Halls of the Beast-Tamers

The Halls of the Beast-Tamers was the former guildhall of the Guild of Naturalists of Myth Drannor before the first collapse of the city in the 8 century DR.

Entrance
The hall was a subterranean complex located beneath a tall stone building, comprised of a single room, located in the eastern side of Myth Drannor. Within the small tower was a large throne, plain in appearance and entirely unadorned. Behind the stone seat was a large 10' (3.0 m) diameter shaft, adorned with handholds, which went down 200' (61.0 m) beneath the surface of Toril.

At the bottom of entrance well was an 80' (24.3 m) hallway, that extended north to an intersection, connecting the east and west wings with the northern chamber. The entering passageway had vaulted ceilings, 30' (9.1 m) high, supported by ornate archways atop smoothed granite pillars.

East wing
From the central junction north of the entrance, the eastward hallway featured massive iron torch sconces set upon both of its high walls. The eastern wing featured a small storeroom containing casks of water and oil, boarding rooms, a privy (which as of 1357 DR had been taken over by an otyugh), a number of specimen rooms and two connected, partially-submerged chambers that received fresh water that was brought in via pipes connecting to an underground spring. In the 14 century a vampiric ixitxachitl came to reside in these pools. Within the specimen closets were many glass jars and containers that contained a variety of substances and portions of creatures including an unidentified cloudy, yellow fluid, preserved tentacle segments (that were previously capable of paralyzation), a pair of pickled beholder brains, large griffon feathers, troglodyte scent glands, webs collected from a giant spider and various eyeballs, many of which were too large to have come from any known humanoid.

West wing
The westward hallway from the main intersection came to a dead end after 60' (18.3 m), but had a side passage, whose archway was decorated with scrollwork, that extended from the southern wall, behind an iron-barred door. This passage included a steep stairwell that rose 30' (9.1 m) as it led through 12' (3.7 m) tall iron-barred wooden doors into a massive chamber, the north side of which connected to a series of holding cells. The viewing area was a 40' (12.2 m) tall room with a floor that was covered in a thick layer of sand, the southern side of which had an elevated viewing area complete with stone seats. The "Keeper's Room" wrapped around the northeast corner of the viewing area, and included keys to each creature's cell, and a number of peepholes to observe their activities.

The viewing chamber was used by the Naturalist's Guild to observe creatures and study their habits as if they were out in the wild. The naturalists took notes on how beasts would connect with one another in social contexts, how they stalked their prey, the flying patterns they exhibited and how they built their nests (so long as the required materials were provided). The cells on the northern end of the viewing chamber at one point included a few shriekers, an owlbear, a hippogriff, an ettin and a gorgon.

Council chamber
The central junction opened north, through a set of massive double doors, into the diamond-shaped council room of the Guild of Naturalists. The primary draw of the room was a magnificent, pentagonal-shaped sandalwood table, finished with a glossy black veneer, that was surrounded by 33 rather plan wooden chairs. On the north wall was a 10' (3 m) mosaic of the guild's sigil, an emblem that was matched by another mosaic inlaid within the tiles of the chamber's floor, around which the table was placed. There were doors extending out from the east and west sides of the room.

Beneath the council table, near the bottom center-most chair, was a 4" wide (10 cm) raised stone block that could be depressed with a simple step. Doing so would activate a series of machinations, along with a winch that lowered the mosaic on the floor, by means of four chains. A second step on the stone would cause the hidden elevator to raise again, complete with a series of metallic squeaks and rattles. This conveyance extended deeper into the ground to the halls undercellar.

Pool chamber
The room east of the council chamber was another large chamber that contained a wide, but shallow pool of water, within which lived a scrag. On the southern side of the eastern wall 7' (2.1 m) high dark-framed, oval mirror and the northern side of the wall connected to a series of smaller, inter-connected rooms.

The first of these chambers was a storage room of sorts, containing a number of sealed jars, weighted nets, spools of rope and 10' long (3 m) catchpoles. A hidden door on the northern side of this room opened into a slightly smaller chamber that acted served as a treasure cache. On one of the walls was hung a large map of Faerûn (circa the 8 century). Placed in the southeast corner was a wooden table that served as the desk of Neziiral. Within its drawers was a small, locked, silver coffer that contained an obsidian talisman, the reverse of which was inscribed with the word "Naeloth". When uttered aloud, it was a command word that would summon forth a hellcat, whose name was presumably carved into the talisman. West of this office was a final room, within which was a magically-imprisoned xorn, who had been placed in stasis by means of Phezult's sleep of ages.

The mirror within the pool chamber reflected as any mundane mirror would, but was in fact a portal that, when struck, would teleport the assailant to the Noble Court of Waterdeep. It could not be destroyed, or otherwise damaged, by normal means.