The Drunken Druid
The Drunken Druid Tavern
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Location Krakengate District,
Alexandria
Construction 1331
Associated Figures William Etheridge
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The Drunken Druid is a tavern and inn in the Krakengate district of Alexandria. It is three stories tall. The tavern is owned by William Etheridge.

It famously has a tree growing in the center of the tavern that grows up through the stories and out the top.

Features


  • The Druid's Greattree
  • Common Room
  • Bar
  • Stage
  • Kitchen
  • Icehouse
  • Storage
  • Larder
  • Balcony
  • The Long Room (20 camp beds)
  • Travelers Rooms (four beds to a room)
  • Guest Quarters (two beds to a room)
  • Grand Chambers (one bed suite)
  • Private Room
  • Treasure Room

History


During the Time of Mists, travel was uncommon and the Krakengate district was losing value. The House of Book was buying all the property in the district, including a shop that some accounts say was a clothing boutique, some claim was an armorer and others, an apothecary. Either way, an unnamed druid, either drunk from a nearby tavern or affected by wild mushrooms, entered the shop and (for reasons unknown) cast a spell to summon a large oak tree indoors, which severely damaged the three story building.

The building, independently owned by the Etheridge family, was repurposed into a balconied tavern, built around the living tree. The House of Book wanted to buy the property and tear down the tree, but were stopped by community efforts.

1380; strangers come to the Drunken Druid

Personae


Max Occupation is 140.

  • Owner
  • Barkeep
  • Ale Tappers
  • Bouncers
  • Chef

Regulars

  • Reni: Male Dwarf Cleric, Good. Reni has messy silver hair and hazel eyes, and pointed ears. He wears banded mail and wields a quarterstaff.
  • Roni: Female Dwarf Paladin, Good. Roni is exceptionally beautiful, with tangled white hair and green eyes. She wears splint mail and wields a ranseur. Roni seeks a company of adventurers to steal a caravan of exotic goods from a rival.
  • Meda: Female halfling Ranger, Good. Meda has long brown hair and narrow gray eyes, and prominent ears. She wears scale mail and wields a bastard sword and short bow. Meda seeks to discover the truth of her lineage.
  • Sian: Female half elf Ranger, Neutral. Sian is exceptionally beautiful, with messy auburn hair and amber eyes. She wears chain mail and wields a short sword. Sian is absent-minded and amoral.
  • Eldryth: Female elf Fighter, Neutral. Eldryth has a long face, with thin black hair and green eyes. She wears banded mail and wields a short sword and shield. Eldryth seeks to save her family from financial ruin.
  • Campthon: Male human Wizard, Evil. Campthon has thin auburn hair and light green eyes. He wears yellow robes and wields a quarterstaff and dagger. Campthon suffers a traumatic fear of necromancy and the undead.
  • Amira: Female human Fighter, Evil. Amira is tall, with thin auburn hair and amber eyes. She wears banded mail and wields a flail and shield. Amira has an animal companion, a ginger dog named Merey.
  • Edric: Male half elf Necromancer, Evil. Edric has thick white hair and amber eyes. He wears expensive clothing and wields a long sword.

Menu


The owner claims that anyone who can present him with a leaf from one of the world trees, may drink free for life.

  • Roasted Sausage and Barley Biscuits, Tankard of Beer (7 cp)
  • Steamed Partridge with Mace and Onion, Glass of Brandy (4 sp)
  • Roasted Drake and Acorn Bread, Glass of Port (3 sp)
  • Boiled Sausage and Parsnip, Tankard of Mead (8 cp)
  • Steamed Owlbear and Whey Cheese, Glass of Mead (4 sp)
  • Stewed Oxen and Pinenut Bread, Tankard of Ale (9 cp)

Ale & Mead

Huntress Moon 5 cp
Oberon’s Amber Bock 4 cp
Sir Philip’s Black Barley 3 cp
Uther Hill Bitter 7 cp

Other Beverages

Acorn coffee 2 cp
Eldran grog 5 sp
Griffon’s Feather Red Wine 2 gp
Highmount Icewine 8 gp
Buttermilk 3 cp
Dancing Mind Flayer 2 sp
Harmonic Dissonance 3 sp
Melodic Rhyme 1 sp
Unrequited Love 1 gp
Wizard Giggle 6 sp

Food

Bread, fresh 4 cp
Buttered hen and potatoes 2 gp
Gnomish apple fritters 5 cp
Hagus 7 cp
Hearthfire boar 6 gp
Hearthfire venison 8 gp
Kidney pie 1 sp
Marchpan pastries 2 gp
Marlowe’s seasonal stew 5 cp
Minced meat pie 7 sp
Shepard’s pie 1 sp
Spotted dick 2 sp
Sweetbreads 3 sp
Baked duck with rosehip gravy 1 sp
Black pudding and breadmash 9 cp
Oatbread, fresh 2 cp
Oatbread, nutpaste and jelly 3 cp
Steak and eggs, shire-style 4 cp
Triple-stewed pig knuckles 3 sp
Unleavened bread, day-old 1 cp
Unleavened bread, fresh 2 cp
Wanderers’ stew 2 cp

