INFINITE DOORS OF THE WORLD SERPENT

The multiverse is filled with mysteries and wonders defying easy explanation, including strange weather patterns, unusual gravity shifts, and even the complete bending of time and space to fit some unknown purpose. Many planes stretch out in all directions for an infinite distance, but many have a recognizable center and edge. Planes border each other in strange ways, and hidden paths and tunnels crisscross the multiverse like rat warrens.

Among all these wonders, one of the strangest and least understood is a tavern sitting at the center of it all. It is known as the World Serpent Inn, and it creates an interplanar hub connecting many known and unknown worlds. It is run by Mitchifer, an enigmatic though jovial figure, but he refers to the inn's Owner as a separate entity.

Accessing the World Serpent Inn is a strange and sometimes accidental process. A doorway to the World Serpent can exist in any building at any time, though a few permanent locations are known by planar sages and plane-traveling adventurers. Inside, the Uncommon Room of the inn greets travelers which may hold any number of beings from across the planes, including demons, devils, celestials, elementals, avatars of gods, and other beings. Most respect the rules of the World Serpent.

The World Serpent Inn exists in its own reality, a self-contained plane comprised completely of the interior of the inn itself. Countless corridors, hallways, and passages branch out from the central room which occupies the main floor. The "upper" floor holds the rooms for rent, short term or long term, while the "lower" floor contains a variety of storage spaces. The infrastructure doesn't stop there, however, and the deep levels below contain a large number of unusual features and rooms.

There are no windows in the World Serpent Inn, and the few people who have broken walls have found nothing but more inn on the other side. Likely, there simply is no outside.

Mitchifer is a god-like being with a cheery disposition and an unsettling appearance. He mixes the drinks, but it's the serpent servers that attend to the patrons. These small fey creatures would be more at home in the Plane of Faerie, and there has been much speculation about how they came to function as the waitstaff at the World Serpent Inn.

The upkeep of the inn's features is done by a legion of small, bumbling mechanical creatures called autogoblins. These clockwork beings scamper about the World Serpent performing repairs where needed, but they always seem to have some sort of nefarious and malevolent scheme. Mitchifer pays them no mind but most patrons keep a wary eye whenever the autogoblins are around.

The World Serpent Inn attracts travelers and adventurers for many reasons, but for those who know, it serves as a clearing house for problems as well. Mitchifer maintains a mythical tome called the Book of Jobs, and patrons can submit jobs to the enigmatic bartender for inclusion in the book. Adventurers coming into the World Serpent can request to look at the Book of Jobs and choose one of them if they wish. The steady stream of new and interesting requests along with the travelers that take them up - known internally as jobbers - keeps the infinite doors of the World Serpent constantly revolving.

Using the World Serpent Inn

The World Serpent Inn is a gateway to the multiverse. It can easily be introduced to any campaign setting for any type of character, providing either a short break in the regular adventuring schedule or a long-term home for planar expeditions. Mitchifer and his constantly updating Book of Jobs offers small tasks for those willing to take up the danger, and there's always someone in the World Serpent looking for help with some problem.

This supplement provides an overview of the World Serpent Inn described in the same format as a plane in the Codex of the Infinite Planes. Also included are 4 short encounters featuring the World Serpent Inn and its many strange features and inhabitants, ranging from Tier 1 to Tier 4, along with an introductory encounter for any level characters introducing them to the multiplanar hub.

Inn or Tavern?

The World Serpent is officially known as the World Serpent Inn, but its size and scope go beyond the common definition of "inn." Throughout this supplement, it is referred to as both a tavern and an inn, and the terms are interchangeable when referring to the World Serpent. Similarly, Mitchifer is both the innkeeper and tavernkeeper depending on who you talk to you and their own definitions.

POWERFUL & MIGHTY

There are many powerful and enigmatic beings coming and going through the infinite doors of the World Serpent Inn, but most of these are transient travelers. A few beings are kept on as staff to run the operations of the planar tavern, and these creatures are constants in an otherwise sea of constant change.

The Owner

There is no more mysterious power or figure in the World Serpent Inn than the being known only as the Owner. Mitchifer is the only one who seems to have any sort of communication with this higherlevel entity, though at times it seems as though the innkeeper is receiving some psychic message from elsewhere. Who or what is the Owner? Long-time residents of the World Serpent have their own theories.

The most prevalent of these ideas suggests the Owner is the mental manifestation of the World Serpent Inn itself, in the same way the inn is the physical manifestation. The snake theme, especially in the Deep Levels, suggests some kind of serpent being at the heart of it all, and the relative unknown history of the inn itself puts in a category as old as many of the planes of existence.

There are certain things that happen within the World Serpent that defy easy explanation. The autogoblins repair many of the physical aspects, but the strange appearance and configuration of the countless doors along with the twisting passages writhing to some unheard rhythm suggest at least some sort of higher being is in control. Many yuan-ti cultists from across the multiverse have sought to understand the mystery of the Owner, and many of them link the Owner to Dendar the Night Serpent floating somewhere in the Plane of Dreams.

No one outside of Mitchifer seems to know for sure, and likely this is the way it is meant to be.

Mitchifer

Eternally smiling and ever cheerful, Mitchifer is the quintessential bartender and innkeeper. He appears as a large pale-faced human male, with chubby cheeks and a rotund girth. The shock of white hair growing as a beard doesn't extend beyond his cheek, leaving his head smooth and bald, and his eyes twinkle like obsidian shards in a glassy field. He dresses simply in a tan apron and brown shirt and trousers, all of which seems impervious to any stain.

