feet.
A burly 7ft tall Half-orc comes over to the bar and slams a handful of shards down, making Bonnie jump slightly “Get me an ale new girl, winning makes me thirsty.” She flexes her muscles as she waits for Bonnie to pour her ale. A shout behind her, drowns out the sound of threestrings’ and Aimee’s song“Hey ya pig, like killin’ my mates do ya?” As the half orc turns she is hit by a wild swinging punch to the jaw, knocking her back into the bar.
Dnee and Alden feel their plates and glasses rattle as they see the assailant, a human male with a shaved head, covered in eye shaped tattoos, backed up by four other men. The half-orc roars, cracks her knuckles and leaps at the tattooed figure. As they career across the floor, a crowd engulfs them, leaving Aimee and threestrings without an audience.
Gilgin Hardhammer - Mountain Dwarf Cleric (Forge Domain) - Icewind Dale
Petal - Forest Gnome Druid (Circle of the Land - Forest) - Unsung Heroes of Embera
Lyss makes it back to Aimee before the ruckus starts, grinning at her friend's dancing.
She gnaws at the drumstick while Threestring and Aimee perform, until her attention is drawn towards the fight!
DM: Forged in Chaos, Spiders of the Abyss, The Sundered Way, Champions of the Citadel
Active Characters:
Breldo, Halfling Ranger | Kathryn, Wood Elf Rogue/Ranger | Kroshav, Dragonborn Paladin | T'laren Farsiel, Wood Elf Fighter | Trill, Kenku Bard | Val "Janellae", Mark of Shadow Elf Warlock
Aimee looks at the coins at her feet in delighted surprise as the fight is going on behind her. She scoops the nibs and shards up and hands them to Threestrings,
"They love you! Look at all this money!"
She notice the fight then, her grin widening, and says,
"You should play the song about the crabby crab fighting with the grabby octopus! I always thought it would be great background music for a real fight!"