"The Dragon's Jaws has one of the best taverns in the city. It has amazing ales on tap, and it only recently added a wing with a restaurant and rooms to become an inn. Several famous people have stayed at the Jaws when they visit the city."
A member of the Purple Dragons assigned to guide them to the inn where they would be staying courtesy of the Royal Court of Cormyr was happily chatting with them as he led them along the curved Promenade. They passed the spot where the body of the fallen red dragon lay.
"I have never heard of the place,"
Jayce said, "can you tell me more? Where did it get its name?"
The soldier talked of a spellbattle that had once happened between some drunk men and an attractive woman whom they were harassing who turned out to have been a metallic dragon in disguise. It did not go well for those men or for the structure of the tavern's walls. On the bright side, it motivated the owner to finally add the addition that he had always wanted.
Jayce seemed delighted to learn a new story and immediately began pondering how he might put the tale to music.
They were led to a complex of large buildings on the corner. A street sign read "Street of Staves". The northwestern corner of the roof of the nearest stone addition of the complex was collapsed.
"Here we are," said the Purple Dragon, making no comment about the likely dragon damage. He paused and held his arm to the doorway of the larger, wooden structure adjacent to and sharing a wall with the damaged stone one.
They entered the inn.
Belvin and
Leokas once again refrained from entering the building and rested outside on some benches.
Inside, they found a large open room 45 feet by 25 feet, with a second-story balcony. It had four long tables and four tables for two spread about and a bar with stools on the western side. There was a staircase going up to the balcony, a bench, and several doors to guest rooms on the southern wall, and a large fireplace on the eastern wall.
All the tables were empty except for one of the smaller ones when they entered. At this table sat a noble woman, who ignored them and sipped at her beverage. (When
Solisar tried to bow at her, she looked away and snobbishly raised her nose.) Only two others were in the room, the bartender, a dwarf with a cook's hat, and a young boy, who was sitting by the fire.
The Purple Dragon entered behind them and approached the dwarf at the bar to inform him of their arrangements.
The boy became very excited upon seeing guests enter. He hopped up from his stool and approached them. "Sirs and Ladies, can I interest you in placing an order for dinner from the Puffing Jester. We have a special arrangement with the Jaws, because a dragon burned the kitchen down. Only one golden dragon per person. Would you like to see a menu, please?"
"Is that one
gold piece per person?" asked
Szordrin. "That is pricey, is it not?"
"They are decent-sized meals," said the youth.
"Suzail
is rumored to have some of the best restaurants," said
Jayce.
"It is no rumor," said the boy.
"Have you ever eaten in another city?" asked
Oma.
"No, but I know that the food is not as good anywhere else. It cannot be!"
"That is a kind offer, young cutter, but I do not have any money for food," said
Sofi.
"What did you do with all the money from the sale of the metal eggs?" asked
Oma.
"I donated most of it to the Pantheist Temple of Tyr," said
Sofi, as if this were a normal way to spend adventurers' loot. "
Hakam has convinced me, at least, of the worthiness of Tyr's cause."
"That is most generous of you,
Sofi," said
Hakam. "I shall pay for your meal."
"That is very kind of you,
Hakam," said
Sofi. "Thank you." Then, to the boy, she said, "Do you have any food without meat?"
"Why would anyone eat food with no meat?" says the boy.
Jayce had already taken the menu from the boy by now and was skimming the Puffing Jester's offerings. "No, but the roast gammon pie looks good!" he exclaimed. "I shall have that."
The boy took their orders, and he hurried off into the street. They took seats at one of the large tables.
Jayce sat next to
Sofi and asked if she wanted to hear more of the story that he had last been sharing with her.
"I would enjoy that," she said.
Szordrin sat next to her on the other side and said, "Why do you not share it with me too?"
Kytharrah also sat down — as best he could — in a chair for storytime as well.
Hakam walked over to the bartender, who greeted him cheerfully. "My name is Milo. Milo Dudley! You all look like you are in desperate need of some beverages to pour into those stomachs. What can I bring out for all of you? I am told that you are guests of the queen mother, so all drinks are on the house."
"Where I come from,"
Szordrin whispered to
Sofi back at the table, "a milo is a kind of drink."
