Moonwyvern Inn

The Moonwyvern Inn was a favorite stopover on the Everlund Pass, especially for those doing business that would not be tolerated in most cities around Luruar. Clarshee Taraghe was the proprietress, circa the Year of Wild Magic, 1372 DR.

Location
The Moonwyvern Inn was located on the Everlund Pass south of Silverymoon, not quite half-way to Everlund. It was an easy one-day trip from Silverymoon on mounts, or about a three-day walk. It was nestled in the forest and did not have any close neighbors.

Structure
The building was three full floors plus inhabited attic space under a peaked roof with dormer windows, gabled extensions, haphazard rectangular cupolas, and many chimneys. The first floor was taller than the others and built of fitted stones and mortar. The upper floors were made of wood planks and shingles. The windows were of no particular style: some were flush with the wall, some were cut into awnings, some were bay windows, some were skylights. All windows had sturdy shutters with double-bar locks to keep out vermin and larger animals. Downspouts at the corners of the building collected rainwater in barrels (used for washing). Outside the door to the kitchen was a small garden and a path that led to the wood pile and further into the trees to a swimming hole for bathing. There was at least one other entrance on the back side of the inn.

Across the dirt road that went by the Moonwyvern Inn was a barn and stables complex where guests could lodge their horses. There was also an attached pig pen and a separate chicken coop.

Interior
Just through the double doors near the middle of the long front was a common room with a large fireplace, tables and chairs, and a front desk that also served as the bar (or vice versa). In the back-left corner was a stairway to the upper floors. Behind the bar was a door to a kitchen that had food shelves, a cutting table, and a cooking pot in a fireplace. Opposite the entrance to the kitchen was a door that led out to the garden.

The next two floors were all guest rooms situated on either side of central halls that ran the length of the building. The top floor was a hodgepodge of rooms with slanted walls or ceilings with skylights. Some had eyebrow dormer windows and others had gabled extensions that emerged from the crest of the roof.

The floor plan of the Moonwyvern Inn changed every so often as decay made some rooms uninhabitable until they were repaired or replaced. The frame was made of sturdy pillars and massive crossbeams, but many ill-advised architectural features had been tacked on over the years. In 1372 DR, the inn was about sixty years old.

The cellars directly beneath the inn were full of provisions and contained two deep wells that provided drinkable water. The basement was ostensibly the same size as the building above, but a large barrel keg on the wall below the main kitchen was false and concealed a short passage into a hidden room with a bed where favored (or paying) guests could lay low for a while. There were three tunnels leading off this room. Two of them led into the forest on that side of the inn. The third tunnel went deep under the road and came up in the stables. Another tunnel branched off of this one and came out in the forest on the far side of the inn.

Atmosphere
The feel of the place was much like the furnishings: shabby, worn, and comfortable. Other than fireplaces, the only sources of light at night were candles that hung in glass-enclosed lanterns and sconces throughout the inn. These candles were handmade by Clarshee and gave off a sweet blackberry scent, giving the inn a cozy, homey atmosphere. However, the reception could turn icy or heated if a visitor showed improper interest in other guests' business.

To the uninitiated, Clarshee Taraghe was an irascible old woman that mumbled complaints about everything, punctuated occasionally by colorful oaths, but she had an extended family of regular patrons ranging from righteous folk to ruthless cutthroats that treated her like a beloved mother. First impressions of her staff were also usually wrong. The sight of two huge athachs with long fur, three horns, and three arms sometimes caused a moment of trepidation before the fact they were cooking a hearty meal or tending the animals became apparent.

Services
The athachs loved to experiment with exotic dishes, so there was always something unusual on the menu. The staples were venison and fernwort bread, with fiddlehead soup and fried mushrooms when in season.

Clarshee had a portal hidden in a closet that teleported anyone who touched the back wall to the top of a wind-swept hill northwest of Leilon on the Sword Coast North. She charged 75 gp per person to use this portal, but the price went up to 100 gp or more if they were carrying a body, alive or dead, sentient or monster, in whole or in part.

Defenses
The inn had a few physical and magical defenses, mostly against accidents and nature, but the building was also shielded against scrying and eavesdropping by clairaudience/clairvoyance and similar spells. This protection actually emanated from stones hidden throughout the inn that were enchanted with three different spells, forming a barrier in the shape of overlapping bubbles. At the risk of incurring Clarshee's wrath, a person could carry one of these stones (about 6 inches or 15 centimeters in size) away and be protected from magical spying for a few days until the enchantments faded.

The structure was somewhat warded against fire (the equivalent to the higher temperature range of an endure elements spell), but these wards tended to flicker and occasionally fail, so every room contained a tall water bucket for dousing fires. The water was treated with mint and parsley leaves to keep away the stagnant smell.

All the windows had sturdy shutters that could be barred at top and bottom and all the chimneys were equipped with sharpened spikes made of metal at the top of the flue. These measures were primarily to keep out vermin and beasts of the forest.

Of course the athachs were formidable by their very nature, and Clarshee was skilled with a crossbow. In a pinch, she was able to wield a sledgehammer, a woodcutter axe, a pie knife, or even a tar brush. On top of that, she was a sorceress of middling talent and kept at least one shield guardian in a closet. She also had some means of calling for help from a spellcasting friend. In the basement, she had a chest with fourteen crawling claws that she could release to fight if necessary, but they were mostly used to hunt vermin. She could herd them back to their chest with pickle juice.

History
The Moonwyvern Inn was built sometime around the Year of the Griffon, 1312 DR, but the constructor and original owner have been forgotten. The inn got its name from a local wyvern that was often seen flying at night when it crossed the moon. The wyvern was eventually slain, but the name remained. In its early years, the inn was a rowdy roadhouse full of clandestine meetings and underworld plots, but the atmosphere mellowed somewhat over the decades, especially under the tenure of Clarshee Taraghe.

Rumors & Legends
Echoes of the Moonwyvern's early reputation bounced around Luruar for many years, but long-time patrons knew that it was past its heyday. Some said this was because the proprietress was a member of the Harpers, but they had no proof. However, there was some truth to the rumor that the inn held the detritus of decades of skullduggery: almost every nook and cranny was a potential hiding place for small items, messages, and maps to meetings or treasure. Over the years, items such as thieving tools, coin purses, concealable weapons, keys, spell scrolls, and claim tokens have been found in hollow chair legs, bed canopies, lintels, windowsills, floors, ceilings, walls, and door frames.

Inhabitants
In 1372 DR, the owner of the Moonwyvern Inn was Clarshee Taraghe. She had two athachs, named Beelbraeth and Horokh, that cooked and did chores around the place.