Embrol Sludge's Eatery & Shell Shoppe was a seafood restaurant and a jewelry shop that stood in the Silverscales district of Raven's Bluff in the mid-to-late 14th century DR.[3][2]
Location[]
The location of Embrol Sludge's Eatery in the City of Ravens.
Embrol Sludge's was located near the waterfront of Ravens Bluff in its poorer area, just past the Rates of the Watchful Raven, along the Front street, on the border with the Seaglimpse neighborhood. The establishment had only one neighboring building – Samara's Scrimshaw, one door down the Front.[3][2]
Structure[]
Originally, the eatery was a simple building of two floors: the first floor was used for business, while the second floor was the family's home. The first floor included the dining room, a kitchen, a bar, and a storage shed in the back. Soon after Embrol purchased the building, he discovered a hidden cellar, a flooded smuggling passage that led to the sea. Embrol was an honest man and tried to fill the tunnel, but he could not completely stop the seawater from flooding.[5]
Interior[]
Floor plans of Embrol Sludge's first and second floors.
Its entrance faced the waterfront with a sign above that read: "Embrol Sludge's Eatery and Shell Shoppe: Where seafood is held dear, ye are welcome here! Bon Appétit!"[5] The restaurant had a large dining room with sixteen tables.[1] The restaurant's bar was small and had no seats available as its purpose was exclusively serving drinks to seated diners.[4] The eatery's kitchen stood across from the main entrance in a separate room. The kitchen encompassed a room on the first floor and a room on the second floor, right above and up the stairs. The Shell Shoppe is accessible from the dining room, and it was located in its own room as well. The last door on the ground floor led to the privy.[5]
The Shell Shoppe had the counter in the middle and the workshop in the back. The goods were displayed in two large cabinets. The store was also connected to the roof via a hidden trap door. A single window was used for temperature control and ventilation.[5]
The second floor's kitchen was a humble family-sized kitchen. Across the hall from it was the water closet, across a small dining area connected to the larger common room of the establishment.[5][6] Other second floor rooms were the family's living quarters and storage closets.[6]
Atmosphere[]
The interior of the eatery was uncharacteristically clean for an establishment located in the docks of the Living City.[3]
Services[]
Embrol Sludge's Eatery & Shell Shoppe always served only seafood and offered good quality grub for affordable prices. The food often earned the eatery returning customers, but its unappetizing name tended to scare new customers off. All fish served here was caught by the entry's owner, Embrol Sludge, his three sons, and one daughter. On occasion, the staff purchased fish to be served, but only if the day's catch was lackluster or the eatery wanted to fulfil a special order.[3]
Occasionally, Embrol himself entered the kitchen to make his signature dish for some of the older regulars or some new customers who caught his interest. His dish was a supremely spiced fish stew cooked with leeks, potatos, red pepper, cayenne pepper, wine, saffron, garlic, bread, bay leaves, olive oil, fruit peel, and other irregular ingredients.[4]
The restaurant served a limited selection of alcohol. The usual ales, wines, and hard spirits were available but nothing exotic or rare. Non-alcoholic offerings of Embrol Sludge's included pricey mineral water, milk, herbal teas, and efoc, a type of hot chicory-flavored drink.[4]
Some of the Shell Shoppe's jewelry also was sold at Traagor's Tours and Souvenir Shop.[7]
History[]
Embrol Sludge purchased the building that would later become Embrol Sludge's Eatery & Shell Shoppe, using all of his savings from the adventuring life. Whatever was left in his pockets was quickly spent on fish, pearls, and shells. In the eatery's early years, it was just run by Embrol and Alhambra. They shared responsibilities: Alhambra cleaned, cooked, and raised the children, while Embrol served, hosted, and did everything else about the establishment.[4]
When Embrol discovered a flooded tunnel underneath his property, he had a genius idea to use it for safekeeping of the treasures and valuables, such as a ring of water breathing, a ring of free action, and a trident of fish command, and other items that would keep his family fed. Embrol fashioned a lever system that emptied the tunnel and refilled it with water, covering the chest and hiding it from thieves. Later, Embrol had to knock down walls and connect the entry with the lean-on shack, expanding the dining room and adding on the jewelry worship. Initially, only Alhambra's cooking brought new customers, but as Quarak grew older and discovered his talent, the jewelry shop blossomed in popularity. This caused the eatery to expand once again, with Embrol tearing down another wall and adding another lean-on to the dining hall.[5]