"I have never tasted that," said
Sofi, but she half-giggled anyway.
"Whatever you would recommend," answered
Hakam.
"Well, the most popular — and for good reason — drink on tap is Suzale," said Milo Dudley. "I trust you get the joke? But it is indeed a fine ale, with nutty undertones. It was first brewed here as a gift for King Azoun, and it is also the official ale of the Purple Dragons. I also have several wines from the Dalelands tonight, which are a special treat for this tenday."
Suzale seemed satisfactory to everyone, except for
Sofi, who only had water. Milo brought pewter pints to everyone, filled with the namesake ale. "I am told that you will also be needing rooms. Some of our rooms upstairs are not quite ready for you yet, but are currently being cleaned. There are three rooms here downstairs that are already available. Feel free to take your pick. They tend to be a bit noisier than the rooms upstairs, however, so you may want to wait. The stone of silence does not protect them as well from the sound from the tavern, but it still does some good. It depends on how light a sleeper you are.
"The tavern, which is connected through that passage there, does not open until dusk, and that is when this dining area officially closes. With the kitchen closed, I truly do not mind however long you wish to relax in here, but I will be moving over there to start serving to the guests of the tavern wing."
The youth, aided with a couple friends, returned with their delivered food as they were nearly finishing their first pint of ale. The advertised roast gammon pie was a roast ham pie with apricot, honey, pecans, and vegetables, and it was indeed quite tasty. Several of them offered
Sofi bits of their crust, but she refused, "just in case it came into contact with the meat." Milo, however, without being asked, brought her out an assortment of dried fruit and vegetables from the storehouse in the back of the kitchen, and she happily accepted these.
Hakam asked the red-bearded dwarf, "It looks like you do not have many customers. Have the dragon attacks affected your business?"
"It is true," said Milo. "We used to be known for our restaurant food, but the restaurant is shut down until the kitchen can be repaired. We have had to make an arrangement with the Puffing Jester, who used to be a competitor. Tourism is also down these days. The bar will probably be full tonight though. Alcohol is a good way to forgot one's anxieties, and there are the ever popular competitions. I cannot recall which event is on the schedule for tonight, but they are always fun."
They began to finish off their meals.
Jayce still had more to go, as he was so busy storytelling and making
Sofi laugh. As it grew closer to dusk, the noblewoman got up and moved to the other wing of the complex, leaving them the only guests in the room.
They heard loud meowing outside the door, and Milo opened it, as if it was a common occurrence to open the door to meowing cats. A black cat pranced in, and they saw that it was
Panther. He came and hopped up onto
Oma's lap and began to meow and purr. "Thank you,
Panther," she said. Then she said to the others at the table, "I invited
Nargroth to join us after his shift is over. It is almost dusk; I am going to go into the tavern and wait for him."
One by one, they followed after her. (
Leokas and
Belvin had joined them for dinner at the table, but now they escaped outside again.) The tavern wing was half the size of the dining area, but it was already filling up with customers, most of them middle-class or aspiring nobles. They gathered around another long table with ten chairs by a smaller fireplace on the western wall, near a set of stairs that likely went up to the inn's upper-level rooms. Most of the locals were either at the bar stools on the back wall or at small, square tables at the north wall at the front. Milo soon came over from the restaurant side and went to work behind the counter at the back, leaving table serving to two women. One of them came up to their new table, once they had settled.
"Heya! My name is Rustreene," said the pleasantly plump and cheerful waitress in a tight bodice and poofy skirt. "Would you like to order any drinks?"
"Water for me," says
Sofi.
"What do you have to offer?" asks
Jayce.
"For someone has handsome as you, anything you want?" She squeezed his cheek.
Those who still felt like imbibing ordered more Suzale, and she went back behind to the bar counter to fill their orders.
Nargroth came in through the door, and
Oma called out to him. "There you are! I saved a seat for you."
"Great! Where's the beer?"
They were all served and began to enjoy themselves. Those less prone to drunkenness in the party glanced around the room and took in more of the patrons. At the bar were a couple notable individuals. At the very end was a bald mad with a sleeveless shirt whose muscles bulged from his arms. At the opposite end, on the stool against the wall, sat an obese man who appeared to be dressed in an off-white bathing robe with pale blue trim. His black hair was in a sort of top bun, though the front of his head seemed to be bald. He was certainly Kara-Turan of some variety. The fat man was stroking a cat that was curled up next to his pint.
