The Yawning Portal Inn stands on Rainrun Street in the city's Castle Ward, two doors west of The Empty Keg Tavern. Right next to the inn, between it and the Keg, stands Madam Salinka's House of Pleasure, a shabby, low-coin house of negotiable affection.
The story of The Yawning Portal is well known - Durnan the First built his inn over the foundations of a long vanished tower, known to lead to the Undermountain, where no sane or respectable Waterdhavian would care to tread. The inn has been in his family ever since, and is currently run by Durnans the 6th and 7th, a mother and son team who find running the tavern and the social capital it gains them rather more congenial than trawling through the Undermountain themselves.
Inside, the place is rambling and comfortably dingy, and loud with the thrum of conversation. Well-worn boards cover the floor, and the air smells of a mix of acrid smoke from the fires, tallow candles and stale beer. Wood paneling adorns the walls, with an elbow rail usually crowded with not-quite-empty tankards. Faded and stained blue tapestries hang at intervals along the paneled walls, as do assorted wanted posters, missing persons notices and equipment for sale adverts. All the furniture is heavy, stout wood built to withstand a small siege. There are three floors of guest rooms generally rented by adventurers with more coin than sense, bards looking for drama, and faction members keeping an ear out for rumour, reached by steep wooden stairs and balconies opening off the common room.
The infamous Entry Well dominates the Common room, and is an open-topped stone ring 40 feet in diameter. A 1-foot-thick rampart wall rises 3 feet high, encircling damp air that drifts straight up from Undermountain, and a block-and-tackle hoist is chained to a stone lintel in the ceiling directly over the well. The well's dry shaft descends 140 feet from the lip of the rampart to the sand-strewn stone floor of the first level of Undermountain. The shaft tapers as it descends, from 40 feet across at the top to 30 feet across at the bottom.
Those desiring to enter Undermountain are expected to provide their own weapons, gear, and light sources, though the Durnans are happy to sell basic supplies such as torches, water bags and rations for 1cp each. Obaya Uday has a suite on the third floor and acts as a merchant of magical items, buying and selling plunder from the Undermountain, and has a particular interest in acquiring spellbooks.
A fee of 1 gp per person must be paid to either Durnan to use the well - up or down. You can climb on your own or get lowered by the hoist, as long as you pay the fee. Durnan also runs a very popular betting book for patrons who want to place bets on adventurers descending the well and their odds of returning alive.
You know the Yawning Portal well. You’ve been drinking here a lot since you started working together, and hearing tales of the riches and challenges of the undermountain - lost Elven thrones, a sword of emerald, even a planar skyship! - has piqued your interest rather more than the odd jobs you’ve been taking for the last year, as has a bet with Pergil Grryhmballhast, the noble Dragonborn leader of The Silvercloaks, that you won’t make it more than a week before you come crawling back to the well, begging to be let back up.
As you’ve been prepping for your run, you’ve also been approached with two jobs - to venture into the Undermountain all the way to Skullport - appealing, given your intention to head that way anyway. One of the bards who plays in the tavern, Threestrings, has a favour owed to a drow, Cal’al Claddani, who runs the Flagon and Dragon in Skullport, and wants a pouch of moonstones delivered to her. The second job also takes you to Skullport - Lady Esvele Rosznar believes her brother, Kressando, went to Skullport with foul intentions, and wants him found. She says that if you can facilitate either his return or give her news on his fate, her family will be in your debt.
You stand in the common room - prepped and ready to descend. Any last requests?
Maruck spends the last few moments before they go down, checking over his equipment to make sure that he has everything he will need for their venture. Once satisfied he he will move to stand by the entrance to the well. As he steps towards it he will wink at an female elf who he is not even sure noticed him.
"One week down here should be nothing to us. I will relish the look of disappointment on Pergil's face when he loses his bet..."
Wendy downs the last few drops in his mug and hops down from his chair. He moves past the murmur of the current patrons and checks his buckler straps, his crossbow’s mechanism, and his pole. Once he knows everything is functioning well, he nods, sitting in the edge of the well, awaiting others.
You’re all paid up with the Durnans, and it’s a matter of moments to get everyone settled in the winch’s sling as the crowd cheers and jeers at the prospect of another descent. It’s 140 feet down to the base of the well, and takes a full minute to descend. The noise of the crowd fades out, far more quickly than you would expect - you’re barely 30 feet down before it’s absolutely silent, with just the noise of your breathing and the creak of the sling.
You touch down on a dirty sand floor, in a room that’s 40ft on a side. The walls are lined with battered and rusty shields, and it appears that, aside from climbing back up the well, the only exit is through a tunnel to the south.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
It smack of trope but... search for traps & secret doors (perception20)
Feeling more in her element underground, Taj lifts a foreclaw to stay the others, "Careful now". Drawing upon ((both)) her years of experience in the Cellarers' and Plumbers' guild, she slowly and methodically begins to check the walls and floor for anything out of the ordinary.
