The Yawning Portal, Waterdeep
Amid the bustle of Waterdeep, within the Castle Ward where barristers,
nobles, and emissaries battle with word and contract, stands an inn not quite
like any other.
Before there was a Castle Ward or even what could be recognised
as an ancestor of the City of Splendors, there was a dungeon, and in that
dungeon begins the tale of the Yawning Portal. In ages past, the mighty wizard
Halaster built his tower at the foot of Mount Waterdeep and delved deep into
tunnels first built by dwarves and drow in search of ever greater magical
power. Halaster and his apprentices expanded the tunnels they found, worming
out new lairs under the surface for reasons of their own. In time, their
excavations grew into the vast labyrinth known today as Undermountain,
the largest dungeon in all of the Forgotten Realms. Halaster eventually
disappeared, as have all his apprentices, but the massive complex he built
remains to this day. For untold years, the secrets of Undermountain remained
hidden from the surface world. Everyone who entered its halls failed to return.
Its reputation as a death trap grew to the point that criminals in Waterdeep
who were sentenced to die were forcibly escorted into the dungeon and left to
fend for themselves. All of that changed with the arrival of two men, a warrior
named Durnan and a ne'er-do-well named Mirt. The duo were the first adventurers
to return from Undermountain, laden with riches and magic treasures. While
Mirt used his wealth to buy a mansion, Durnan had different plans. Durnan
retired from adventuring and purchased the land on which sat the deep, broad
well that was the only known entrance to the dungeon.
Around this well he built
a tavern and inn that caters to adventurers and those who seek their services, and
he called it the Yawning Portal. Some of the magic Durnan looted on his successful
foray into Undermountain granted him a life span that exceeds even that of an elf.
And for decades Durnan left delving into Undermountain to younger folk. Yet one
day, something drew him back. Days of waiting for his triumphant return from the
dungeon turned to months and then years. For nearly a century, citizens of Waterdeep
thought him dead. But one night, a voice called up from the well. Few at first believed
it could be Durnan, but folk as long-lived as he vouched it so. The Yawning Portal
had passed into the hands of his ancestors, but Durnan returned with enough riches
for them to quietly retire. Durnan took his customary place behind the bar, raised
a toast to his own safe return, and then began serving customers as if he'd never
left. Adventurers from across Faerun, and even from elsewhere in the great span
of the multiverse, visit the Yawning Portal to exchange knowledge about Undermountain
and other dungeons. Most visitors are content to swap stories by the hearth, but
sometimes a group driven by greed, ambition, or desperation pays the toll for entry
and descends the well. Most don't survive to make the return trip, but enough come
back with riches and tales of adventure to tempt other groups into trying their
luck.
The Yawning Portal's taproom fills the first floor of the building. The 40-foot-diameter
well that provides access to Undermountain dominates the space. The "well"
is all that remains of Halaster's tower, and now, devoid of the stairways and floors
that formed subterranean levels, it drops as an open shaft for 140 feet. Stirges,
spiders, and worse have been known to invade the Yawning Portal from below. Balconies
on the tavern's second and third floors overlook the well, with those floors accessed
by way of wooden stairs that rise up from the taproom. Guests sitting at the tables
on the balconies have an excellent view of the well and the action below.
On quiet nights, guests in the Yawning Portal gather around a large fireplace
in the taproom and swap tales of distant places, strange monsters, and valuable
treasures. On busier nights, the place is loud and crowded. The balconies overflow
with merchants and nobles, while the tables on the ground floor are filled with
adventurers and their associates. Invariably, the combination of a few drinks and
the crowd's encouragement induces some folk to pay for a brief trip down into Undermountain.
Most folk pay in advance for a ride down and immediately back up, though a few ambitious
souls might launch impromptu expeditions into the dungeon. Few such ill-prepared
parties ever return. Groups seeking to enter Undermountain for a specific reason
generally come to the tavern during its quiet hours. Even at such times, there are
still a few prying eyes in the taproom, lurkers who carry news of the comings and
goings from Undermountain to the Zhentarim. dark cults, criminal gangs, and other
interested parties.
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Copyright, Wizards of the Coast, LLC.
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