Ship's Prow

The Ship's Prow was an inn in the Dock Ward of Waterdeep.

Location
This inn stood at the western corner of the cramped intersection of Fish Street and Ship Street,  across from the Thirsty Sailor.

Structure
The Ship's Prow stood four stories tall. The establishment's name derived from the fact that it was converted into a building from the prow of a ship. Around the back of the building stood its unheated stables.

Due to years of harsh wind and weather, the exterior wooden boards of this building's upper floors and balconies were silvery in coloration by the mid 14 century DR. Gleaming from afar on moonlit nights.

A variety of interwoven protective spells, placed upon the building by its part-time cook, kept it from the danger of fire.

Interior
The floorboards of this building were quite warped by the mid 14 century DR, rising and falling in smooth curves like the deck of a ship in swells. The decorum was rather shabby, but it was cozy and homelike.

Atmosphere
The Ship's Prow was frequently visited by drunken sailors seeking a place to rest, Despite this clientele, the inn was relatively quiet most days and not prone to fights like other establishments that catered to sailors. Potential guests that were particularly rowdy, as well as smugglers and those dealing in shady goods, were always turned away by the proprietor.

Services
This inn offered its rooms at a rate of 4 silver pieces to 1 gold piece per night or 3 to 7 gold pieces per tenday. With the larger rooms and rooms on higher floors costing the most. The price of a room also brought with it a daily changing of bedsheets, a single bath per night &mdash;though bath water was taken from the harbor&mdash; stabling & feeding for a single animal, and unlimited drinking water. A jug of the inn's water stood within every room.

The Ship's Prow did not offer a wide selection of food, selling only smoked firefin, strong cheeses, and hardloaf bread. During the winter season their provender was bolstered by the addition of fish-head soup. In terms of beverages the inn sold no alcohol, offering only crushed mint-laced water that had been brought by barrel from wells near Amphail, though if one asked it could be prepared into tea.

Inhabitants
The inn was regularly inhabited by the wizard Shryndalla Ghaulduth, who part of the time acted as the inn's cook.

The last known propietor of the inn was a retired sailor by the name of Jhambrote Harkhardest, who rarely left the building and had an arrangement with the local guilds for supplies. Prior to him the inn was owned by Ulcap Rhiddyn and then Halagaster Brutheen.

History
Originally owned by Ulcap Rhiddyn, ownership of the Ship's Prow changed hands to Halagaster Brutheen under mysterious circumstances after Ulcap had one day disappeared. Unknown to others, Halagaster was in fact a red dragon and had devoured the previous owner. And his acquiring of the inn was part of a plot by the Cult of the Dragon.

Some time round the 1340's DR an adventuring company known as the Brandished Blade entered the Ship's Prow and sought to slay Halagaster, recognizing him as the shapechanged form of the red dragon they had been pursuing for some time. A great battle ensued, one so perilous that much of the Dock Ward could have been burned had the Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors not intervened in a timely manner. Halagaster was ultimately slain and the Dragon Cultists routed through the streets, though no trace of his hoard was ever found.

Following this incident, the Lords of Waterdeep were said to have granted the title of ownership to the Ship's Prow to Jhambrote Harkhardest. And in the years that followed it continued to be skulked by members of the Dragon Cult for reasons unknown.

Around the 1360's DR Volothamp Geddarm visited the establishment, seeking to write about it in his book Volos Guide to Waterdeep. He inquired with both Jhambrote and Shryndalla about the prior owner, but was solemnly rebuffed.

Reputation
The Ship's Prow was well known among sailors all across the Sword Coast and was well thought of by them, an assessment that Volothamp agreed with when he visited the inn himself. Though it was also notorious among some residents of Waterdeep for its past history involving the Cult of the Dragon.

The inn was also a popular trysting spot for young members of the city's nobility, who typically came wearing a mask in order to avoid detection from their peers.

Rumors & Legends
Some claimed that Halagaster had hollowed out a large cellar beneath the Ship's Prow and then broke his way into adjoining cellars, devouring their inhabitants. Though no trace of such a warren was ever found and those knowledgable of the local geography knew that such a large cellar would either flood or cause the building to collapse.