Low Lantern

The Low Lantern is an aging, three-masted merchant ship permanently docked on the east side of the harbor. Far past the point of being seaworthy, the vessel was converted into a tavern and gambling house that is open all day and night. The dice game Baldur's Bones is just as popular here as in other taverns throughout Baldur's Gate.

Fog obscures the Low Lantern until you get within a hundred feet of it, whereupon its tall masts and creaking bulk come into view. The converted ship has rigging but no sails, and is anchored to the wharf by thick chains. A wooden staircase climbs from the wharf's edge to the main deck. A lantern at the bow casts an eerie green light to signify that the tavern is open for business.
The Low Lantern is quiet during the day, with just a few patrons drinking and gambling below decks. The place comes alive at night, and is a popular site for conducting clandestine meetings with some of the city's least scrupulous inhabitants, including pirates and off-duty Flaming Fist mercenaries.
The owner and proprietor is Laraelra Thundreth, a middle-aged female Human mage known as "the Captain" to her staff and regular patrons. Laraelra is neutral and doesn't concern herself with the private affairs of her clientele, nor does she mind when visitors get rowdy or turn violent—as long as they're willing to pay for damages afterward. In public, Laraelra is often seen with her crab familiar perched on one shoulder. From dawn till noon, she retires to her cabin (area L4) to eat, rest, and read her spellbook.
The Low Lantern serves drinks and snacks, but no meals. At any given time, the staff includes two Kenku bartenders and six bouncers (human thugs). The staff operates in three eight-hour shifts, with one group leaving as the next shift arrives.

Architecture

Tavern Locations

L1. Main Deck

The main deck of the old ship features wooden steps that climb to the forecastle and aftcastle, and another set of stairs descending into the ship. A padlocked wooden hatch fitted with windows acts as a skylight for the deck below—the tavern proper, visible through the hatch's glass panes. Four dead seagulls lie on the deck and two ravens squawk at you from the crow's nest, a forty-foot climb up the ship's rigging.
The ravens are two Impsin shapechanged form. Thurstwell Vanthampur uses the imps to keep an eye on his brother, Amrik. The imps take malevolent delight in killing any seagulls that happen by, and the tavern staff can't figure out why the decks are always littered with seagull carcasses. A character who examines a dead seagull and succeeds on a DC 13 Wisdom (Medicine) check ascertains that the bird was stung to death.

L2. Forecastle

This deck is littered with the corpses of 1d4 dead seagulls (see area L1 for more information). Hanging off the end of the ship's bow is the green-paned lantern that indicates the tavern is open for business. A staff member crawls to the end of the bow to douse the lantern, refill it with oil, and relight it at highsun every day.
On warm, clear nights, Laraelra moves tables, chairs, and lanterns onto this deck so that clients can drink and gamble under the stars.

L3. Aftcastle

The captain's wheel and rudder are gone, leaving holes and empty fixtures where they used to be. As with area L2, Laraelra sometimes moves tables, chairs, and lanterns onto this deck so that clients can be outdoors on nights when the weather is nice.

L4. Laraelra's Cabin

The lock on Laraelra's cabin door has rusted to the point of being useless, and she hasn't bothered to replace it. Consequently, her cabin is unlocked. One of the bouncers in area L5 keeps an eye on the door and roughs up anyone other than Laraelra who tries to open it.
This cabin is full of mismatched wooden furniture, including a bed with posts carved to resemble mermaids, a nightstand, a wardrobe, a writing desk with a fur-draped chair, and a small dining table surrounded by four plain chairs. Near the foot of the bed rests an ornately carved sea chest sealed with a padlock.
Laraelra hides the key to the chest in the adjacent bedpost, whose top unscrews to reveal the hidden compartment where the key is sequestered. The chest's padlock can otherwise be picked with a successful DC 20 Dexterity check made with thieves' tools.
In addition to the items described under "Treasure" below, the chest contains four flying daggers that attack anyone other than Laraelra who opens the chest. Use the flying sword stat block to represent the daggers, but make these changes:

• Each flying dagger is a Tiny construct with 7 (3d4) hit points and a challenge rating of 1/8 (25 XP).
• Each flying dagger deals 3 (1d4 + 1) piercing damage on a hit.

Treasure. The chest contains a nice pair of boots, a bottle of fine wine (10 gp), a bundle of letters from an unnamed admirer, and Laraelra's spellbook, which contains all the spells she has prepared plus identify, gust of wind, magic weapon, sending, sleep, and tongues.

