The Discovery of Coffee

Viv's discovery of coffee in Faerûn is a fascinating piece of her story that connects to both established Forgotten Realms lore and her personal journey.

During her expedition into the Underdark with the Crimson Shields, Viv's company was hired to escort a merchant caravan through the treacherous subterranean passages. The caravan was primarily trading surface goods for exotic Underdark minerals and enchantment components, a dangerous but lucrative route.

Several weeks into their journey, the caravan was forced to detour through an unmapped section of tunnels after a cave-in blocked their planned route. This detour led them to discover a hidden grove maintained by a community of svirfneblin (deep gnomes).

This grove was unique even by Underdark standards—the deep gnomes had cultivated a small ecosystem illuminated by bioluminescent fungi and rare light-refracting crystals that simulated partial sunlight. In this carefully maintained environment, they grew various fungi, tubers, and most importantly, a plant unlike anything Viv had seen before.

The svirfneblin called these plants "dreamberries" in their tongue, but they were in fact coffee plants—descendants of seeds brought to the Underdark centuries ago by a forgotten expedition from Calimshan, where coffee had been imported from lands far to the south and east of Faerûn.

The isolation of this grove had led to the coffee plants evolving distinctive properties. The beans absorbed trace amounts of magical energy from nearby faerzress (the magical radiation permeating parts of the Underdark), giving the resulting brew subtle properties beyond mere stimulation—enhanced clarity of thought and a peculiar resistance to magical sleep and charm effects for short periods.

When drow raiders threatened the grove, Viv and the Crimson Shields defended the svirfneblin community. During their weeks there, the grateful deep gnomes shared their brewing techniques with Viv, who showed unusual aptitude and passion for the process. Before departing, she traded a magical dagger she had acquired years earlier for a sizable quantity of beans and detailed instructions for their cultivation.

After establishing Legends & Lattes, Viv maintained contact with the svirfneblin community through trusted couriers. She imports their unique coffee beans as her signature blend, while also sourcing other varieties from traders dealing with distant lands like Maztica and Kara-Tur. She's even experimenting with growing a few plants in a specially constructed chamber in the café's basement, though replicating the specific conditions of that Underdark grove has proven challenging.

The coffee that patrons enjoy at Legends & Lattes is thus a genuine rarity in Neverwinter and much of the North—a taste of the exotic that brings together elements from across Faerûn's vast cultures and landscapes, much like Viv's establishment itself.