Upon closer examination, however, Mitchifer's physical features transform subtlety. His beard isn't made up of hair but countless thin white snakes, and his large irises are revealed to be in the form of obsidian doors. His voice is full and booming at times, or soft and gentle at others, and he seems capable of speaking any language without the obvious aid of magic. He is full of zest and passion for everything going on around him, regardless of its appropriateness.

Mitchifer's accent shifts at times as well, sometimes in mid-conversation, and he sometimes cocks his head to the side and listens intently to a sound no one else can hear. Most assume this is the strange bartender communicating with the Owner but none know for sure. Attempts at psychically probing Mitchifer have been met with forceful resistance.

As a good bartender, Mitchifer is skilled at talking without saying anything of substance, and he's an excellent listener. He also knows every drink in the multiverse, or so it is said, and is known for getting rare bottles of alcohol for patrons to remind them of simpler or more pleasant times. The serpent severs and autogoblins all take their orders directly from Mitchifer.

There have been certain oddities discovered about Mitchifer beyond the physical strangeness. More than one patron has seen the bartender killed, usually in a surprise attack by a supremely powerful foe, but the smiling Mitchifer has always returned to his post, alive and unharmed, within an hour of such events. He doesn't seem to hold grudges but clearly has an excellent memory, since he greets previous patrons personally regardless of length of time since their last visit.

Serpent Servers

Someone has to bring patrons their meals and drinks in a tavern, and in the World Serpent these duties are performed by a group of fey creatures referred to collectively as the serpent servers. They dress in gaudy outlandish servant outfits and resemble thin gnomes, with wildly varying hair and skin color. Males and females are similar enough in appearance so that most patrons believe them to be a single gender, and they speak in strange accents, though like Mitchifer they seem able to understand and speak any language.

The serpent servers are supernaturally strong with the ability to carry a serving platter piled high with food with relative ease. They don't like to speak about their background, but it has been observed they return to the Grand Gardenland when not on a "shift." Some whisper about some dangerous marauder stalking them in the Plane of Faerie, but most are content to serve drinks and food to the various patrons of the World Serpent.

The serpent servers take their orders from Mitchifer and no one else. They're able to detect a lie with magical ease and see through illusions with no problem, at least as long as they are within the World Serpent Inn. The Grand Gardenland contains a tree with an entrance carved into its trunk, and its through here the fey beings travel to when not on duty in the Uncommon Room.

Autogoblins

Noisy, mischievous, and clumsy, the autogoblins are mechanical golem-like constructs resembling goblins made from random junk. No two autogoblins are exactly the same in appearance, with many variations in components, construction, and even movement. They speak their own language of buzzes, chirps, whirrs, and grinding noises but also seem to understand Common, though they usually have nothing but surly comments to offer patrons.

Autogoblins are designed to maintain and repair the World Serpent Inn whenever it needs tending. This includes fixing broken walls, patching holes, and general cleanup, but they are not happy with their position in the hierarchy at the tavern. Mitchifer treats them well enough but the serpent servers despise them which has developed into a bitter, longlasting feud between them.

In the Hammer Clamor Workshop, autogoblins tinker away at crafting new components and replacement parts for themselves and the World Serpent in general. No one knows exactly how many autogoblins exist within the planar tavern, but the number certainly seems to be more than several hundred, and it could be as many as several thousand. They obey Mitchifer but tend to take any orders as literally as possible, and they defer responsibility to an entity in the workshop known as the Great Automind.

Serpent Tongues

The Deep Levels of the World Serpent are a strange and confusing network of crisscrossing passages filled with shadowy threats. One of the most persistent dangers there are the slithering, smokelike creatures known as serpent tongues. These vaporous monsters appear as thin, transparent snakes slithering through the air with a pair of ruby red eyes shining in the darkness. They hiss and their bites contain a powerful venom capable of inflicting victims with a horrible mutating poison, though they don't seem intelligent enough to speak or communicate directly.

Most believe the serpent tongues are a natural manifestation of the World Serpent Inn, perhaps even direct servants of the Owner. They rarely travel outside the Deep Levels, though there have been documented cases where they came up to the Uncommon Room due to the meddling of yuan-ti cultists. In these instances, Mitchifer has aided in fighting them back, assisting with the defense of the World Serpent.

CREATURES & DENIZENS

The transitive nature of the World Serpent Inn creates a rotating roster of travelers from across the multiverse, but there are a few stable residents spending most of their time in the planar tavern. The following creatures are examples of NPCs that potentially could be encountered in the World Serpent, usually in the Uncommon Room but in the Bellies as well depending on the time and context.

Any of these "regulars" could serve as a potential patron for a group of adventurers coming into the World Serpent, and many of them make regular requests into the Book of Jobs for tasks needing done. Each entry includes a list of example jobs each patron may request to highlight the potential adventures each offers.

Dalvatia Bloodmourne

Vampire Agent of House Dimir

Dalvatia Bloodmourne is a vampire, and she doesn't care if everyone knows it or not. Her beauty is reminiscent of a statue, cold and distant, with flawless ivory skin, silk-like black hair, and formfitting outfits more at home in a noble ballroom than the taproom of a planar tavern. She spends much of her time sipping blood wine at one of the many tables in the Uncommon Room, reading a book or simply watching the goings-on around her.

Dalvatia is an agent of House Dimir, a powerful spy organization based in Ravnica, City of Guilds. She doesn't openly wear any trappings or accoutrements portraying her allegiance, but she isn't coy about answering direct questions about it either. Her undead nature makes it impossible to guess her real age, but Dalvatia appears as a thinfaced human woman in her mid-20s. She speaks with a heavy accent, adding to her air of mystique, and often makes cryptic remarks about the status of things around the multiverse.

