Bold Bard

The Bold Bard was a tavern in the town of Ghars, Cormyr, in the mid-to-late 14 century DR.

Location
The tavern stood in the center of town.

Structure
Outside, it had a colonnade, where patrons could tie their mounts to the study posts. Inside, the tavern included a common room with the bar. Behind it, an enclosed corridor led to the privy, which was lit by a lantern, and a closet for cleaning supplies: broom, a bucket on a rope, and a pile of rags.

Description
Volo considered the place rather pleasant, albeit rustic. Jasper thought it tended toward hot, smoky, and smelly, at least in summer or early autumn and he discovered mice in the cleaning closet.

Atmosphere
Its central location made it a popular gathering spot, both for the townsfolk and farmers and for visiting merchants, travelers, and adventurers in Ghars. It had an atmosphere of camaraderie. It was dimly lit.

Services
The Bold Bard sold a wider ranger of beverages than its rival, the Swamp Rat, and Shortshanks was proud not to water them down. Drinks on offer included ales like North Brew and Old One Eye, clarry, mead, and lagers like Golden Sands Orange, and those it didn't have could be ordered in for special occasions. For the sobriety-inclined, Shortshanks would brew coffee and add cream.

Among the meals available were bread, cheese, cod pie,  flaky pork pie, venison steak, and soup.

Staff
Circa 1367 DR, the owner and tavernkeeper was a dwarf known only as Shortshanks. Bad tempered and humorless, he made a poor host, but a better bouncer, thanks to his trusty oak mallet. He was aided by long-suffering barmaid Sunfirth, who delivered drinks and food and cleaned up the same after the brawls that broke out between patrons. The tavern had an account book in which were recorded the takings and the cost of damages.

History
The Bold Bard was once owned by a jovial gnome who, on his passing, bequeathed it in his will to the decidedly non-jovial dwarf Shortshanks, for the sole reason of trying to make him smile at last. In this, he completely failed.

Then a rival tavern, the Swamp Rat, opened outside of Ghars in the. It immediately stole customers and business from the Bold Bard, previously the only tavern in town, which angered Shortshanks, who complained of the Rat's poor-quality, watered-down drinks. However, sightings of the ghost of the bandit chieftain Fastred caused the Swamp Rat's business to drop off sharply as customers went back to the Bold Bard. So Shortshanks thought this was all great for the Bold Bard's business.

On the night of Eleint 16, Jasper visited the Bold Bard to purchase a cask of clarry for his master Benelaius and stayed for a cod pie and Golden Sands Orange while he chatted about the ghost and other matters with the local chandler and tailor and to watch the patrons. The merchant Barthelm Meadowbrock, his daughter Mayella Meadowbrock, and her little dog Muzlim came for a meal; Barthelm nagged Shortshanks for a butt of Westgate Ruby for the welcoming dinner of the upcoming Grand Council of the Merchants' Guild. Next, Mayor Tobald and king's envoy Grodoveth arrived, though the latter made a crude advance that upset Mayella and angered Barthelm, not to mention the dog. Then blacksmith's assistant Dovo tried the same, this time angering Rolf, a roofer and friend of Mayella. A brawl ensured, the Meadowbrocks departed, and Shortshanks threw Rolf out by his ear. The next notable arrival was the adventuress Kendra, and when Dovo and then Grodoveth tried it on with her, she drove them off herself. Such events might be an unremarkable evening, but they would lead to a series of deaths—Dovo's and Grodoveth's.

After Dovo was murdered and exposed as faking the ghost sightings on the morning of Eleint 17, retired War Wizard Benelaius bade Jasper pass another evening at the Bold Bard to begin his investigation. Jasper spoke with Mayor Tobald and then Shortshanks to get a list of dates of the ghost sightings. Shortshanks feared people would go back to the Swamp Rat, but was optimistic that they'd fear the murderer more. Jasper later discovered Dovo's cloak and hat stashed in the cleaning closet, and stole them. While trying to ascertain if various suspects were right- or left-handed, Jasper threw a piece of cheese at Rolf to see how he caught it. The cheese instead hit him in the head and landed in his ale, but Jasper got his answer when Rolf hit him with his right. And again Rolf was thrown out of the Bold Bard. Finally, Jasper released the mice he'd found in the cleaning closet for a distraction and, while Sunfirth and Shortshanks hunted mice, he found the accounts book and stole that too for the investigation. Unfortunately, this stunt drove the customers out and to the Swamp Rat and elsewhere for the evening.

Examining the evidence later, Benelaius, Lindavar, and Jasper theorized that the presence of Dovo's clothes implied he'd been using the Bold Bard as his base for posing as the ghost, and furthermore that Shortshanks was in on it, for the purpose of driving business away from the Swamp Rat. From the accounts book, they correlated Grodoveth's visits and the ghost sightings, but found nothing shady in Shortshanks's dealings. They later discounted Shortshanks from their investigation; most likely, Tobald or Grodoveth had planted Dovo's clothes in the tavern to shift focus to the Bold Bard and away the Swamp Rat, which they were using for their spying ring.