Maruck will move forward and push any of the shields out of his way. He will turn back to the others and looks at them. "So we need a marching order and a watch schedule for when we stop to rest. If any scouting needs to be done I will do so if that is what you all want."
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Wendy will pull one of the shields down to see if there is anything behind them, and just generally look around the room and the passage. His hand is always hovering near his crossbow. “Who’s going ahead?”
When Wendy and Maruck touch the shields, a section of the display collapses to the floor, revealing a message that was scrawled behind one of them that none of you can read.
Wendy, looking around, you notice a strange break in the stonework - there’s a hidden door in the northeast corner. No handles or hinges - it looks completely flush with the wall. After the crash of the shields, you’re just able to pick out the sound of retreating footfalls as whoever watched your entry stumbled and betrayed their presence.
Hearing the sounds of retreating, Wendy sighs and turns to back to others. “Well, we already kind of ****ed up. Someone was listening”, he points to the door, “Maybe we should go through there? I doubt there’d be any surprises.”
He pokes it a little with his pole to see how sturdy it fells.
Minda tests the hidden door with her hands and shoulder, then attempts to bash it in with a short distance powerful direct kick (7, +5 for straight strength or +8 for athletics)
"As I said I will scout ahead. With my training I will be hard to spot by any creature that needs to use their darkvision to see me." Maruck says as he waits for the two to finish with the door, his hand rest near one of his shortswords as they wait.
As Wendy looks over the door - there doesn’t appear to be a keyhole, nowhere to try and pick a lock. Just the hidden outline of a door in breaks in the stone.
Minda says, "I'm not really sure what to make of this. Someone was definitely watching, but not sure if waiting for us or someone else. As we can't get through the door then we don't have a lot of options left. We can hide against this wall and wait for the person to come back, but then we would still be facing the same unopenable door. Or we could head out on the path in front of us and see what happens."
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The Yawning Portal Inn stands on Rainrun Street in the city's Castle Ward, two doors west of The Empty Keg Tavern. Right next to the inn, between it and the Keg, stands Madam Salinka's House of Pleasure, a shabby, low-coin house of negotiable affection.
The story of The Yawning Portal is well known - Durnan the First built his inn over the foundations of a long vanished tower, known to lead to the Undermountain, where no sane or respectable Waterdhavian would care to tread. The inn has been in his family ever since, and is currently run by Durnans the 6th and 7th, a mother and son team who find running the tavern and the social capital it gains them rather more congenial than trawling through the Undermountain themselves.
Inside, the place is rambling and comfortably dingy, and loud with the thrum of conversation. Well-worn boards cover the floor, and the air smells of a mix of acrid smoke from the fires, tallow candles and stale beer. Wood paneling adorns the walls, with an elbow rail usually crowded with not-quite-empty tankards. Faded and stained blue tapestries hang at intervals along the paneled walls, as do assorted wanted posters, missing persons notices and equipment for sale adverts. All the furniture is heavy, stout wood built to withstand a small siege. There are three floors of guest rooms generally rented by adventurers with more coin than sense, bards looking for drama, and faction members keeping an ear out for rumour, reached by steep wooden stairs and balconies opening off the common room.
The infamous Entry Well dominates the Common room, and is an open-topped stone ring 40 feet in diameter. A 1-foot-thick rampart wall rises 3 feet high, encircling damp air that drifts straight up from Undermountain, and a block-and-tackle hoist is chained to a stone lintel in the ceiling directly over the well. The well's dry shaft descends 140 feet from the lip of the rampart to the sand-strewn stone floor of the first level of Undermountain. The shaft tapers as it descends, from 40 feet across at the top to 30 feet across at the bottom.
Those desiring to enter Undermountain are expected to provide their own weapons, gear, and light sources, though the Durnans are happy to sell basic supplies such as torches, water bags and rations for 1cp each. Obaya Uday has a suite on the third floor and acts as a merchant of magical items, buying and selling plunder from the Undermountain, and has a particular interest in acquiring spellbooks.
A fee of 1 gp per person must be paid to either Durnan to use the well - up or down. You can climb on your own or get lowered by the hoist, as long as you pay the fee. Durnan also runs a very popular betting book for patrons who want to place bets on adventurers descending the well and their odds of returning alive.
You know the Yawning Portal well. You’ve been drinking here a lot since you started working together, and hearing tales of the riches and challenges of the undermountain - lost Elven thrones, a sword of emerald, even a planar skyship! - has piqued your interest rather more than the odd jobs you’ve been taking for the last year, as has a bet with Pergil Grryhmballhast, the noble Dragonborn leader of The Silvercloaks, that you won’t make it more than a week before you come crawling back to the well, begging to be let back up.