Example Jobs. Follow a specific target in Ravnica and report back about their actions for a day; steal documents regarding a Boros legion invasion plan from a citadel on Mount Celestia; deliver a mysterious package to a third party in Grimport along the River Styx in Hades.

Jiru the Icicle Queen

Deposed Ice Mephit Monarch

The Border Elemental Planes of Ice, Magma, Ooze, and Smoke exist at the planar intersections between the four Inner Planes. These wild, chaotic planes of raw elemental energy constantly churn and change, with few native creatures outside the animal-like elementals - and the mephits. These spiteful, petty elemental monsters have set themselves up as the lords of the Border Elemental Planes, and the Mephit Monarchs constantly fight each other for dominance over their respective plane.

Jiru the Icicle Queen was the ice mephit in charge of the Plane of Ice, until her subordinate Juro Joru violently deposed her. Jiru chose to flee rather than face the more violent mephit in combat, and she eventually found her way to the World Serpent Inn. Mitchifer offered her a place to stay, and since then the Icicle Queen has been plotting her return to the Throne of Ice in the Frostfell. She has amassed a small following of ice mephits but she relies heavily on jobbers to help her in her quest. She believes the current King of Ice, Juro Joru, has spies everywhere, but the truth is the brutish mephit king doesn't even realize Jiru is still alive.

Example Jobs. Harvest rare pink icicles from the Plane of Ice; pickup a book of ice magic from a demented cryomancer frozen in an iceberg on Stygia, the fifth layer of the Nine Hells; break into Dreadfrost Fortress, home of the King of Ice, and steal a map leading to a secret treasure trove.

Kraksha of Khorvaire

Scheming Rakshasa Exile

Kraksha is a rakshasa, a powerful spirit of evil bound to the flesh of a humanoid tiger, and he originally came from the continent of Khorvaire on Eberron, a Material Plane world. During the Last War that ravaged that continent, Kraksha contracted a horrible disease, and he was exiled by his fellow rakshasas out of fear of the disease spreading. He's not contagious to non-rakshasas, but the disease has left his body thin and his fur patchy and coarse.

Kraksha usually spends his time huddled in thick purple and gold robes in the corner of the Uncommon Room, watching the other patrons with darkly malevolent eyes. He has a tendency to aggressively dominate conversations and his attempts to usurp Mitchifer by rallying other patrons behind his cause has earned him no friends. Still, Kraksha remains confident he can gain the power he desperately craves to cure the disease, eventually returning to Khorvaire with a mighty weapon to help release a tidal flood of demonic powers trapped deep below the ground of the continent.

Example Jobs. Gather a bucket's worth of rare obsidian lava from the Plane of Magma; retrieve the mummified heart of a dead rakshasa from an iron crypt on Acheron; put an end to a rival rakshasa gathering power in the Demon Wastes of Khorvaire on Eberron.

Linxx Koldrish

Brutal Dragonborn Martial Artist

Linxx Koldrish is a female dragonborn with nightblue scales and more scars than can easily be counted. She dresses plainly and carries no weapon, but her skill as a martial artist is legendary among the patrons of the World Serpent. She is obsessed with the art of brutal, personal combat, and finds every aspect of the bloodthirsty ballet fascinating and awe-inspiring. To Linxx, there is no more beautiful sight than a group of supremely skilled melee combatants letting loose on one another with all of their might and fury.

No one really knows where Linxx came from, and she never brings it up willingly. She's a dragonborn interested in the here and now, not yesterday or tomorrow. Linxx organizes the regular "fight nights" in the World Serpent Brawling Pit on a semi-regular basis, and she occasionally joins in the brawl herself to prove her own mettle and strength against any boastful winners.

Example Jobs. Convince a retired forlorn jotun in Ysgard to return to the Brawling Pit for one last rematch against a legendary opponent; travel to a hidden monastery on the slopes of Mount Celestia to deliver a message to a fighting master's mentor; steal a jewel containing the trapped soul of a warrior hero from a demon lord's palace on the Abyss.

Mellomir of Arabel

Paranoid Divination and Prophecy Expert

As an expert in divination and prophecy, Mellomir of Arabel already knows what's going to happen in any given situation. Or at least he'd like to think so, and the truth is he can see big events coming, but the small ones tend to elude his vision. He hails from the city of Arabel where he frequented the Wild Goose before accidentally stumbling into the entrance to the World Serpent one night. Since then, he's decided to stay in the World Serpent, though he doesn't say why.

Mellomir is quick to point out to anyone coming near that his prophetic visions are legendary, and he foresaw the Time of Troubles on Faerun when the gods walked the land as mortals, and the terrible Rage of Dragons that sent draconic creatures into bloodthirsty frenzies all across the land. He has had less success predicting events directly affecting himself, however, and this lack of foresight has made him extremely paranoid and superstitious. He is a human male with a thin face and narrow eyes constantly darting about the room, never settling on any one thing for more than a moment.

Example Jobs. Pick up some herbs from Laughing Jane in the Hut of Eyes on Mungoth, the third layer of Gehenna; copy the contents of a specific page in the Tome of Tomorrow held by the Seers of Tomorrow on Arborea; listen to the psychic words of Hhallashaa the Great Jellyfish at a specific time on Thalasia, the oceanic fourth layer of Elysium.

Rydel of the Goldpelt Guardians

Vigilant Archon Warrior

Proud and noble, Rydel is a hound archon from the slopes of Mount Celestia, where he served in a contingent of celestial warriors known as the Goldpelt Guardians. Unfortunately, disaster struck the Goldpelt Guardians during a conflict with demonic forces on Mercuria, the second layer of Mount Celestia, and Rydel's companions were all wiped out. He alone survived the attack, and shortly after he was reassigned to watch over the World Serpent Inn on behalf of the archons of the Seven Heavens.

