Rising Moon Inn

The half-timbered inn has a fieldstone

ground floor and chimney and a roof of

cedar shakes. A post out front, the wall

above the serving window of the bar

(where the proprietor’'s axe hangs), and

the stained glass of the inn’'s front door all

display the sign of the inn: the silver crescent

moon. The upper floor has 11 sleeping

rooms that vary widely in size. One

room can accommodate a party of six in

separate beds. For larger parties, renting

more than one room is the norm,

although the inn does have an attic where

the staff members sleep.

The trot down to Deeping Stream that

Shandril Shessair used to make is blocked

by a city wall now. Traffic through the

gate usually makes a water bucket run,

even with a shoulder yoke, impractical, so

piping has been run up from the river. A

treadle pump installed in a small summerhouse

just behind the kitchen door

moves the water up through the pipes.

For 1 cp per bucket, passersby are

allowed the use of the pump to fill their

own buckets.

The cellars beneath the Rising Moon are

extensive. The owner, Gorstag, is thinking

of relocating the staff sleeping quarters into

them and putting another floor of rooms in

by opening up the attic with dormers.

Gorstag’s thoughts of expansion are due

to the Moon’'s burgeoning popularity.

Always the best no-troubles lodging in

Highmoon, this inn has become famous

as the early home of the only known

wielder of spellfire in all the Realms,

Shandril Shessair. Many folk, from

powerful wizards seeking the secrets of

spellfire to the merely curious, have come

to Highmoon to question Gorstag closely

about Shandril’'s life in hopes of learning

just what awakened spellfire within her.

Gorstag retired from adventuring to

reopen his father'’s old inn here some 30

years ago. Running the inn with him are is wife Lureene and their mute cook Rhiia Duskmantle.

Success has not spoiled the folk of the

Moon. They are still the same friendly,

easygoing, cheerfully earthy hosts they

have always been. Staying at the Moon is

like temporarily being taken in to a large,

fun-loving, forgiving family. This feeling of

belonging is one of the reasons crowding

is now a regular problem at the Moon—

and the others are Lureene’'s butter tarts

and Rhiia’'s hearty poultry dishes.

Some local folk come to the Moon for dinner, and when the place is full to bursting, others ask if they can sleep in the stables just to feel they have stayed at the Moon. In the cold season, visitors still find the main room crowded at mealtimes but the rest of the day guests are few. It is also in winter that Gorstag taps his excellent and very strong cider and serves it hot by the fire with buttered biscuits.

Though Lureen's tarts easily take the prize for the best viands to be had at the Moon, Rhiia's soups, pork pies, and fowl dishes are what fill most folk up and keep them coming back for more.

Folk who come here just for meals pay 1 gp for all they can eat and drink on the premises or 5 sp for all they can eat and drinks costing extra. Guests pay 6 sp a night for a bed but a whopping 4 gp if they want a room all to themselves due to the inn's normal crowding. Guest receive their meals at a reduced price of 2 sp per person per meal for as many servings as they can down but drinks are extra. Stabling is an extra 1 sp per night per beast.

All folk paying for drinks, that is all overnight guests and those visiting just to dine, who elect to pay for just all they can eat, face prices of 4 cp per talltankard for beer and 3 cp per tallglass for wine.

Gorstag serves Shadowdark Ale, Purple Dragon Ale, and Dragon's Breath Beer, and stocks a dubious selection of rather plummy red wines and dry, thin whites made

locally by old ladies along the Glaemril

who cannot resist experimentally

adding herbs and berries to each vintage.

The quality of their wine varies wildly from

bottle to bottle, and I would not recommend

it for anyone not willing to lose the

worth of their coin in the taste experiment.

Gorstag himself loves night snacks.

While he is up preparing things, he feels

he might as well serve other night eaters

who come to the front door and blow

through a tube to make a distinctive low

humming sound that does not wake

guests above but brings Gorstag to open

up. These snacks consist of beer, hot buttered

bread, and cheese. Strong cheeses

are Gorstag'’s passion; he offers Arabellan

Cheddar, Elturian Gray, Pepper Cheese—

and even Damarite Red and the rarely

seen Green Calishite. A mug and a platter

sets snackers back the grand sum of 1

cp and is the best deal by far in town if

one can wait until the wee hours to dine.

The Rising Moon is an old, historied inn.

Gorstag can tell many tales of the early

days of Highmoon and of his own adventuring

career. Despite what he says, however,

he is not old enough to ever have

known the Deeping Princess.

Most folk think of the Moon just as the

home of spellfire. Those expecting fireworks,

strange magic, or even a commemorative

plaque will be disappointed.

Gorstag and Lureene are, however, very

proud of “their little girl” Shandril and will

talk freely of her early days at the inn.

Gorstag understands the restlessness

that drove Shandril to seek adventure, but

believes he did the right thing in giving

her a normal childhood and keeping her

hidden from prying eyes for so long. He

and Lureene studiously avoid answering

questions as to Shandril’'s present whereabouts,

Instead, they talk to the pryingly

curious about the exciting growth of

Highmoon and what it will mean to the

treasured pastoral feel of the Dale and the

sylvan-loving elves.

One of the rumored locations of the

tomb of the Deeping Princess is beneath

the cellars of the Rising Moon. Although

Gorstag denies that there is any truth to

the rumor, a secret shaft was recently discovered

in one side of the hearth chimney

opening out of its side into the kitchens.

The shaft proved to descend past the present

cellars into a low, arch-roofed cellar

about 70 feet long whose far end was

blocked by a rock fall. Gorstag believes

this was more likely a smugglers’ cellar

than an elven tomb, and its construction

would seem to support his contention. It

is rumored in town that a certain patron

has paid Gorstag a very handsome sum of

money for the private and exclusive use of

this storage space. Just who the renter is

and what the cellar is being used for are

things Gorstag refuses to discuss; even the

most avid gossips do not seem to know.

History buffs should not miss the battered

Stag Shield above the kitchen door.

Its barely legible arms are those of

Rauthren Halawk, one of the first human

settlers to answer the call of the Deeping

Princess to dwell here by the Glaemril

and found Deepingdale.