A half-orc fare collector admitting a passenger into a dray.
Drays were large two-story carriages used as public transportation in Waterdeep.[1]
Description[]
Drays were long carriages with multiple rows of benches for passengers. The lower floor had glass windows and the upper floor, accessible via a spiral staircase at the back of the carriage, was open to the air. The driver sat at the front of the dray, on the upper floor, in order to have a better view of traffic and other dray drivers.[1]
Passengers boarded the dray through a back door whenever it stopped or slowed down sufficiently. The typical dray fare varied between 2 and 4 nibs, usually collected by fare takers who stood at the back of the sitting area on the lower floor. Fare takers usually only accepted coins minted in Waterdeep in order to avoid the hassle of inspecting foreign currency for purity and authenticity.[2]
Dray routes were most common along the main thoroughfares of the city, namely the High Road, Waterdeep Way, the Way of the Dragon, and the wide avenues that departed north and south of the Market.[3]
During winter, fewer drays remained in service, but the Fellowship of Carters and Coachmen, the Wheelwrights' Guild, and the Wagon-makers' and Coach Builders' Guild worked together to convert some drays into sledges, so that they remained fully operational throughout the harshest parts of the season.[1]
History[]
Drays were invented by Lantanese exiles between the late 14th and the late 15th centuries DR.[1]
By 1492 DR,[note 1] drays were routinely employed by the Zhentarim group known as the Doom Raiders as transportation and to convey messages throughout the city.[4]
Around the same time, one of the drays in service was operated by a talking mare named Maxeene, who worked as a Harper informant observing the comings and goings of people of interest as they traveled within the city.[5]
Appendix[]
See Also[]
- Hire-coach
- Carriage
Notes[]
- ↑ Canon material does not provide a year for the events described in Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, but Christopher Perkins answered a question via Twitter and stated the year was 1492 DR. Corroborating this, Dragon Heist page 20 refers to events of Death Masks (set in 1491 DR) as being "last year". Unless a canon source contradicts this assertion, this wiki will use 1492 DR for events related to this sourcebook and Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage (which is referenced on pages 5 and 98 of Dragon Heist).
Appearances[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Christopher Perkins, James Haeck, James Introcaso, Adam Lee, Matthew Sernett (September 2018). Waterdeep: Dragon Heist. Edited by Jeremy Crawford. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 171. ISBN 978-0-7869-6625-7.
- ↑ Christopher Perkins, James Haeck, James Introcaso, Adam Lee, Matthew Sernett (September 2018). Waterdeep: Dragon Heist. Edited by Jeremy Crawford. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 168–169. ISBN 978-0-7869-6625-7.
- ↑ Christopher Perkins, James Haeck, James Introcaso, Adam Lee, Matthew Sernett (September 2018). Waterdeep: Dragon Heist. Edited by Jeremy Crawford. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 170. ISBN 978-0-7869-6625-7.
- ↑ Christopher Perkins, James Haeck, James Introcaso, Adam Lee, Matthew Sernett (September 2018). Waterdeep: Dragon Heist. Edited by Jeremy Crawford. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 37, 40. ISBN 978-0-7869-6625-7.
- ↑ Christopher Perkins, James Haeck, James Introcaso, Adam Lee, Matthew Sernett (September 2018). Waterdeep: Dragon Heist. Edited by Jeremy Crawford. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 37. ISBN 978-0-7869-6625-7.