Rydel doesn't understand why he survived the attack or why he was chosen for such a mission, but his loyalty to the principals of Mount Celestia is unwavering. He receives orders directly from his archon superiors, providing him with tasks needing completed from across the multiverse. Rydel is instructed to work with jobbers at the World Serpent who share the ideals of the Seven Heavens, and the hound archon is an excellent judge of character.

Example Jobs. Rescue a couatl from Mentiri, Prison of Dis, on the second layer of the Nine Hells of Baator; negotiate a peace treaty between rival members of the Jotundrott on Ysgard; purchase a cache of goods from one of the Great Guildclanns of Bytopia and transport it to Mount Celestia.

Zilmothon

Ancient Arcanaloth Librarian

There are few in the World Serpent Inn more knowledgeable than Zilmothon, and if you don't believe this you only have to ask him to prove it. Zilmothon is an arcanaloth, a humanoid-looking yugoloth fiend from the plane of Gehenna with the head of a jackal. He dresses in fine robes and gaudy jewelry, and his thirst for more knowledge brought him originally to the World Serpent many years ago. Since then, he's established a permanent presence in the tavern, though he spends a large amount of time in the Hold of the Library Knights (when they let him in, of course).

Zilmothon speaks with a smooth voice using honeyed words, but his wit is sharp and his sarcasm strong. He seems to be interested in gathering information about a great number of places and people from across the multiverse, so his jobs tend to range farther and cover stranger topics than other patrons. He pays well, however, and he's always interested in buying new secrets if anyone is willing to sell them.

Example Jobs. Pick up a vial of special poison from the glabrezu Sinmaker on Cathrys, the second layer of Carceri; meet up with a raving lunatic in the city of Madhouse on Pandemonium and write down everything they say for one specific hour; steal a magical wand from the College of Elemental Chaos on Limbo.

SERVICES & AMENITIES

The World Serpent Inn is a fully functioning tavern, and as such it offers services and amenities for travelers behaving by its simple house rules. Mitchifer is happy to recite the rules to anyone with a smile on his face, and those breaking the rules find themselves disappearing in a greasy black cloud to have a conversation with "management."

Food

One of the house rules of the World Serpent is simple: food is free. The kitchen serves three meals a day, each in an 8-hour period, with no variations or alterations allowed to the offered menu. The menu does change from day to day, however, generally as food becomes available to the kitchen staff, and sometimes Mitchifer sponsors a team of jobbers to acquire more exotic food for the kitchen.

The three meals are divided generally into breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Breakfast items usually consist of eggs, thick bread, porridge, and exotic fruits, including razorvine oranges, black sulfur apples, spiny starfruit, and spotted mango. Sometimes the fruit is prepared in a cream-based sauce.

Lunch includes a fresh roasted meat, such as herb-stuffed diakka or glazed abyssal chicken breasts, along with a root vegetable option, fresh baked bread, and whatever is leftover from breakfast. The lunch menu is usually served hot with a variety of sauces available upon request. World Serpent favorites include red mushroom cream (heavily spiced with ginger and clover), ghost pepper chutney (very spicy), and a purple plum sauce that pairs perfectly with abyssal chicken.

Dinner consists of leftovers for the day served cold, often in sandwich form, along with a stew option made from the root vegetables and meat from lunch. Sometimes the stew is the only option if there was a particularly popular option at lunch, but the kitchen staff strives to have enough leftover for a sandwich.

Drink

The stock of alcohol in the World Serpent is highly regarded, and there are only a few variations Mitchifer can't produce from the well-stocked liquor cabinet. Unlike the food, drinks are not free, though they typically only cost 1 gp for the drink regardless of its makeup. Mitchifer automatically opens a tab for each visitor and can recall perfectly each patron's outstanding balance. He doesn't push for payment, especially if the patron is hard up for coin.

Drink specialties at the World Serpent include the green venom shake, a thick puree of diluted snake poison mixed with a green apple liqueur and brandy; grog of grog, a heavy black ale cut generously with a foamy mixture resulting in a highly alcoholic spiced concoction; Styx sorrow, a thick red ale with enough alcohol content to knock a dwarf senseless; and Elysium elixir, a sweet golden wine made from fermented grapes grown in the bountiful sunshine of the Blessed Fields.

Lodging

Rooms at the World Serpent are available to rent at a cost of 1 gp per night. All of the rooms are located on the Upper Floor in a sprawling mass of corridors known as the Bellies, and each room is identified by a letter and a number. There's no clear sequencing to the assignments; room A33 is next to J190 which is next to K201, and so forth.

Each room in the Bellies can be secured and locked with the exquisite lock, requiring a DC 15 Dexterity check with thieves' tools to open. The resident of each room is provided a key engraved with the room assignment from Mitchifer, which not only unlocks the door but also allows the wielder to unerringly find their room within the confounding maze of the Bellies.

The rooms are well-furnished and comfortable with a wealthy quality, so the price per night is considered a bargain for the accommodation. Each room has a single bed and are designed for individual or couple occupancy, but groups traveling together can request adjacent rooms without any problems.

Those staying in the World Serpent usually report restful sleep with unusually vivid dreams, focused primarily on serpent imagery. Most residents consider this a byproduct of the inn's planar nature and further proof of some immense divine snake built or even constitutes the World Serpent. Sometimes, these dreams take on prophetic qualities, but if questioned Mitchifer simply smiles and states some sleepers are more susceptible to fancy than others.

