The Hall of Luck, often referred to as Luck House by visiting sailors, was a Tymoran temple complex in the city of Ravens Bluff in the 14th century DR.[1][2][3]
Location[]
This temple complex was located in the Temple District of Ravens Bluff, in the neighborhood known as Holyhouses. It comprised an entire city block, bounded by the roads Amandagar Street, Blacktree Boulevard North, DeVillars Ride, and Fireleap Lane.[1][2]
Structures[]
(1) Silver Bird hall (2) Kevorn Hall
(3) Gold hall of hazard (4) Red Gambling hall
(5) Desbapemt hall (6) Silver hall of hazard
(7) Blue Gambling hall (8) Temple Storage
(9) Bronze hall of hazard (10) Green Gambling hall
(11) Temple reception area (12) Outdoor garden
This temple complex consisted of eleven, individual buildings of varying architectural styles,[2] that were interconnected.[1] The one unifying aspect of all these buildings was that above their doors the holy symbol of Tymora was displayed. In the outdoor center of them all was a small garden featuring flowers, shrubbery, trees, a pond, and a statuary shrine to Finder Wyvernspur.[2]
- Blue, Green, and Red
- These three were each a gambling hall that stood two stories tall[2] and were always open to the public.[3]
- Desbapemt hall
- A guest living quarters for passing adventurers.[2] It was rather informal, but comfortable, and adventurers could stay for up to nine days.[1] Longer stays were permitted only for guests that were being either trained or tended to by the temple clergy.[1]
- Halls of Hazard
- Referred to by some as the School of Chance[2] or simply the Hazards,[1] were three facilities housing an ever-changing array of obstacle courses, illusory spectacles, and tests[1][2] or personal challenges. With illusions being the most prominent of the obstacles. These various hazards, referred to by the temple's clergy as "confidence builders",[2] were designed to promote the spirit of adventure, daring, and risk-taking in the Tymoran faithful who went through them.[1]
- Kevorn hall
- A three stories tall rooming house that was used by the clergy as their living quarters.[2] They were said to be rather comfortable.[1]
- Silver Bird hall
- Formerly known as the Hall of Luck, was the very first building of the temple complex and was the place where worship primarily took place. In the lintel of its main entrance, below the symbol of Tymora, was carved the symbol of a harp, the moon, and stars.[2]
- Temple reception area
- This building acted as a formal reception area for the temple complex.[1][4]
- Temple Storage
- This building acted as a storage house for the temple complex.[1][4]
Gambling Halls' Interiors[]
Each room within the Blue, Green, and Red Gambling halls were named for some famous adventurer.[2] Gambling activities within these buildings were limited to the outer rooms[3] on their first floor,[2][3] though each building featured a different variety of games of chance.[2] The areas where gambling didn't take place were off-limits to outsiders, unless they had an invitation or were granted an audience, and were kept private by the watchful eyes of the temple's ever-vigilant acolytes.[3]
The relatively quiet inner rooms and second floor of the Blue, Green, and Red Gambling halls housed a variety of maps and tomes containing travel lore relevant to the Realms.[3] The second floor of each gambling hall was where the Hall of Luck's clergy conducted their meetings,[2] often studying situations so that they could better learn the odds on proposed ventures.[3]
Services[]
Beyond religious worship, this temple complex offered a wide array of gambling activities to the public.[1][2][3] These games of chance were tended to by the Hall of Luck's priests and priestesses, who kept their identities anonymous by wearing masks. However, unlike non-religious gambling dens these priests were not set on fleecing visitors, but rather than spreading good fortune.[3]
The Hall of Luck's clergy also offered adventurers and ordinary Ravenaar citizenry the chance to try their luck at overcoming the various obstacles within the Halls of Hazard for a sum payment of 25 gold pieces.[2][1] However, this was only offered whenever the facilities weren't already being used by the faithful of Tymora.[1]
Activities[]
Within the Temple[]
The Hall of Luck's clergy were devoted to spreading the message of taking changes and encouraging the habit in others. They viewed this as being essential to the continued growth of Ravens Bluff and its mercantile strength. To this end they continually sought new ways of offering the Ravenaar favorable gambles and encouraged entrepeneurs.[1]
Those who managed to gamble away all they had to spend were often subject sympathetic attention by the clergy's more motherly priestesses, who would offer them some warm tea and some attentive company.[1]
Sometimes the Hall of Luck's clergy invited adventurers to have a private audience with them. During such visits they would strip them of vital mundane things and replace them with shrouded gifts, which were to only be opened later[3] once the right ritual was performed. As befitting the clergy's fixation on "luck", the usefulness of these gifts varied. Sometimes they could even be luxurious treasures or treasure maps.[3]
