C11: The Savant

This small tavern looks more like a stately residence than an inn. It is frequented by many professors, sages, and other educated gentlemen. In recent years it has also seen the attendance of a few learned gentlewomen, but this trend is discouraged by the inn's regulars.

Inside, the Savant is a rambling maze of small rooms, tiny alcoves, and fireplaces. Most tables have a small room to themselves. with at the most three or four small tables in a single chamber. Many of the walls are lined with bookshelves, and a variety of interesting, albeit well-worn, volumes can be browsed by the customer.

The woodwork is dark, simply hewn yet beautiful in its grace and styling. The lighting is kept low. but each table is provided with an oil lantern that can be brightened for reading. Conversation is also low, though earnest debate about all matters is not only common, but expected.

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C11: Savant Tavern. Once the home of a Grey College chancellor, this structure became a tavern with a peculiar twist. The interior is a maze of dark, narrow corridors and small rooms with one table and a few chairs each. Bookshelves are everywhere, with worn volumes, papers, and writing implements all about. Fireplaces, lanterns, and candles light the place and provide warmth. The Savant is frequented by tutors, sages, scholars, students, wizards, and other educated persons from around Clerkburg. Formerly an exclusively male (and human) domain, it now has a more mixed crowd. This is the place to go for intelligent (if sometimes naive) debate and several good varieties of ale. The menu is limited, but low in price.

DM's Notes: One regular patron of the Savant is a Baklunish gentleman wearing scholar's robes. He drinks a great deal here and rarely talks with anyone except about trivial things. He is Arkalan Sammal of Ket [LN hm zero-level; hp 2; Int 19, Wis 18], the younger brother of Rary the Archmage, now called Rary the Traitor. Since his brother betrayed the Circle of Eight and the City of Greyhawk and fled into the Bright Desert, Arkalan has fallen ‘into despair. He publicly disowned his brother in 584 Cy, but was still suspected of being in league with Rary by less informed and less forgiving persons in the city.

The Directing Oligarchy believes Arkalan is trustworthy and has hired his services a number of times, but he lost his teaching position at Grey College and now works on commission for adventurers (a task he feels is as degrading as cleaning sewers or slavery). Arkalan is an alcoholic and is deteriorating physically, though his mind is still sharp. He knows he can do nothing about his fate and that his brother is beyond redemption, and he knows Rary could turn against him in a vicious way. Still, he hopes to find someone who can restore his brother to his former self, as the two had been very close before Rary’s treachery.