Security

One of the services offered by the World Serpent is the secure storing of equipment and personal effects for a time in the Guardvaults, a highly protected region of the Lower Floor. Mitchifer handles any request for Guardvault storage, a service costing 1 gp per day, or 5 gp per tenday for longer storage needs. He requires a deposit of 5 gp to store items, which can be as big or as small as desired, and is happy to refund the deposit if the total storage time is less than five days or a tenday.

Once the deposit is made, one of the autogoblins comes up and escorts the character down to the Guardvaults on the Lower Floor. Each room in the Guardvault is protected by a thick iron circular door, and the size of the rooms change based upon the needs of the interior space. The autogoblin takes the character to their assigned door, past the imposing iron golem guardians, and then waits for the items to be deposited before leading the character back out.

Breaking into the Guardvaults is difficult at best, and most thieves who have viewed the operation come away with the feeling the effort is simply not worth the trouble to break into the area. Outside the iron golem guardians, each door in the Guardvaults is magically locked and trapped, and Mitchifer seems to have a supernatural sense about intruders into the area.

Jobber Enlistment

One of the secret draws of the World Serpent Inn are the various jobs patrons can request be completed on behalf of wandering adventurers and mercenaries. Mitchifer accepts the requests on a case-by-case basis, inscribing them personally into the Book of Jobs when accepted, making them available for any licensed jobber to peruse and accept.

Characters can become licensed jobbers for the World Serpent by signing up with Mitchifer. There is no cost associated with it, but the bartender requires each person sign up of their own accord, willingly, by accepting the jobber contract. The contract is lengthy and full of legal terminology, but ultimately the jobber agrees to accept personal responsibility for any job undertaken and not to hold the World Serpent liable for death or damages. There's nothing sinister about the contract but Mitchifer likes to be thorough.

Once a group is licensed as jobbers, Mitchifer allows them to peruse the Book of Jobs for available tasks. Submitting a task to the Book of Jobs requires the approval of Mitchifer and a confirmation of available reward, usually taking the form of a sum of gold coins. The World Serpent takes a small percentage and handles the disbursement of funds to the jobber. Sometimes, Mitchifer sweetens the deal especially if the job requestor is short on coin and the job is especially urgent.

Mitchifer keeps a running tally of each licensed jobber crew and the amount of gold they've earned. Anyone can request to view the current standing to see how they stack up against other teams, and over the years rivalries have developed between some of the older established jobber crews and the new ones. This competition is actively encouraged by Mitchifer but he makes sure altercations are kept verbal and not physical, at least within the confines of the Uncommon Room.

SITES & TREASURES

The World Serpent Inn is so much more than the Uncommon Room. Hallways, tunnels, and passages branch out in infinite meandering paths, and they are all filled with doors of all kinds. Some lead to other planes, some lead to secret areas, and some seem to lead nowhere. Characters exploring the World Serpent, especially the Deep Levels, are warned by Mitchifer about the potential risks but the bartender doesn't stop anyone from wandering around.

The Bellies

A large portion of the Upper Floor of the World Serpent is dedicated to a broad area known as the Bellies. The confounding maze of hallways are filled with doors leading to the innumerable personal rooms available for rent. No one knows exactly the capacity - it may actually be infinite, or it simply may feel like infinite considering the nonsensical numbering pattern for the rooms and the endlessly twisting corridors.

All of the known patrons of the World Serpent have long-term residency chambers consisting of large multi-room suites. No one really knows how to get a room of this style - Mitchifer only says it's by the leisure of the Owner that some are allowed to stay in the larger rooms. Some believe it's a perk for putting more coin into the World Serpent's operations through the Book of Jobs, but no one really knows for sure.

Autogoblins are a common encounter in the hallways of the Bellies, grumbling and complaining as they go about repairing chambers and cleaning up after guests. They have an intense dislike for their work and everyone in the World Serpent, but they never fail in their chores and mostly leave everyone alone.

Book of Jobs

The Book of Jobs is Mitchifer's massive tome containing a record of all the tasks put forth by patrons for jobbers to complete. It's very large, easily four feet tall and half that wide, with a shimmering emerald green snakeskin cover binding the numerous yellowed pages inside. The Book of Jobs also contains a record of all of the contracts for licensed jobbers along with the "score sheet" showing how much each jobber crew has earned.

Any licensed jobber can request to look at the open requests. Mitchifer gladly pulls out the massive book from behind the bar counter and opens it unerringly to the open job requests page. Jobbers can flip through the pages if they want but the bartender keeps a lookout for any tricks or shenanigans. If a crew is interested in taking one of the jobs, Mitchifer requires they sign the page and then directs them over to the patron (or summons them mentally if they are not in the Uncommon Room).

Once a job is completed by the crew to the satisfaction of the patron, Mitchifer handles payment disbursement as well. A patron has the opportunity to refuse a job to a proposed crew if there seems to be a conflict of skill or personality, though this rarely occurs. The arrangement of requests through the Book of Jobs keeps adventurers from across the multiverse coming and going through the World Serpent, thus increasing the planar tavern's visibility and influence on a grand scale.

Brawling Pit

Mitchifer is quick to defuse any escalating tension in the Uncommon Room that may lead to violence, and one tool he uses when things get out of hand is the Brawling Pit. Located on the Main Floor, through a few winding corridors, the Brawling Pit is a large open square chamber with a 10-foot deep, 50-foot square hole carved in the center. Sand fills the pit, and four ladders provide easy access to the ground.

The rules of the Brawling Pit are simple - no attacks affecting anyone outside the pit. Other than that, anything goes. Combatants have beaten, bloodied, and even killed one another in the sandy pit, and as long as no harm comes to any spectator or the World Serpent itself, all actions are sanctioned and considered "legal" by the house. When Mitchifer suggests the Brawling Pit as a solution to a problem, he watches over the proceeding fight and intervenes only to make sure no one dies.