This animal and
Panther were not the only cats in the room. Milo had set a bowl of milk on the bar counter, and two additional cats were currently drinking from it.
Panther grew excited and asked
Oma with a meow if he could go socialize with the other cats and drink some milk, and she allowed him.
After a while, from the restaurant section of the establishment, a gnome entered the room. He walked with a limp and cane but otherwise seemed as fit as a youth.
"
Oloré, Amara!" he called out to one of the female patrons. To another, "How farest thee, Fredrik?" Indeed, he greeted every patron in the bar by name, and they all greeted him back like a long-lost family member. Then he game to the adventurers' table. "Last but not least, we have newcomers this night! Are ye new to the town or only to this, my tavern?"
"We arrived in Suzail this morning," said
Hakam. "We are waiting for an audience with the dowager queen on the morrow."
"Impressive! You must all be some important people to have a meeting with the queen mother. Name is Gnorm. That is Gnorm with a G. Are you staying up until the halfling-throwing bout? First place wins a kiss from Molly Sara and a platinum coin." He eyed
Kytharrah. "Now
you definitely want to play this game; I can tell."
"Play?"
"What are the rules?" asked
Solisar, a bit concerned for the well being of the mentioned halfling.
"No offense, my elven friend, but halflings probably weigh more than you can throw."
"I am asking for my
minotaur friend."
"Well, well, then. Mostly, it is exactly what it sounds like. Here's how it works. We have halflings who have volunteered to — with the help of a little alcohol — be the tossee on a rotating schedule. Next door is an extra-long barn that I have converted into a gaming hall for feats of strength and agility, and tonight, halfling-tossing is on the schedule. Basically, whoever can toss the halfling the farthest wins. The rules are: no magic, just your own natural strength. You get three tosses per person. Every round, that is, every toss — all players toss in a round — you win three points for farthest throw, two for the second farthest, and one for third. Highest score after three rounds wins. If there is ever a tie in a single round, the tied players for that round toss again."
"What if there is injury to the halfling?" asked
Szordrin.
"Oh, we have a few clerics and magic potions on stock for that sort of thing, but we dump gallons of water onto the ground to make it into a mud pit so that it is safe for the tossees. No one has gotten
terribly hurt yet — bruises, definitely, but the local halfling population sees it as a sign of manliness to volunteer. I honestly did not come up with the idea; one of the halflings did. But it sure is fun to watch!"
"This sounds like the best tavern ever!" said
Nargroth, who had already downed his first drink.
Gnorm left his guests and walked to the sliding wall on the opposite side from the fireplace. To loud cheers from the crowd, he slid the wall back, revealing an opening into the adjacent barn.
The bald and muscular man at the end of the bar counter slammed his stein down with a shout, causing the cats to jump and scatter temporarily. "Yeah, it's time!" He hurried from his tool to the barn.
Then the obese man at the other end stood up and untied his kimono slowly. The crowd in the bar began cheering loudly, "Maru! Maru! Maru!" He removed the robe and set it gently on his stool. At first, he appeared naked, but he was, in fact, wearing a thick and padded loincloth. Out of his clothes, it was clear that he was not only fat; he was also powerfully built.
This Maru slowly made his way into the barn, and
Nargroth grabbed
Kytharrah by the arm. "Come on, buddy, let's do this!"
The barn was 35 feet wide and 120 feet long. It was about two and a half stories tall and dimly lit by torches. The northern end, where the contestants and audience were gathering was hardwood-floored for the first 20 feet. Beyond that was mud, all the way to the back wall. Four workers were standing in it, spread out along its length, and bore small flags of various colors for marking distances.
The halfling "tossee" was standing at the edge of the floor, talking to Gnorm and looking quite excited. He was dressed in a loincloth and looked to be a typical hin specimen, probably weighing about 35 pounds.
"This is going to be awesome," said
Nargroth.
"Do not hurt yourself," said
Oma.
"What? How would I hurt myself?"
"Are you going to compete?"
Szordrin asked
Sofi. "You are very strong, are you not?"
