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Tamsil Dryndilstann was the daughter of Durnan and Mhaere Dryndilstann, the innkeepers of the Yawning Portal in Waterdeep in the mid-to-late 14th century DR.[3][3]

Personality[]

Tamsil, thanks to her training, was always alert and tried to understand people and the situation around her. She worked hard in order to manage the inn herself when the time came. Tamsil hardly ever smiled but was often amused nonetheless.[3] She was kindly, alert, and lively.[1]

Description[]

She was graceful[3] and comely,[5] being good looking with strong features, albeit not a striking beauty. She resembled her mother in face and figure, and was as tall as her father. In her teens, she went through a phase of having "gewgaws to her eyebrows".[1]

Activities[]

Tamsil helped in managing the Yawning Portal inn with her parents, who were grooming her in the business for her to take over one day.[3] She was hard-working and brisk about her duties.[1] While she picked up much gossip whilst working at the inn, she was not one to share and spread it.[1]

As a sideline business with her mother, she sewed basic dresses, working smocks, and towels.[1]

If trouble broke out at the inn, Durnan had a horn he would blow to summon the Red Sashes, his personal vigilante organization. If he was unavailable or incapacitated, then Tamsil and others would find it and use it.[3]

Abilities[]

Tamsil was trained in fighting by her father so that she could take care of herself if caught up in brawls in the inn or out in the streets. She was proficient with a crossbow, dagger, and a short sword[2][3] and in improvising weapons and shields from bar stools and the like and she could fight in a barroom-brawling style. She handled such fights fairly well, thanks to her awareness.[3]

Relationships[]

She was the daughter of two former adventurers, Durnan and Mhaere Dryndilstann.[3] Since Durnan had no surname, Tamsil took Mhaere's.[3][note 1] Tamsil took closely after Mhaere.[1] She had two younger sisters.[1] Tamsil was aware of her father's status as a Masked Lord of Waterdeep, but did not discuss it with him.[1]

Circa 1368 DR, the new bartender Jhaax Dolbruin felt genuine love for Tamsil, even though he was twice her age. However, he kept his feelings quiet from her.[5]

Tamsil and her sisters treated Durnan's friend Mirt as a beloved but rogueish uncle.[1]

History[]

Tamsil was working in the inn one morning fore-dawn in early Flamerule of the Year of the Harp, 1355 DR, when the murderer Amril Zoar used a gate to enter the Yawning Portal, doubtless seeking to slay Durnan. He rushed at young Tamsil but, quick-reacting, she threw the ewer of water she'd been carrying at him, before Mhaere snatched up the double-crossbow kept ready behind the bar and gave him both bolts. Amril retreated through his gate, dropping a silver Harper pin in the process. Durnan arrived moments later, vowing to find and end the man who'd threatened his family.[6]

In Kythorn of the Year of Wild Magic, 1372 DR, Tamsil heard a commotion in an upper-floor room at the inn and was horrified to find an adventurer, known as Drogan Droganson's pupil, had slain a drow thief. Tamsil warned this was a prelude to an attack by drow assassins; invited the adventurer to get replacement weapons, armor, and equipment from Durnan's armory; and discreetly warned her father. Shortly after, a band of drow, duergar, and a beholder emerged from the well and attacked the assembled adventurers, before being repelled.[7]

Possessions[]

She typically wore a belt knife for work and eschewed jewellery.[1]

Appendix[]

Notes[]

  1. The Ruins of Undermountain says Tamsil is 16 years old, but this book is undated, making her birth date ambiguous. Other sources place Ruins in 1358 DR, implying Mhaere was born around 1328 DR. Dragon's Deep reprints this age, but it is more likely to be set around 1372 DR. Earlier, Elminster in Hell mentions she is "more than old enough", but is set in 1355 DR. Meanwhile, Tamsil may be the unnamed 14-year-old waitress with a sword mentioned in the Waterdeep adventure, p. 33, though the Waterdeep replaces this with a generic "serving wench". Later, Dragon #227 says she is 17 in 1368 DR and Hordes of the Underdark describes her as a young woman in 1372 DR. Perhaps Tamsil got at the same potions of longevity as her parents?

Appearances[]

References[]

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 Ed Greenwood, The Hooded One (2006-05-12). Questions for Ed Greenwood (2006). Candlekeep Forum. Retrieved on 2024-03-08.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Ed Greenwood (1991). “Campaign Guide to Undermountain”. In Steven E. Schend ed. The Ruins of Undermountain (TSR, Inc.), p. 8. ISBN 1-5607-6061-3.
  3. 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 Eric L. Boyd, Ed Greenwood, Christopher Lindsay, Sean K. Reynolds (June 2007). Expedition to Undermountain. Edited by Bill Slavicsek. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 45. ISBN 978-0-7869-4157-5.
  4. Troy Daniels, Jason Nichols (September 2000). Dragon's Deep. Living City (RPGA), p. 7.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Steven E. Schend (March 1996). “The Reports from Undermountain”. In Pierce Watters ed. Dragon #227 (TSR, Inc.), p. 15.
  6. Ed Greenwood (August 2001). Elminster in Hell. (Wizards of the Coast), chaps. 9, 10, pp. 2, 151–152, 163. ISBN 0-7869-1875-6.
  7. BioWare (December 2003). Designed by Brent Knowles. Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark. Atari.
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