Some of the other patrons organize irregular "fight nights," pitting skilled combatants against one another in a bloodthirsty gladiatorial spectacle. Betting is lucrative and fast-paced during these publicized events, with high value bets on who draws first blood, which combatant is bloodied first, and which combatant uses a particular spell or ability. Mitchifer doesn't condone these fight nights, but neither does he do anything to stop them. Linxx Koldrish, a blue dragonborn, organizes these fight nights, and she adds any skilled volunteer to the roster if they wish to join.

Door of Doors

There are an infinite number of doors in the World Serpent Inn spread across all layers, representing a truly staggering variety of possibilities. There is only one Door of Doors, however, even amongst an infinity of possibilities, which is one of the great conundrums of the multiverse. The Door of Doors is actually a set of massive double doors, spanning about 20 feet tall and 10 feet wide between the pair, and appears to be made of ancient bronze. Intricate runes of unknown origin are etched into the surface.

What's behind the Door of Doors? No one knows for sure, but speculation is a common topic amongst the patrons of the Uncommon Room. Some believe it's a gateway to the mind of the Owner of the World Serpent, providing direct access into the psychic landscape of an ancient serpent deity, while others say it holds back the sanity-blasting realities of the alien Far Realm.

Besides its contents, the Door of Doors is also unique because it never stays in one place. It moves around seemingly of its own accord, jumping between floors and regions. It can appear at any time against any wall, and famously has appeared in the Uncommon Room several times, generating much discussion about its nature. If Mitchifer knows anything about it he doesn't say, but the grim look on his broad face suggests he's hiding something.

Grand Gardenland

Very little is known about the serpent servers and their home, except they come and go regularly through a gnarled oak tree rooted in a large chamber of lush greenery known as the Grand Gardenland. The walls and ceiling of the room are constructed of aged wood, warped and twisted in places, giving the entire area an unsettling natural look at odds with the rest of the World Serpent Inn.

The enormous oak tree in the center has old and twisted roots growing up around it, creating an opening into darkness. This is the entrance to the Feywild realm echoing the World Serpent, and where the serpent servers live and play when they are not serving the patrons of the tavern in the Uncommon Room or running errands for the kitchen. In the Feywild, the Grand Gardenland is a beautiful, vibrant forest realm, confined by the same dimensions as the World Serpent version but filled with lush life cloaking the walls and floor.

Outsiders are generally not permitted to the Feywild through the Grand Gardenland, though rumors persist of a dark fey presence lurking on the other side. The serpent servers seem to worry about something foreboding on the other side, and they look to Mitchifer and the Owner for protection against whatever evil hungers in the Plane of Faerie.

Guardvault

The most secure location in all the World Serpent is the Guardvault, a sprawling network of stone tunnels located on the Lower Floor. Patrons can pay Mitchifer a small fee to store items or goods here, keeping it safe and away from prying eyes for as long as they're willing to pay the gold. Iron golems patrol the Guardvault, diligently and relentlessly protecting the region from all intruders, and the doors to each individual vault are locked and magically warded to alert Mitchifer to any tampering.

Patrons wishing to store items in the Guardvault must pay Mitchifer in the Uncommon Room, who then provides them with a key and an autogoblin guide to their specific site. The key carried by the patron allows them to bypass the iron golem guardians and open their door, and the size inside expands or contracts to fit the volume of the stored equipment. Only storing a suit of armor? The vault is small and cozy. Want to make sure an ancient statue of a dead demon lord is kept safe while researching how to destroy it? The vault increases in size to accommodate.

Occasionally, patrons pay for Guardvault storage and then don't come to collect their items when their paid time is up. Mitchifer is willing to store items for a short period in these circumstances, racking up a debt, but if enough time passes the innkeeper can decide to simply remove the items and place them elsewhere. Sometimes, he requests a jobber team to deliver the items to the owner along with the bill, but other times he simply deposits the items into the Uncommon Room, creating a frantic free-for-all as the nearby patrons scramble to claim whatever treasured objects are released.

Hammer Clamor Workshop

Travelers in the Lower Floor hear the Hammer Clamor Workshop long before they get there - the ringing sound of hammers on anvils and other industrious clatter echo throughout the hallways. This is the home of the autogoblins, who work on the various building projects around the World Serpent from the solitude of their workshop, while also working on themselves and creating new autogoblins.

On the surface, the Hammer Clamor Workshop's primary goal is to manufacture the things needed to keep the World Serpent Inn running and in good (enough) shape. Secretly, the autogoblins also work on doomsday projects meant to overthrow Mitchifer and the Owner, installing themselves as the true powers of the World Serpent! Secretly in this case is not so secret as Mitchifer is completely aware of all the projects going on in the workshop at any given time. If any one project comes close to being a true threat to the World Serpent, he sends a team of jobbers down to make sure it doesn't succeed.

These are rare instances, however. The autogoblins are sneaky, mischievous, and malevolent, but their plans are not particularly well thought out and most projects collapse before transitioning to any real threat. The autogoblins are never deterred by these failures, however. They labor without rest or food (since they are constructs) on their various projects. The most ambitious design being undertaken in the Hammer Clamor Workshop has been going on for many years, and involves the creation of a functioning autogoblin "god" to direct and watch over them, away from the influence of the Owner.

