Scroll Street, originally known as Bendulph’s Lane,[2] was a hard-packed dirt and gravel paved[1] street in the Trades Ward of Waterdeep.[3][4][5][6]
Geography[]
This street ran east off of Snail Street, then curved northward until it terminated on the High Road. Along the way, it was intersected by Atkiss Alley.[3][4][5]
History[]
Scroll Street began as a cul-de-sac of five buildings, built sometime around the 1200's DR by someone named Bendulph, atop of what had originally been a stockyard paddock they owned. These buildings were all rented out, with most of the ground-floor shops being taken up by scribes. These scribes lived above the shops and hired underscribes to work for them at very low wages, throwing in room and board for the rooms other rooms above the shops.[2][note 1]
Over time, Bendulph’s Lane became the locale of choice for those seeking out scribes to hire, earning it the moniker of Scroll Street. It would go on to attract bookbinders and mapmakers as renters.[2]
One of the more interesting moments to occur on the street in its history was an incident later referred to as the Shatterbone Fray.[2]
Notable Buildings[]
- House of Light
- Guildhall of the Guild of Chandlers and Lamplighters.[7][8]
Notable Inhabitants[]
Scroll Street was heavily populated by scribes, who earned most of their coin as copyists for daily mercantile trade, as well as comparatively wealthier bookbinders and mapmakers. The scribes' possession of spell scrolls as investments floated around as a rumor, with it being said they would sell them at exorbitant prices to the desperate.[2]
Another persistent, though ultimately true, rumor circulating around Scroll Street was that doppelgangers lived among its scribes. These creatures were spies of the Xanathar's Thieves' Guild, whose duty was to keep an eye on two expert forgers that lived on the street and to be on the lookout for anyone trying to begin a business venture of selling spell scrolls.[2]
Appendix[]
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 This date is estimated based on the Present Age being 1489 DR at the time of writing and Ed referring to Scroll Street's prevalence of scribes having continued for "nigh two centuries" after its founding.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Map included in Ed Greenwood and Steven E. Schend (July 1994). City of Splendors. (TSR, Inc). ISBN 978-1560768685.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Ed Greenwood (2020-05-18). Scroll Street (Tweet). theedverse. Twitter. Archived from the original on 2020-05-18. Retrieved on 2021-11-20.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Map 8/10 included in Ed Greenwood and Jeff Grubb, cartographers Dennis Kauth and Frey Graphics (September 1988). City System. Edited by Karen Boomgarden. (TSR, Inc.). ISBN 0-8803-8600-2.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Poster map included in Ed Greenwood (1987). Waterdeep and the North. (TSR, Inc.). ISBN 0-88038-490-5.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Map by Jason Engle included in Christopher Perkins, James Haeck, James Introcaso, Adam Lee, Matthew Sernett (September 2018). Waterdeep: Dragon Heist. Edited by Jeremy Crawford. (Wizards of the Coast). ISBN 978-0-7869-6625-7.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (January 1993). Volo's Guide to Waterdeep. (TSR, Inc.), p. 131. ISBN 1-56076-335-3.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (1987). Waterdeep and the North. (TSR, Inc), p. 40. ISBN 0-88038-490-5.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood and Steven E. Schend (July 1994). “Who's Who in Waterdeep”. City of Splendors (TSR, Inc), pp. 44–45. ISBN 0-5607-6868-1.