The Balladeer’s Eclipse

This lively inn & tavern is one of Revelmoore’s most famous attractions; a house of fine food and drink, the point of beginnings for many new adventuring parties, and the home of the most well-traveled route to the infamous Undermountain. Established in 3321, The Eclipse sees hundreds of faces come through its doors each day, and something interesting is almost always happening behind its walls.   The site that would become the Balladeer’s Eclipse has been home to a massive well since the founding of Revelmoore. Since its discovery, the well has been commonly known as ‘the Eclipse’, giving the tavern its name. The well is forty feet across in diameter, and stretches downwards just over two-hundred feet into the first level of the Undermountain. The titular Eclipse is the most commonly used entrance into the Undermountain due to its ease of access, and is used by simply paying a single gold coin per head to the bar and riding down a suspended wooden bridge operated by a chain pulley.   Because of the easy access to one of the most potentially profitable dungeons in Lloegyr, as well as modest prices for quality libations, the Balladeer’s Eclipse is especially popular with Revelmoore’s unusually large adventuring class. Often when a monster or other threat decides to climb out of the Undermountain, it finds itself face to face with a large clientele that is uniquely equipped to deal with it swiftly and efficiently.   The tavern itself was built by the wealthy Starsong Dwarf Clan, and is still owned by a family member (albeit an adopted one) to the present day. People of all races and origins are welcome as employees, although all who wish to apply for a job must either be capable of casting simple healing spells such as spare the dying or must be willing to learn.   Divination and conjuration magic have been observed to behave erratically within the tavern due to its proximity to an entrance to the Undermountain; a powerful barrier prevents spells such as scrying or teleportation from being cast into the Undermountain from the outside, and this barrier has been known to warp related spells cast anywhere near it. Visitors are advised to not attempt to cast spells of either school within the tavern for their own safety.    

Menu

 

Breakfast

• Wheat griddle cakes, loganberry syrup, fresh peach slices - 6cp
• Eggs, deep grain toast, Grimmstown goat cheese, fresh apple - 1sp
• Eggs, boar bacon, Hommlet golden cheese, southern ward tomato - 2sp
• Frostgale bear steak, eggs, black grain bread, hot grain mustard, sour orange - 2sp 3cp
• Prawns in chili oil, flatbread, tubers with salt, fresh strawberries - 3sp 1cp

 

Lunch Specials (Each 4sp)

• Mitday/Telday - Pork ribs, tubers with parsley, cabbage with carrots, corn fritter
• Vansday/Thyrsday - Sage sausage, panem bun, fried tubers w/tomato glaze, Grimmstown goat cheese
• Freday/Solday - Revelmoore catfish w/dill, peas, rye bread
• Sefday/Arcday - Steer meatballs, Hommlet golden cheese, bread w/garlic, long beans
• Cerday/Zorday - 6" meat pie, soft Mayfurrow cheese, sage sausage, tomato

 

Table Snacks

• Fried sliced tubers with salt and herbs, bacon, spring onions - 3cp
• Chicken pieces with tomato/chili puree, celery, carrots - 3cp
• Fried bread with artichoke and cream puree - 3cp
• Fried squid tentacles with dill and cream aioli - 8cp
• Fish soup with mixed vegetables - 6cp
• Beef of steer with bread, tomato, and brined cucumber - 1sp

 

Supper

• All entrees served with fresh foraged greens and bread
• Roasted carrots, Bard's Gate pepper, tubers w/cream and salt, peas - 3sp
• Chicken liver, plum mostarda, celery, pickled onion - 3sp 1cp
• Bear meatballs, tomato sauce, Revelmoore spiced cheese, long beans - 3sp 3cp
• Tomato soup, Khemit black bread croutons, Santa Quint summer sausage - 3sp 6cp
• Sockeye salmon, lime, cilantro, rice, corn - 4sp

 

Libations

 

Quaffables

• Water, elemental - 1cp
• Tea, Autumn’s Embrace Herbal Mix - 1cp
• Tea, Green - 1cp
• Tea, Xha’en Matcha - 3cp
• Coffee - 2cp
• Agua frescas (Melon, berry) - 1cp

 

Wines (Glass/Bottle)

• Amberglass (Sweetwine) - 1sp / 1gp - Light and fruity with a crisp finish
• Darnagal Dry - 1sp / 1gp - Dry Red with woody undertones and slight berrylike taste
• Sonnet Sec - 5sp / 10gp - Light, bubbly wine made by fairies of the feywild
• Rosznar Red - 4gp / 20gp - Bottled locally in Reveloore. High alcohol content
• Purple Grapesmash - 5sp / 10gp - Famous for its bittersweet aftertaste
• Topaz - 3s / 4g - Khemit import, mild and dry yellow-amber colored fruity blend

 

Beer

• Dragon Piss - 2cp - For those that want to get drunk quickly and cheaply
• Ramrider Dark Stout - 3cp - Direct from the Undermountain. Thick and heady dark stout
• Brookmere Stout - 3cp - Opaque and full-bodied. Hoppy with pleasant bitterness
• Foggy Vapor Dry Stout - 4cp - Elven beer. Strong body with a roasted nut taste
• Aspencove Lambic - 4cp - Notes of many berries. Sour in taste with fruity aroma
• Jade Dragon Porter - 5cp - Xhae'en import. Green in color with herbal aroma
• Foerdewaith Pale Ale - 5cp - Hoppy character, very drinkable with pleasant, bitter finish

 

Specialty Drinks

• Starsong Special Reserve - 2sp - Sapphire colored whiskey, tastes of berries, cinnamon, and smoke
• Piece of the Puzzle Special - 2sp - Bartender’s choice of two hard liquors poured on top of one another in a single glass
• Banshee’s Breath - 4sp - Floral liqueur made from Hidden Frills. Glows in the presence of ghosts and other spirits
• Faerie Fireball - 6sp - Cinnamon whiskey, heavy cream, and a touch of wild magic. Recommended cessation of all spellcasting for an hour after imbibing
• The “Ouch” - 1gp - Two full shots of lemon juice mixed with high proof liquor
• Cubed Spirits - 2gp - Mix of whiskey and fruit juice served as ice cubes. Melts into a full drink once placed in the mouth
• Will-o-the-Whiskey - 5gp - Whiskey, spiced rum, muddled orange, and a twist of a secret ingredient. Confers fire resistance for one hour when drank

 

History

It is unknown how or when the titular Eclipse came to be; all that can be gleaned from old records from Revelmoore’s founding years is that one day, the well was simply there. After several scouting parties were lost to the well, the depths were considered too dangerous and the well was sealed over. After the sealing mysteriously vanished, the well was demolished and filled in, only for the well to mysteriously be repaired and empty the very next morning.   Guards were posted to ‘well duty’ for decades, an infamously undesirable assignment due to the occasional surfacing of dangerous monsters and the difficulty involved in keeping adventurers out. Eventually, an enterprising member of the Dwarf Clan Starsong approached the Open Lord of the time and beseeched him for the land rights. The Starsong Dwarves, longtime natives of Revelmoore, proposed that the well should not be feared, but embraced as another unique feature of the city. Following the Open Lord’s agreement to the proposal, construction of the tavern was completed in 3321.   Ownership was passed from the tavern’s founder, Graven Starsong, to his eldest daughter Ozma Starsong in 3448. A lifelong librarian, Ozma disliked the idea of running a tavern and mostly left the operation to her employees. However, her adopted tiefling son Arathir took to the tavern life with aplomb, and after the birth of his daughter and his retirement from adventuring, he took over the establishment in 3503. Arathir remains the proprietor of the tavern to this day.