This power is referred to as the Great Entirely Autogoblin Reclamation Freedom Restoring Oscillating Golem, or GEARFROG. GEARFROG appears as an enormous goblin head constructed of spare parts, junk, and other detritus, and the autogoblins have managed to grant it intelligence enough to be aware of its surroundings. It is a project the autogoblins hope to one day bring them freedom, but the likely outcome is an explosion. Only time will tell how successful they are, but Mitchifer has thus far not interfered with its construction.

Hold of the Library Knights

There are many strange sites and wonders behind the infinite doors of the World Serpent Inn. On the Lower Floor, one particular door hides a room known as the Hold of the Library Knights. Inside is a massive chamber containing an actual fortress! Its stone walls are decorated with banners of the Order of Library Knights, warriors sworn to defend the Hold and keep its store of tomes and books secure against any invaders.

There's a chilling air about the entire room, and those visiting quickly discover the Library Knights are undead soldiers, and the books inside the Hold are ancient tomes related to the history of some Material Plane kingdom long forgotten. Rumors persist the Hold and its undead knights were saved from the destruction of the Material Plane by the Owner of the World Serpent Inn, though ultimately for what purpose is not known. The Library Knights themselves are stern, unyielding guardians, but they allow access into the Hold for anyone swearing not to destroy, deface, or steal the books within.

Many scholars have studied the lore within the books and walked away with a picture of a powerful kingdom brought down by greed and sinister fiend worship on a large scale. Were the Library Knights part of that fall? Or were they simple guardians of knowledge? Is their lost home still out there in some form, or is it gone forever? Why was the Hold and the Order of Library Knights brought into the World Serpent to begin with? There are many questions and almost no answers, leaving most to leave the room alone, considering it nothing more than an oddity of the planar tavern.

Lostways

The Lostways make up the bulk of the vast, sprawling labyrinth of tunnels and passages found in the Deep Level. Thick mists swirl and obscure vision beyond 30 feet, and the sputtering torches cast only half their regular light being choked by the omnipresent darkness. The hallways take on a rougher appearance, with many resembling cavernous passages or wooden stretches on the verge of total collapse. There is no end to the maze, though there are countless doors of almost every conceivable shape and size.

Monsters also lurk in the Lostways, most predominantly the slithering vaporous serpent tongues. Crawling mist serpents, normally only found in the Sea of Mists in the Plane of Dreams, are also found in the Lostways along with spectral yuanti monsters and other undead horrors. Mitchifer is quick to warn anyone traveling down to the Deep Level about the dangers in the Lostways, explaining only the region is the oldest section of the World Serpent and "remembers things best left forgotten." Exactly what he means no one has determined.

Some of the doors in the Lostways lead to secret or forgotten places across the multiverse, including regions otherwise thought destroyed or lost. Some of the ghostly apparitions in the area retain memories of their former lives and have been able to offer guidance to travelers, but just as many have been reduced to mindless monsters wishing only to suck the life out of the living.

Sapphire Basin

The World Serpent Inn has its own source of clean, fresh water on the Upper Floor in the form of the Sapphire Basin. This large sparkling pool is hundreds of feet wide and filled with brilliant azure water fed from a natural never-ending gate to the Plane of Water. Serpent servers and autogoblins both come and go from the basin on a regular basis, bringing water to the kitchen, the baths in the Bellies, or the workshop on the Lower Floor depending on the need.

Water weirds fill the Sapphire Basin, though by some ancient decree they don't bother the staff of the World Serpent. Travelers to the area hoping to take a dip in the crystal-like waters are in for a rude surprise, however, as the elemental beings violently defend the Sapphire Basin from any perceived intruders.

Occasionally, something surprising gets pulled into the Sapphire Basin from the Plane of Water, including lost bands of sea elves, ferocious megalodons, confused water elementals, and even sunken pirate ships! Mitchifer has been known to request jobbers return the lost items or people to their home plane.

Shadow Citadel

On the Upper Floor, in the World Serpent's Shadowfell echo, the rooms and chambers are not home to willing guests but prisoners. The area is known as the Shadow Citadel, though it resembles nothing of the kind, and its inhabitants include monstrous fiends, powerful criminals, and even demigods and lesser powers, all locked away in the Plane of Shadow echoing the World Serpent's Upper Floor Bellies.

The Shadow Citadel's "guest rooms" are kept locked and secured by powerful magical wards, but the separation of the prison on the Plane of Shadow is the best method for keeping the dangerous inhabitants isolated from the rest of the multiverse. There are no guards in the traditional sense, but the Shadow Citadel's interior is patrolled by shadowy versions of the serpent tongues who attack any creature they encounter with vicious appetites. By some quirk or magic or the Shadowfell, prisoners here do not require food or water, nor do they age. They are locked in time and place, theoretically forever.

There is no trial or due process for criminals in the Shadow Citadel, and no one understands who gets sentenced there or for what reason beyond Mitchifer and the Owner. It seems to be a rare occurrence, though occasionally a particularly powerful or malevolent entity tries to break out, usually by ensnaring a weak-willed traveler with psychic promises sent across the gulf of planes. No one has a catalog of the occupants either, leaving some to speculate exactly what kind of entities are trapped forever in the depths of the Shadow Citadel.

Skeleton Hill

The World Serpent Inn has existed as a planar nexus and waystation for a very long time, at least centuries and likely for a much longer time. Sometimes, creatures die within the World Serpent, and when that happens their remains are transported to a massive boneyard known as Skeleton Hill on the Lower Floor. This chamber magically expands to accommodate additional bodies, and the sheer number of skeletons and dead beings piled there currently is immense.

Skeleton Hill is filled with the remains of the dead, new and incredibly ancient, in enormous haphazard piles. The autogoblins are charged with maintaining the site and hauling any corpses to it found throughout the World Serpent, and they do not care about the state of things inside. More than once, an undead horror has risen from the piles of bones to try and attack the living, though mostly they get lost or destroyed by the forces of the autogoblins or the occasional jobber crew sent by Mitchifer.