As you’ve been prepping for your run, you’ve also been approached with two jobs - to venture into the Undermountain all the way to Skullport - appealing, given your intention to head that way anyway. One of the bards who plays in the tavern, Threestrings, has a favour owed to a drow, Cal’al Claddani, who runs the Flagon and Dragon in Skullport, and wants a pouch of moonstones delivered to her. The second job also takes you to Skullport - Lady Esvele Rosznar believes her brother, Kressando, went to Skullport with foul intentions, and wants him found. She says that if you can facilitate either his return or give her news on his fate, her family will be in your debt.
You stand in the common room - prepped and ready to descend. Any last requests?
Maruck spends the last few moments before they go down, checking over his equipment to make sure that he has everything he will need for their venture. Once satisfied he he will move to stand by the entrance to the well. As he steps towards it he will wink at an female elf who he is not even sure noticed him.
"One week down here should be nothing to us. I will relish the look of disappointment on Pergil's face when he loses his bet..."
Taj is visibly nervous about this venture and huddles close to Minda, touching the charm at her neck for comfort.
Minda checks with the innkeep, "So the markings to reach Skullport are all there and fresh, right? Do you have a map we could buy just in case?"
Ruvlo is excited, hopping up and down, anxious to discover what the Undermountain looks like.
Wendy downs the last few drops in his mug and hops down from his chair. He moves past the murmur of the current patrons and checks his buckler straps, his crossbow’s mechanism, and his pole. Once he knows everything is functioning well, he nods, sitting in the edge of the well, awaiting others.
You’re all paid up with the Durnans, and it’s a matter of moments to get everyone settled in the winch’s sling as the crowd cheers and jeers at the prospect of another descent. It’s 140 feet down to the base of the well, and takes a full minute to descend. The noise of the crowd fades out, far more quickly than you would expect - you’re barely 30 feet down before it’s absolutely silent, with just the noise of your breathing and the creak of the sling.
You touch down on a dirty sand floor, in a room that’s 40ft on a side. The walls are lined with battered and rusty shields, and it appears that, aside from climbing back up the well, the only exit is through a tunnel to the south.
What would you like to do?
Map link
It smack of trope but... search for traps & secret doors (perception 20)
Feeling more in her element underground, Taj lifts a foreclaw to stay the others, "Careful now". Drawing upon ((both)) her years of experience in the Cellarers' and Plumbers' guild, she slowly and methodically begins to check the walls and floor for anything out of the ordinary.
Maruck will move forward and push any of the shields out of his way. He will turn back to the others and looks at them. "So we need a marching order and a watch schedule for when we stop to rest. If any scouting needs to be done I will do so if that is what you all want."
Wendy will pull one of the shields down to see if there is anything behind them, and just generally look around the room and the passage. His hand is always hovering near his crossbow. “Who’s going ahead?”
Perception: 18
"I think I'd...I'd be better somewhere in the middle?" quavers Taj, looking to Minda for reassurance.
When Wendy and Maruck touch the shields, a section of the display collapses to the floor, revealing a message that was scrawled behind one of them that none of you can read.
Wendy, looking around, you notice a strange break in the stonework - there’s a hidden door in the northeast corner. No handles or hinges - it looks completely flush with the wall. After the crash of the shields, you’re just able to pick out the sound of retreating footfalls as whoever watched your entry stumbled and betrayed their presence.
Hearing the sounds of retreating, Wendy sighs and turns to back to others. “Well, we already kind of ****ed up. Someone was listening”, he points to the door, “Maybe we should go through there? I doubt there’d be any surprises.”
He pokes it a little with his pole to see how sturdy it fells.
Minda tests the hidden door with her hands and shoulder, then attempts to bash it in with a short distance powerful direct kick (7, +5 for straight strength or +8 for athletics)
“Ooh! Let me help! Let me help!” Ruvlo says, bashing it in as well.
STR check: 4
If that doesn’t work, Ruvlo shoots at the door with blasts of sunlight.
Attack: 10 Damage: 4
Attack: 12 Damage: 4
Attack: 19 Damage: 6
"As I said I will scout ahead. With my training I will be hard to spot by any creature that needs to use their darkvision to see me." Maruck says as he waits for the two to finish with the door, his hand rest near one of his shortswords as they wait.
The hidden door doesn’t budge - it may be magically locked.
“Hold on. Let me try.”
Wendy teles out his Thieves tools and tries to unlock the door that way. Check: 20
He also hands the pole to Maruck. “Useful for checking for traps in front.”
As Wendy looks over the door - there doesn’t appear to be a keyhole, nowhere to try and pick a lock. Just the hidden outline of a door in breaks in the stone.
Minda says, "I'm not really sure what to make of this. Someone was definitely watching, but not sure if waiting for us or someone else. As we can't get through the door then we don't have a lot of options left. We can hide against this wall and wait for the person to come back, but then we would still be facing the same unopenable door. Or we could head out on the path in front of us and see what happens."