In the Year of the Sword, 1365 DR, Embrol Sludge's Eatery & Shell Shoppe became a sight of a brawl that involved body sailors and a group of heroes hired by Lord Charles Frederick Blacktree IV to investigate a burglary. A dozen of pirates got into a brawl with townies, and the Sludge clan was stuck between them. Four sailors swarmed Buddy; Dirk held himself against a single ruffian while two menaced young Radea. The ruffians were indeed involved in the burglary–they stole Lord Blacktree's Eye of the Leviathan. None of the Sludges were hurt, and the investigation moved on to Cracken's Berth and Board.[8]
Inhabitants[]
Embrol Sludge's family worked the establishment. His half-sea elf daughter, Radea, and three fully human sons–Quarak, Endicott, and Dirk, all of whom were talented fishers. Quarak was also known for his jewelry-making skills, and he created pieces to be sold at the Shell Shoppe. His seashell and pearl necklaces, pendants, and bracelets were in high demand, and his puka shell necklaces were a popular fad among the upper middle class that swept Ravens Bluff in the mid-14th century DR. Endicott was the best among the children at fishing and possessed an almost uncanny ability to locate the most plentiful schools of fish. Radea was a talented pearl diver thanks to her aquatic heritage.[3]
Alhambra Zydel, Embrol Sludge's second wife and the mother of his sons, worked as a chef in the eatery's kitchens, but she passed away in a plague circa the Year of the Helm, 1362 DR[note 1]. Her imagination, flair, excellent skills, and organization in the kitchen continued on after Alhambra was gone. Embrol Sludge's Eatery & Shell Shoppe prided itself on cleanliness, quality of food, and kitchen organization—all Alhambra Zydel's legacy. Radea learned to love cooking from late Alhambra; even though she lacked true talent, she was a diligent worker to memorized every single recipe of her step-mother.[3]
Along with Radea, the eatery employed three other cooks–Tarlie, Andrea, and Feldra. Buddy was a young man who worked at the eatery as a bouncer. He was the son of Matua, Embrol Sludge's old adventuring partner. Before Buddy was born, Matua worked at the eatery and later married Emwa Carellan, the first official hire of Embrol's. Other employees included two bartenders, Torel and Jonah, and three server women. Jonah was a problematic employee, but Embrol had no heart to dismiss him. The serving women worked opposite schedules so that there was always one person taking care of the customers. Lastly, the jewelry store employed a young boy who worked there as an assistant.[4]
Appendix[]
Notes[]
- ↑ The events of the Living City Ravens Bluff campaign took place on a timeline that advanced together with the real world's time. Even though all Living City adventures and issues of Ravens Bluff Trumpeter were dated with real-world dates, there were events that received a DR year. The Living City timeline can be derived from Myrkyssa Jelan's historic events of the late 14th century DR. Myrkyssa Jelan attacked Ravens Bluff in 1370 DR, according to The City of Ravens Bluff and Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3rd edition; these events are chronicled in an in-and-out of universe issues of Ravens Bluff Trumpeter. This places the real world year 1997 as 1370 DR, and in 1998 (1371 DR), Myrkyssa was at last arrested and tried and said to have been executed, only to reappear in 1372 DR in The City of Ravens novel. As the real world's months and the Calendar of Harptos are virtually identical, we can also date all events of the Living City Ravens Bluff as close as an in-universe month.
See Alos[]
Appearances[]
Organized Play & Licensed Adventures
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Randall Lemon (March 1989). “The Living City: Embrol Sludge's Eatery and Shell Shoppe”. In Jean Rabe ed. Polyhedron #46 (TSR, Inc.), p. 20.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 ProFantasy Software Ltd. (1999). Forgotten Realms Interactive Atlas. TSR, Inc.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Randall Lemon (March 1989). “The Living City: Embrol Sludge's Eatery and Shell Shoppe”. In Jean Rabe ed. Polyhedron #46 (TSR, Inc.), p. 19.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Randall Lemon (March 1989). “The Living City: Embrol Sludge's Eatery and Shell Shoppe”. In Jean Rabe ed. Polyhedron #46 (TSR, Inc.), p. 21.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Randall Lemon (March 1989). “The Living City: Embrol Sludge's Eatery and Shell Shoppe”. In Jean Rabe ed. Polyhedron #46 (TSR, Inc.), p. 22.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Randall Lemon (March 1989). “The Living City: Embrol Sludge's Eatery and Shell Shoppe”. In Jean Rabe ed. Polyhedron #46 (TSR, Inc.), p. 30.
- ↑ Halina Adamski (June 1993). “The Living City: Traagor's Tours and Souvenir Shop”. In Jean Rabe ed. Polyhedron #84 (TSR, Inc.), p. 11.
- ↑ Randall Lemon and Ed Peterson (September 1993). “Eye of the Leviathan”. In Jean Rabe ed. Polyhedron #87 (TSR, Inc.), pp. 11–12.