The Deepfires

The Deepfires was an inn in the subterranean city of Skullport in Undermountain in the mid–14th century DR.

Location
The Deepfires was situated in the Lower Heart ward of Skullport. It could be found by following the bellows of the Raging Bull, a minotaur imprisoned by a forgotten slaver in an almost-unbreakable cage suspended from the cave ceiling just outside the inn's doors. None could free him, and he became a notorious local landmark. The goblin twins Nyk and Nok kept the area below swept clean of dung.

Structure
The inn was a three-story building and in good condition. It apparently held some secret passages.

Interior
The interior decoration was tasteful and luxurious. Rooms held furniture carved of dark wood and large feather beds. There was even a heated bathroom on each floor, permitting comfortable bathing and a way to wash off the muck of Skullport.

There were a good number of alcoves and salons available to patrons. They allowed privacy or intimacy, and providing a relaxing and uninterrupted dining experience for patrons.

Atmosphere
The Deepfires was a quiet and subdued establishment but had a warm and inviting air that promised comfort, peace, and safety.

Services
The staff of the Deepfires were courteous to the guests and helpful and obliging to their needs.

The meals and beverages on the menu—particularly broths and soups—were of excellent quality. However, they had prices to match: a meal and drink would cost one around 10 gp.

Defenses
The inn employed a number of bouncers and bodyguards to prevent the patrons from being disturbed. They stood among the patrons, discreet but ready to respond. There were some half-dozen on duty at a time, all capable warriors in chain mail and wielding clubs, broad swords, and darts coated with a poison that caused a target to briefly fall unconscious.

Ownership
The proprietor of the Deepfires was widely believed to be Vhondryl, who had permanent rooms there and easy access to its secret passages and the services of its bodyguards. In fact, these were a gift from her close companion, Raella Hiess, the real behind-the-scenes proprietress. The two had an arrangement whereby Vhondryl pretended to be the proprietress and Raella acted as an ordinary barmaid. Raella worked as a barmaid, took care of guests and their need, and scheduled meetings between Vhondryl's own clients and customers in the poison trade. Raella used the Deepfires as a means of gathering information for the Lords of Waterdeep.

History
The Skulls of Skullport once ordered someone to go and polish the bar at the Deepfires, just one of the many bizarre demands they made.

Inhabitants
The Deepfires saw a number of important or colorful patrons.

In the mid–14th century DR, wounded cartographer Aekyl Dafyre took rooms at the Deepfires and a place at the bar, and drank away his sorrows until the Skulls sent him on a more profitable errand. He later opened his new business close to the inn.

Through the 1360s DR, the mage and information broker Irusyl Eraneth could often be found in the Deepfires (or else in the Burning Troll]), seated in the back of the taproom and where she could face the door. A friend of Raella, she also used the inn as a place to gather information. Her apprentice Liak sometimes kept rooms at the Deepfires.

In Eleasis of the Year of the Tankard, 1370 DR, a Waterdeep-based Calishite merchant named Sammereza Sulphontis stayed at the Deepfires whilst negotiating trade alliances with Vhondryl and the House Tanor'Thal drow.