Gallowgar's Inn

Gallowgar's Inn, nicknamed the Manure Pile to some, was an inn in the city of Elturel in the Western Heartlands in the mid–14 century DR. It was owned and operated by Guldin Gallowgar, who was the only reason it was famous.

Location
It lay among the stockyards by the docks in Elturel's Dock District.

Description
It was an assemblage of mismatched former warehouses, awkwardly joined and sprawling in every direction like a spider's web. Inside, it was cozy and well worn, even ramshackle, with basic furniture and low beams. It was warm and dim, but most noticeable was the smell of the stockyards, especially in summer. The stink of rotting cow dung was in everything.

Staff
The inn's proprietor and genial host was Guldin Gallowgar, a retired adventurer and businessman. He was very well-connected and rumored to be quite wealthy, but there was absolutely no sign of any of this in his inn. He did give free advice on where to find people and things, seemingly anywhere in Faerûn, and also sponsored caravans and adventuring companies for a cut of their takings. Thus, Gallowgar's Inn was a preferred stop for poor caravaners and adventurers.

Services
The food and drink were plain, but any lack of taste was covered by the smell of manure. Meals included thick slices of salty bread; wedges of a sharp-spiced local cheese; salt stews of hare, trout, or shrimps and clams (imported by barge up the River Chionthar); and river minnows fried in eggs and seasoned with a bare handful of crushed wayflowers and a hint of tansy, for what good it did. Plates of food and bowls of stew were all 5 gp, with two tallglasses or tankards included in the price. A flagon of mead was 1 sp and a tankard of ale alone was 5 gp.

Rooms included hot baths and stabling for mounts. Depending on size and location, prices ranged from 4 gp to 10 gp a night, with most being 6 gp.

As Lord Dhelt decreed that inns and taverns could not operate under the same roof, and inns could not serve drinks, Gallowgar's was expressly an inn.

History
Gallowgar's Inn was established some time before 1358 DR. It was still operating through the 1360s DR, and was well known, even infamous, circa 1366 DR. The famed travelogue writer Volothamp Geddarm visited Gallowgar's Inn and wrote of it in his Volo's Guide to the Sword Coast around 1366 DR. He considered it to be among the more interesting—or in other words, "shady and rough"—inns in Elturel.