Helm and Cloak

The Helm and Cloak is a high-end inn and feasting hall in the city of Baldur’s Gate. It is highly popular both with travelers and with local residents, who enjoy its dining room. It is also home to the majority of the Knights of the Unicorn, who currently rent the majority of an upper floor. Its "signboard" consists of a weathered cloak draped over an exeterior balcony on one side and an enormous helm hanging over the door on the other.

Patronage
The Helm is much favored by individuals of power in Baldur’s Gate. Numerous business deals are negotiated in its dining alcoves every day. Its clientelle largely fall into two categories: locals coming to dine in the festhall and well-to-do travellers coming to enjoy the elegant accomodations.

There is an entire floor set up for long-term occupancy, largely occupied at present by the Knights of the Unicorn. These Knights are romantic adventurers, commonly described as "elegant buffoons." They make pleasant if slightly absurd company for any patron with good manners and a sense of humor.

Architecture and Decor
The inn actually consists of two connected buildings. The smaller of the two faces onto Windspell Street at the crossroads near the Ducal Palace. The larger is an old rooming house which faces the Hall of Wonders. The helm hangs above the door of the former building, the cloak above the door of the latter.

The smaller house was once the residence of a priestess of Sune, and as such its ceilings are painted with numerous scenes of passion and debauchery. These have drawn more than a few raised eyebrows over the years, but never any actual complaints. The furnishings in both buildings are traditional and elegant, somehow managing to avoid being gaudy and overdone. The Helm’s interior decor is widely considered a paradigm of expensive good taste.

Rumors persist of elegantly furnished garret chambers reached by secret passages and about treasure hidden beneath the rooming-house building (attributed to long-ago pirates, naturally). The staff politely discourages inquiries on either subject.

Provender
The Helm’s cuisine is served in generous platters suitable for several ordinary people. Dishes such as fried onion-and-spiced-tubers, candied meats, jellied eels, fresh fish in hot lemon sauce, and glazed and stuffed fowl are representative of the menu at large. Most dishes are cooked in wine.

The inn’s wine cellar is vast, both in variety and in quantity. The Knights of the Unicorn have a particular taste for Saerloonian glowfire wine, and often purchase several barrels of an evening. The contents of the cellar are only sold to non-residents in smaller quantities. Also available are a mediocre variety of mead and cinnamon-spiced milk (hot or cold). No beer or hard liquor of any sort are sold on the premises, in order to prevent a tavern-like atmosphere from arising in the establishment.

Management and Staff
The staff of the Helm are courteous, welcoming, and swift in their duties. The inn is reknowned for its excellent service, especially little touches such as a warmed robe and slippers delivered to one’s room upon waking.

Services include hot baths, clothes-mending, dressing assistance, and as much mint water in-room as desired. All services except for stabling and food are inclusive in the room fee.

Although noted for their courtesy and thoughtfulness, it should be noted that the staff of the Helm and Cloak will not tolerate rudeness, disruptive behavior, and especially violence. On the rare occasions when an unruly visitor refuses to quiet down, she or he is swiftly and forcefully ejected from the establishment. The inn’s owners are also said to have close ties to the Flaming Fist mercenary company. The establishment is widely considered one of the safest in the city.

Prices

 * Mead and milk are 5cp/glass.
 * Wine is 3gp/tallglass, 10gp/greatgoblet (about 1 bottle), or 25gp/hand cask.
 * All platters of food are 10gp/ea.
 * Rooms range from 17-25gp/night, depending on size and location.
 * Stabling costs an extra 3gp/night/animal (the Helm is noted for providing the finest-quality hostlery).