"No, not particularly," she said. "I just know how to make the most of the strength that I do have. I could never toss a halfling. Thanks for asking though." She smiled.
They watched as a couple of nobles removed their shirts and then went over to try to pick the halfling up. The halfling protested when they each struggled to lift him with ease. Apparently, he had to approve of any tossers. In the end, the only contestants were
Kytharrah,
Nargroth, Maru, and the bald-headed man. Straws were drawn, and
Nargroth pulled the longest straw, so he would be the first to throw.
The crowd pressed themselves against the wall to give the half-orc room, as he stood in a circle marked out on the floor at the edge of the mud.
"Are you ready?" asked the halfling.
"Are you sure that you are okay with this, little guy?" asked
Nargroth.
"I was born ready!" said the halfling. He lay face down at the edge of the mud and raised his feet up, crossed together for
Nargroth to grab. The half-orc lifted him off the ground by his ankles, and the tossee dangled, his hands barely brushing the floor. The halfling was laughing, so
Nargroth began to spin. The halfling rose into the air as
Nargroth spun around one, two, three times and then released his grip, lobbing the halfling into the air.
The hin flew in an arc 50 feet through the air, shouting in glee the whole time, and then landed in the mud with a loud splat. The crowd cheered. Immediately, the nearest worker moved as quickly as he could through the mud to reach the halfling and help him to his feet. Once they wiped the mud from his face, he turned to the crowd and gave a big grin. They cheered again. A flag was placed off near the wall to mark the distance. Then it was the
minotaur's turn.
"That was amazing!" said
Oma, when
Nargroth stepped aside.
"I know! Wasn't it?" he said.
Kytharrah took up more space, so the crowd had to rearrange a bit for him to safely spin. Once that was accomplished, he lifted the halfling effortlessly off the ground by his feet. Then, he began his rotation — around and around and release. The halfling soared through the air. Splat! "75 feet!" called Gnorm. The crowd cheered.
"Well done making me look bad!" said
Nargroth to
Kytharrah, but he punched him in the arm in a friendly way and was smiling.
Next up was the Kara-Turan giant of a man. He seemed to have a routine of some sort. He did a squat with his hands together as if in prayer and made some grunts and performed some stretches and breathing exercises before even picking up the halfling. When he finally released the halfling into the air, it was with a loud, grunting yell. The halfling dropped into the mud barely four feet past
Kytharrah's marker. Maru raised his bulky arms to the air to a roaring cheer. "Maru! Maru! Maru!"
One of the drunk patrons standing next to
Jayce leaned over and said to him, "This is great! We haven't had any real competition for Maru in ages. I haven't seen him toss a hin more than 60 feet since the time that a friendly ogre was in town."
The halfling was limping a little as he made his way back, covered utterly in thick mud, but he was still smiling enough for his teeth to show. "Urogalan's toe, that was great!"
Finally, it was the bald man's turn. He cracked his knuckles and took a deep breath. He raised the halfling off the ground and began his spin. His rotation was the fastest of the four tossers, but he released too early. The halfling flew sideways and smacked into the side wall of the barn.
"Ow!" shouted the halfling, followed by what were presumably curses in the hin tongue.
"Here, drink this," said the nearest worker, giving him a tincture of something in a vial.
Gnorm addressed the group of onlookers. "That ends round one. The score is currently: three points for Maru, two points for
Kytharrah the
minotaur, and one point for
Nargroth the half-orc."
There was another round of cheering.
Nargroth then readied himself for his second toss. This time, he got more into the throw, adding an extra rotation and a wild, Uthgardt battle yell.
It worked. The halfling flew as far as Maru's last throw, 80 feet. "Yeah! Ilmater be praised!" shouted
Nargroth.
The crowd went wild with excitement, exchanging many a "Did you see that?"
Oma began chanting, "
Nargroth!
Nargroth!
Nargroth!" and the rest of the patrons soon joined her.
It was several minutes before they all calmed down and gave
Kytharrah the needed room for his second throw.
"You can do it,
Kytharrah!" called
Sofi.
The
minotaur grinned. He
also believed that he could do it. While not the brightest, he knew how to mirror others well, and he had observed the technique that Maru had used. He lifted the halfling off the ground. "Make me fly!" encouraged the tossee.