Other Services

Bath, per person 2 cp
Strongbox key, per night 5 sp
The Long Room, per night 5 sp
Traveler’s room, per night 2 gp
Guest quarters, per night 4 gp
The Grande Chamber, per night 12 gp

Wine List

Secret Menu



Amid the bustle ofWaterdeep, within the Castle Ward
where barristers, nobles, and emissaries battle with
word and contract, stands an inn not quite like any
other. Before there was a Castle Ward or even what
could be recognized as an ancestor of the City of Splendors,
there was a dungeon, and in that dungeon begins
the tale of the Yawning Portal.
In ages past, the mighty wizard Halaster built his
tower at the foot of Mount Waterdeep and delved deep
into tunnels first built by dwarves and drow in search
of ever greater magical power. Halaster and his apprentices
expanded the tunnels they found, worming out new
lairs under the surface for reasons of their own. In time,
their excavations grew into the vast labyrinth known
today as Undermountain, the largest dungeon in all of
the Forgotten Realms. Halaster eventually disappeared,
as have all his apprentices, but the massive complex he
built remains to this day.
For untold years, the secrets of Undermountain remained
hidden from the surface world. Everyone who
entered its halls failed to return. Its reputation as a
death trap grew to the point that criminals in Waterdeep
who were sentenced to die were forcibly escorted into
the dungeon and left to fend for themselves.
All of that changed with the arrival of two men, a
warrior named Durnan and a ne'er-do-well named Mirt.
The duo were the first adventurers to return from Undermountain,
laden with riches and magic treasures.
While Mirt used his wealth to buy a mansion, Durnan
had different plans. Durnan retired from adventuring
and purchased the land on which sat the deep, broad
well that was the only known entrance to the dungeon.
Around this well he built a tavern and inn that caters to
adventurers and those who seek their services, and he
called it the Yawning Portal.
Some of the magic Durnan looted on his successful
foray into Undermountain granted him a life span that
exceeds even that of an elf. And for decades Durnan left
delving into Undermountain to younger folk. Yet one
day, something drew him back. Days of waiting for his
triumphant return from the dungeon turned to months
and then years. For nearly a century, citizens ofWaterdeep
thought him dead. But one night, a voice called up
from the well. Few at first believed it could be Durnan,
but folk as long-lived as he vouched it so. The Yawning
Portal had passed into the hands of his ancestors, but
Durnan returned with enough riches for them to quietly
retire. Durnan took his customary place behind the bar,
raised a toast to his own safe return, and then began
serving customers as if he'd never left.
Adventurers from across Faerun, and even from elsewhere
in the great span of the multiverse, visit the Yawning
Portal to exchange knowledge about Undermountain
and other dungeons. Most visitors are content to swap
stories by the hearth, but sometimes a group driven by
greed, ambition, or desperation pays the toll for entry
and descends the well. Most don't survive to make the
return trip, but enough come back with riches and tales
of adventure to tempt other groups into trying their luck.

OTHER DENIZENS
The Yawning Portal is host to a variety of regular visitors,
most of whom offer services to adventurers. Chapter
4 of the Dungeon Master's Guide provides plenty
of resources for generating nonplayer characters. The
following table provides some possibilities for why an
individual is visiting the Yawning Portal.
DENIZENS OF THE YAWNING PORTAL
dlO Denizen
Devotee ofTymora, encourages adventures to seek out
quests, can cast bless
2 Bored, retired adventurer, claims to have explored
dungeon of note and can describe first few areas (20
percent chance of an accurate description)
3 Heckler, mocks cowards and makes bets that adventurers
won't return from an expedition
4 Con artist, selling fake treasure maps (but a 10 percent
chance that a map is genuine)
5 Wizard's apprentice, carefully making exact sketches of
various curios at her master's command
6 Spouse of a slain adventurer, who pays the toll for anyone
wanting to exit Undermountain and plots against
Durnan
7 Zhentarim agent, seeks rumors of treasure, tails any
folk who return from Undermountain and notes their
home base for future robbery
8 Agent of the Xanathar, ordered to "steal the hat worn
by the eighth person to enter the taproom this night"
9 Magically preserved corpse in a coffin leaning against
the bar; if asked about it, Durnan says, "He's waiting
for someone," and nothing more
10 El minster, incognito; 10 percent chance he is on an
errand of cosmic importance; otherwise, he's pressing
Durnan for gossip

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