Outside the Temple[]
Outside of their duties within the temple, the Hall of Luck's clergy rescued from penury by the temple when misfortune comes upon them
When it came festivals, the Hall of Luck's clergy jointly administered the Game of Masks with the clergy of the House of War.[5] They also sponsored a large Midsummer festival, meant to inspire Ravenaars to take chances and pursue their dreams.[2]
In regards to politics, the Hall of Luck sponsored a seat on the Clerical Circle,[2] the governing body of Ravens Bluff's civic religions.[6] However, the clergy seldom interacted with the city government and the clergy never allowed the decisions of either to stand in the way of what they believed was right. The issues they concerned themselves with were supporting the activity of adventuring, which they did by sponsoring several adventuring companies, and working towards minimizing the city regulations and taxes imposed upon them.[2]
History[]
Circa 1310's DR, a small group of halflings piloting an enchanted ship were caught in a terrible storm while sailing the Dragon Reach. As the ship began to sink its crew spotted a hazy vision of land in the distant east. Believing the sight to be a gift from Tymora herself, the halflings abandoned the vessel and desperately swam to land, eventually coming ashore just north of Ravens Bluff on a jut of land that would later be known as Luck's Point. These surviving halflings went on to settle in Ravens Bluff and open a small gambling hall, whose proceeds would go towards establishing the Hall of Luck temple.[2]
Over time adventurers would purchase for the temple the buildings that surrounded,[2] all of them being either shops or rooming houses, until eventually the temple had grown into a whole complex that took up an entire city block in the Holyhouses.[1][2]
Inhabitants[]
Positions of power within the Hall of Luck's clergy were assigned by games of chance.[2] The most important members of the clergy included the following:
- Luckmistress Clarissa Tupkas, the temple's high priestess.[2][3]
- Lady of the Tomes Alamandra Wilfuel Rida,[3][7] head of the Hall of Luck's library and all of the relics contained within it.[7]
- Lord Priest Penoir La Novak, who was in charge of the temple's gambling halls and teaching both Tymoran priests and worshipers various games of chance.[7]
- Luckbender Ralogliir Mercyhand,[3][7] a paladin responsible for training and leading the warriors that protected the Hall of Luck.[7]
- Master of Rituals Matasian Windbough,[3][4] an inhabitant of the Hall of Luck who was not truly a member of the clergy. They dealt with all administrative interactions with the Ravenaar citizenry, which included acting as the master of ceremonies at the temple's festivals.[4]
- The Rod of Tymora Bleys Burrimglard,[3][4] the temple's theologian and trainer of acolytes. He shepherded the temple's outreach program, offered guidance to adventurers, and cataloged reports of encounters with Tymora's avatars.[4]
- Galen Mclork, the Assistant Keeper of the Tomes.[7]
- Gerran Lomas, a luckbringer who wandered Ravens Bluff interacting with the citizenry and healing adventurers.[7]
Reputation[]
Some in Ravens Bluff held a misconception that the entire Hall of Luck complex was a gambling den.[3] Visiting sailors were known to love gambling here at all hours of the day.[1] Beyond sailors, as it became wider known that the Hall of Luck's clergy sought to give Ravenaar's favorable gambles rather than swindling them, the temple's gambling halls saw a gradual increase over time of individual folks of all faiths visiting to try their luck.[1]
Appendix[]
Appearances[]
Organized Play & Licensed Adventures
References[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 Ed Greenwood (October 1998). The City of Ravens Bluff. Edited by John D. Rateliff. (TSR, Inc.), p. 113. ISBN 0-7869-1195-6.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.25 Keith Hoffman (December 1999). “City Stories: The Hall of Luck”. In Erik Mona ed. Polyhedron #139 (TSR, Inc.), p. 13.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 Ed Greenwood (October 1998). The City of Ravens Bluff. Edited by John D. Rateliff. (TSR, Inc.), p. 30. ISBN 0-7869-1195-6.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Keith Hoffman (December 1999). “City Stories: The Hall of Luck”. In Erik Mona ed. Polyhedron #139 (TSR, Inc.), p. 14.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (October 1998). The City of Ravens Bluff. Edited by John D. Rateliff. (TSR, Inc.), p. 91. ISBN 0-7869-1195-6.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (October 1998). The City of Ravens Bluff. Edited by John D. Rateliff. (TSR, Inc.), p. 26. ISBN 0-7869-1195-6.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 Keith Hoffman (December 1999). “City Stories: The Hall of Luck”. In Erik Mona ed. Polyhedron #139 (TSR, Inc.), p. 15.