The Weeping Widow Inn was a welcoming but haunted inn in the town of Targos in Icewind Dale, open as of the early 14th century DR.[1]
Location[]
The Weeping Widow was perched atop a cliff that rose above the docks of Targos, overlooking the waters of Maer Dualdon.[1]
Structure[]
The inn was a large two-storied square building with no windows on the first floor, but the guest rooms on the second floor had windows that opened into all four sides of the structure.[1]
Interior[]
The Weeping Widow Inn's fire pit and taproom.
The inn's main entrance opened into a spacious taproom with a blazing fire pit at the center. Around the fire pit were several tables and chairs, a bar, and the check-in desk. Backrooms beyond the dining hall included storage space and a food pantry. The stairs led to the second floor, which had a hallway with numerous rooms on both sides.[1]
Services[]
The inn offered typical services of food, drink, and lodgings of moderate quality. Its bar was well-staffed with a variety of libations, including Cormyrean brandy and Knee-Cracker cider from the south.[1]
History[]
Many years before the early 14th century DR, Veira waited for her beloved to return from Maer Dualdon in the inn's central bedroom overlooking the lake. Her mate Donovan never came back to her, perishing in a storm. Veira's heart was broken, and she hurled herself out of the window to the base of the cliff. Since then, the lake-facing room remained locked and unused with its broken window and overturned furniture. The spirit of Veira would appear during deepest night, weeping for her lost love.[1]
To keep his business going, the innkeeper Cahl-Hyred paid for a protective glyph to be inscribed on the room's door. The glyph was intended to restrict the ghost to her original room and stop her from wandering across the inn. Cahl-Hyred felt for the poor woman but had no knowledge of how to help her.[1]
In the Year of the Griffon, 1312 DR, a mercenary priest of Myrkul named Koluhm Bonecutter rented a room for two nights at the Weeping Widow Inn during the Legion of the Chimera crisis. Koluhm possessed a gift that allowed him to hear the dead, so he could get no rest from the Weeping Widow's cries and howling. Driven mad by the lack of sleep, Koluhm Bonecutter fled the inn.[1]
Instead of paying with coin, Koluhm Bonecutter left a strange potion with Cahl-Hyred, which the priest promised to be more precious than the price of two nights at an inn. The innkeeper knew nothing about magic and was scared of opening the potion, let alone drinking it. Cahl-Hyred was just as afraid of angering a Myrkulyte and being turned into a zombie, so the innkeeper made peace with the loss of the coin. The "potion" was ordinary water; what held magic was the vial itself – a ghost-touched bottle, an enchanted item that held a piece of the Ethereal plane within. The superstitious innkeeper wanted nothing touched by a ghost and suggested turning it in to Elytharra Dinnesmore, a spellcaster of some skill.[1]
Inhabitants[]
In the early 14th century DR, the Weeping Widow Inn was run by Cahl-Hyred, a man broad in the beam. His three pet dogs usually occupied spots around the firepit.[1]
The most infamous inhabitant of the inn, however, was Veira, a distraught ghost who appeared at night in a central room with a broken window that overlooked the great lake. She mourned the death of her mate Donovan in her undead unrest.[1]
Appendix[]
Appearances[]
- Video Games
- Icewind Dale II