Anthalus Droon

 was an owner of the Whistling Wizard inn located in Voonlar. He took over the establishment shortly after the Battle at the Bar.

Description
Anthalus was thin to the point of being spindly.

Personality
Anthalus was also thin-skinned and complained often about the cold weather in Voonlar. While at the Wizard, he was an unhappy man that freely shared his feelings about his surroundings and the people with whom he had to interact. Anthalus could be charming to those that might benefit him in some way.

History
About a tenday after the calamitous events that became known as the Battle at the Bar, Anthalus Droon arrived in the company of Bron (sheriff) Buorstag Hlammythyl and a few relatively high-ranking Zhentarim officials and announced that he was the new owner of the Whistling Wizard. There was no one to gainsay his claim because the previous owner, Ravvas Thurrpurtyn, had been killed in the battle and, according to Harper reports, was probably an imposter and may not have been human.

Storm Silverhand had left some gold and gems with the surviving staff to pay for repairs and good progress had been made when Anthalus seized the remaining funds and doled them out sparingly, allowing only the minimum work needed to make the inn habitable again while keeping the rest for himself. Instead of buying new furniture, the damaged and broken pieces in the common room were replaced with a haphazard selection of old and used tables and chairs.

For the next few months, Anthalus held penurious sway over the Whistling Wizard, taking miserliness to new heights. He sent the chambermaids out into the woods to gather berries and edible plants, and to hunt small game for the kitchen. The women rarely came back with anything worthwhile and eventually wolves killed a girl. He finally hired experienced foresters from Shadowdale to set snares and traps around the inn, which the maids still had to check periodically. He also cut back on firewood, allowing only the cookhouse to keep a constant fire going and forcing the staff and guests to bundle up during the cold winter months. He, of course, had a constant fire in his apartment above the common room where he spent most of his time drinking hot mulled wine and complaining about the weather, the Wizard, and Voonlar in general.

In the face of inhospitable conditions at the Wizard, guess started opting for more comfortable establishments and business took a downturn almost as sharp as did the morale of the staff. With spring and somewhat warmer weather, merchant travel started to surge and Anthalus began looking for investors by schmoozing with representatives of rich Sembian trading families and companies that passed through Voonlar. He wined and dined them, trying to get them to take a proposal back to their masters and put a good word in for him. Eventually, he caught the interest of a member of a Sembian merchant-class family, Harauna Beltzund. She agreed to invest in the Whistling Wizard, but Anthalus continued being stingy and barely maintained the inn, skimming off the extra money for himself.

One day, Anthalus just disappeared with whatever money was in the coffers and was never seen in Voonlar again. As the major creditor, Harauna had little recourse except to take ownership of the Whistling Wizard. Rather than trust someone else to run the inn, she moved to Voonlar and became its proprietor.

Rumors & Legends
The local populace of Voonlar generally believed that Anthalus Droon was installed in the Whistling Wizard by the Zhentarim in order to spy on trade passing through town. That seemed to be the most reasonable explanation why he would stay where he was miserable for so long and be completely incompetent at his job.