So,
Kytharrah made him fly. "Weeeee!" shouted the halfling as he careened through the barn. There was a collective gasp, followed by a gentle thud. The halfling's head barely struck the back door of the barn. "100 feet!" announced Gnorm the gnome. "Unbelievable!"
Patrons were spilling beer and slapping their hands together over their heads in excitement.
Kytharrah, however, stomped into the deep mud to run over to the little demihuman to see if he was alright. The halfling assured
Kytharrah that he was fine. He had hit the mud first and slid into the door at the back of the barn, not slammed into it directly. "Besides, that was amazing; I've never flown so far in my life. Can you do it again?"
Maru appeared distraught and confused as he stepped up for his second throw. He did not seem angry, rather simply in genuine shock. He was so emotionally distracted by the turn of events that he made a severe mistake in technique. The halfling only traveled 25 feet, dropping into the mud with a plop. There was a collective gasp from the crowd, and Maru buried his face in his hands, ashamed. "Such dishonor," he muttered to himself as he cleared the throwing circle.
The fourth contestant only made a distance of ten feet on his second throw, but at least he sent the halfling straight instead of into the wall.
"I scored points! I've never scored points before."
"I hate to tell you," said Gnorm, "but you still didn't score points. That was only ten feet. Maru was fifteen feet farther."
"
Hrast," said the man, and his shoulders sagged.
Gnorm announced the results. "The scores for round two are
Kytharrah at first for three points,
Nargroth second for two points, and Maru third with one point. The cumulative scores are
Kytharrah in first place with five points total, Maru in second place with four points, and
Nargroth in third with three points. One more round to go!"
The barwenches passed among the onlookers to take more orders. Then
Nargroth readied himself for his final throw. He lifted the drunk and happy halfling off the ground and tried to concentrate. He began to rotate.
Jayce slapped the shoulder of one of the drunk patrons nearby. "Watch this." Then he shouted out, "Hey,
Nargroth, I slept with
Oma last night!"
"What? I did...!" but
Jayce covered
Oma's mouth.
"What?" roared
Nargroth, full of rage.
"
Sugoi!" exclaimed Maru, when
Nargroth released.
The halfling once again reached the back wall. "Oh, my head! My poor, curly-haired head!" A potion vial later, however, and the halfling was beaming.
"100 feet, twice in the same night!" exclaimed Gnorm. "This is a first for the Dragon's Jaws."
Nargroth, fuming, was struggling to catch his breath. The bald-headed man came over to him and patted him on the back. "It is alright, man, calm down. It is just a game. What a throw!"
Kytharrah threw well, but not as amazingly as in round two. The tossee landed in the mud at 75 feet.
Maru seemed to have better control of himself this time. He appeared peaceful and took a solid minute almost in a trance before even picking up the halfling. Then, with a rush of motion faster than anyone would expect for a man of his weight, he spun around and heaved the halfling hands first through the air. Another thud against the back doors.
"Incredible!" said Gnorm. "We have a tie for this round between
Nargroth and Maru."
"I ain't had my throw yet," said the bald man. "I can hit the back wall too!"
They gave the man his chance, and, to be fair, he had a personal record of 35 feet. His friends were excited by this and encouraged him. Then, he cleared the way for
Nargroth.
Nargroth, however, looked exhausted from his previous throw. He gave it his best, and the halfling sailed into the mud. A flag was marked at 50 feet. The crowd sighed.
Again, Maru gave his full concentration to the task at hand, even holding his arm out and pointing at a distant spot and squinting, as if performing an artillery calculation in his head. With a final two spins, he let fly the little humanoid, sending him to land just ten feet beyond
Nargroth's throw. He had played it safe. He then turned and bowed at the crowd, who cheered wildly.
Gnorm gave the final results. "Round three: Maru wins the tie-breaker throw and earns three points;
Nargroth earns two points, and
Kytharrah comes in with one point. That gives us five points total for
Nargroth, six for
Kytharrah, and seven total points for Maru. Maru is the halfling-toss champion!" His announcement was followed once again by loud cheering. Then Gnorm announced, "Come back tomorrow night for the axe throwing and see if you can depose yours truly as champion. Now, have a safe night and journey home."