L5. Taproom and Gambling Hall

This is the busiest and noisiest part of the ship, and it reeks of sweat, cheap ale, rotting timbers, and old vomit. Three bouncers (thugs) position themselves so they can see everything that happens here. If Laraelra is not in her cabin (area L4), she is seated at the short end of the bar with her crab familiar on her shoulder.
Laraelra greets newcomers with a rehearsed speech:
"Well met! My name is Laraelra Thundreth, but folks around here call me the Captain. If you're thirsting for a beverage or looking to gamble, you've come to the right place, but watch your step. Things can get pretty messy around here."
The Low Lantern attracts the city's least affluent residents, as well as foreign merchants and sailors with coin to lose. Patrons who are present during the characters' initial visit include the following:

• Grimboot (lawful evil Duergar), a gruff, cross-eyed leg breaker who collects debts for the local thieves' guild
• Hitoshi Jade (neutral Human commoner), a drunken sailor from a merchant ship called the Golden Gull, owned by the House Irlentree patriar family
• Jorunn Nighbury (neutral human commoner), a shy horse breeder employed by the House Belt patriar family but burdened by gambling debt
• Skadric Salakar (neutral evil human veteran), a lazy The Flaming Fist soldier who was suspended for a tenday without pay for dereliction of duty
• Prynn Derringwhistle (lawful neutral Strongheart Halfling commoner), a spectacles-wearing barnacle scraper who likes to belt out old sea shanties
• Aerith and Beldan (chaotic good Drow), awkward and inseparable twins who left the Underdark in search of adventure on the surface

The tavern is lit by hanging oil lanterns and whatever natural light slips through the glass hatch and the ship's grimy portholes. Those portholes are 1½ feet in diameter, with rusty latches on the inside that hold them shut.

L6. Tavern Lounge

This tavern lounge fills an entire deck and is lit by oil lanterns hanging from the 8-foot-high ceiling by 1-foot-long chains. The windowless deck contains a bar, couches, coffee tables, and tables where patrons can socialize and gamble. Three of Laraelra's bouncers (thugs) stand in plain view across the deck.
Amrik Vanthampur has turned a pair of couches and a coffee table near the aft wall into his personal office. He runs a moneylending business from this location, and many of his regular clients are down-on-their-luck gamblers who can't cover their debts. In exchange for this space, Amrik pays for the wine that is delivered to the Low Lantern, making Laraelra's business profitable.
Thirty-three-year-old Amrik sits alone on the starboard couch, his feet on the table and his eyes on the room. He keeps the port couch open for clients and employs two bodyguards. Kasharra, a Spined Devil, perches on the back of Amrik's couch. Vhaltus, a sleepy-eyed lawful evil human thug with red hair in a ponytail, sits at the closest end of the bar. Vhaltus carries a small sack containing 150 gp, which Amrik loans to clients. If he thinks his life is in real danger, Amrik detonates a concealed smoke bomb before fleeing up the stairs, leaving his bodyguards to cover his escape.
Amrik loves to exchange pleasantries over drinks before conducting business. He has trained Laraelra's staff to recognize a variety of innocuous hand gestures that signal them to deliver drinks to the table. If he wants poison added to his clients' drinks, he has a secret sign for that. Hidden behind the bar is a small bottle containing four doses of torpor (see "Poisons" in chapter 8 of the Dungeon Master's Guide), which the kenku bartender can use to spike drinks when Amrik gives the signal.

L7. Guest Cabin

This guest cabin is not currently occupied. Its furnishings include a bed, a wardrobe, an empty desk, and a chair. An oil lantern hangs from a rusty hook bolted to the mast.
The lock on the cabin door has rusted to the point of being useless, but the desk chair can be wedged under the doorknob to keep the door from being opened. If the chair is so used, opening the door requires a successful DC 13 Strength (Athletics) check and makes a lot of noise.

L8. Sleeping Quarters

This area is prone to leaks, as the ship's hull is mostly submerged at this level. Puddles of water collect in areas where the floor has bowed, and the whole space reeks of vomit and urine.
Four alcoves here are set with cheap cots where drunks can sleep off their hangovers. In the bow are four hammocks that serve a similar purpose. At any given time, 1d4 unconscious commoners can be found throughout this area, sleeping off the effects of a too-wild night. If the characters wish to rob them, each commoner has a belt pouch containing 1d6 sp and 2d6 cp.

Type

Pub / Tavern / Restaurant

Parent Location

Eastway