Weeping Widow Inn

The Weeping Widow Inn was a welcoming but haunted inn in the town of Targos in Icewind Dale, open as of the early 14 century DR.

"Make ourselves at home – pull up a chair shake the chill off."

- Cahl-Hyred

Location
The Weeping Widow was perched atop a cliff that rose above the docks of Targos, overlooking the waters of Maer Dualdon.

Structure
The inn was a large two-storied square building with no windows on the first floor, but the guest rooms on the second floor had widows that opened into all four sides of the structure.

Interior
The inn's main entrance opened into a spacious taproom with a blazing fire pit at the center. It was surrounded by tables and chairs, a bar stand, and the check-in desk. Backrooms beyond the dining hall included storage space and a food pantry. The stairs led to the second floor, which began in a thin hallway with numerous rooms on both sides.

Services
The inn offered typical services of food, drink, and lodgings of moderate quality. Its bar was well-staffed with a variety of libations, including Cormyrean brandy and Knee-Cracker cider from the south.

History
Many years before the early 14 century DR, Veira waited for her beloved to return from Maer Dualdon in the inn's central room overlooking the lake. Her mate Donovan never came back to her. He perished in a storm. Veira's heart was broken, and she hurled herself out of the window to the base of the cliff. Since then, the central room remained closed with its broken window and overturned furniture. Veira appeared deep in the night, weeping for her lost love.

To keep his business going, the innkeeper Cahl-Hyred paid for a protective glyph to be inscribed on the room's door and the door – to be locked. The glyph was intended to restrict the ghost to a single room, stopping her from wandering across the inn. Cahl-Hyred felt for the poor woman but had no knowledge of how to help her.

In the, a mercenary priest of Myrkul named Koluhm Bonecutter rented a room for two nights at the Weeping Widow Inn during the Legion of the Chimera crisis. He possessed a gift that allowed Koluhm to death the dead. With the Weeping Widow Inn being haunted by its namesake apparition, the mercenary could get no rest from the Weeping Widow's cries and howling. Driven mad by the lack of sleep, Koluhm Bonecutter fled the inn without paying a single coin for his stay.

This was not fully true. Koluhm Bonecutter left a strange potion with Cahl-Hyred, what the priest promised to be more precious than the price of two nights at an inn. The innkeeper knew nothing about magic and was scared of opening the potion, let alone drinking it. Cahl-Hyred was just as afraid of angering a Myrkulyte and being turned into a zombie, so the innkeeper made peace with the loss of the coin. The "potion" was ordinary water; what held magic was the vial itself – a ghost-touched bottle, an enchanted item that held a piece of Ethereal plane within. Superstitious innkeeper wanted nothing touched by a ghost and suggested turning it in to Elytharra Dinnesmore, a spellcaster of some skill.

Inhabitants
In the early 14 century DR, the Weeping Widow Inn was run by Cahl-Hyred, a man broad in the beam. His three pet dogs usually occupied spots around the firepit.

The most infamous inhabitant of the inn, however, was Veira, a distraught ghost who appeared at night in a central room with a broken window that overlooked the great lake. She mourned the death of her mate Donovan in her undead unrest.

Appearances

 * Video Games
 * Icewind Dale II