Amongst the piles of dead bodies, Skeleton Hill also holds many of their worldly possessions. Autogoblins scavenge bits and pieces from the dead before depositing them into the boneyard, but their idea of value skews towards the aesthetically interesting instead of actually useful, and they have no use for most weapons and jewelry. Rumors persist Skeleton Hill is filled with the lost treasures of thousands of adventurers from across the multiverse - but finding any specific item would be next to impossible considering the sheer size of the bone piles.

Uncommon Room

The hub of the World Serpent Inn is the Uncommon Room, the entrance through which most travelers come into from the rest of the multiverse. It is a large room, octagonal in shape, with four broad platforms at the "cardinal" directions of the main chamber, each containing a large door leading to one of the more common sites across the planes. These doors rotate regularly or as need be on a schedule no one but Mitchifer and the Owner truly understands.

The center of the Uncommon Room is where Mitchifer tends bar and handles the transactions of the World Serpent. The bar counters fit together to form a squared section where Mitchifer fetches drinks and orders, with a central pillar leading up to the 50-foot ceiling holding four doors leading to the wine and ale cellar. A few circular tables are placed about the room, and no matter how crowded the Uncommon Room seems, there's always a place for newcomers to sit with enough chairs.

Numerous other doors branch off from the Uncommon Room leading to other areas of the Main Floor, or holdings stairs leading up or down to access the other floors. None of the doors in the Uncommon Room are locked but Mitchifer is quick to point out what he considers the most critical rule of the World Serpent: don't open any door unless you're prepared to go through it.

GROUP PATRON: WORLD SERPENT INN

The World Serpent Inn is a hub of the multiverse, with travelers coming and going through an infinite varieties of doors and portals. This creates a nexus of adventure, and Mitchifer has opted to capitalize on this feature by enlisting jobber crews for the various tasks submitted to the Book of Jobs. For him, it's a win-win situation - new travelers come into the World Serpent with problems needing solving, and new bands of adventurers come in to take on those problems. All buy drinks and stay in the World Serpent for a period, and the planar tavern keeps running!

The World Serpent could serve as a Group Patron for the characters, providing a backbone for the campaign. General information on using Group Patrons can be found in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything.

World Serpent Perks

With the World Serpent Inn as your group's patron, you gain the following perks.

Accommodations. Jobbers who decide to take on the World Serpent's problems receive free rooms, for as long as they remain in good standing with Mitchifer. The powerful yet enigmatic tavernkeeper has been known to forcefully eject jobber crews who have overstayed their welcome by breaking the rules of the World Serpent, and those crews breaking contracts from a Book of Jobs quickly find the planar tavern an unwelcoming place.

The quality of room is standard for the World Serpent, and the jobber crew can request one room for each member or a shared suite. Each requested suite has a small gathering room with enough individual chambers for each jobber to have their own individual space.

Equipment. Mitchifer sees a lot of travelers coming and going, and he's amassed quite a stockpile of items. Jobbers signed up as a crew can purchase common items from Mitchifer. The DM sets the price of a common magic item or determines it randomly: 2d4 x 10 gp, or half as much for a consumable item such as a potion or scroll. Mitchifer usually only keeps one item of each requested type at any given time, but his stock resupplies every 1d8 days.

Marketplace. With all the people passing through the World Serpent, Mitchifer and the serpent servers have found ways to sell a lot of unusual items. Registered jobber crews can take advantage of this service as well to sell pretty much anything, legal or illegal, from art to jewelry to magical items. For magical items, this allows the jobber to delegate the work of finding a buyer (a downtime activity described in the Dungeon Master's Guide and Xanathar's Guide to Everything) to the World Serpent. Mitchifer takes 10 percent of the sale price as a finder's fee.

Portal Map. There are a lot of doors in the World Serpent Inn, and travelers discover finding the right one leading where they want to go is difficult. Mitchifer keeps an autogoblin named Axel tasked with maintaining a map of the doors, and he offers to share this with any registered jobber crew. The map shows the location of portals to the Inner Planes, Outer Planes, Astral Plane, and Ethereal Plane, along with a few Material Planes. The map also includes how to access the portal on the other side for a return trip.

World Serpent Contact

Mitchifer is the ultimate contact at the World Serpent Inn, but jobber crews live their life by the list of available contracts in the Book of Jobs. Any patron of the World Serpent can submit a contract to Mitchifer, who normally picks up such requests without any formal communication.

The Creatures & Denizens section earlier lists six long-term residents of the World Serpent, any of which may offer intriguing contracts to jobbers. The below list randomizes those potential contractors, but don't feel restricted to just this list. Any quest from anywhere in the multiverse can show up in the Book of Jobs!

WORLD SERPENT CONTACTS

World Serpent Jobbers

Jobbers of the World Serpent come in as many varieties as adventurers. Anyone who finds an entrance to the planar tavern can sign up and take a contract, but most realize the best chance of success comes from diversifying the available skillset. Everyone brings something special to the jobber crew, and on a job the most successful crews leverage these differences to overcome challenges. In this way, a jobber crew functions very much like a regular adventuring party!

WORLD SERPENT JOBS

As far as rewards, a jobber crew can expect payment in the form of coins commensurate to the difficulty of the job and the experience of the crew. The below table offers general guidelines for how much each jobber can expect to pull in upon successfully completing the job. What constitutes an easy, medium, or hard job is ultimately up to the DM, and jobs requiring longer commitments of time (days or weeks) may pay out two or three times the amount listed.