The Yawning Portal..
The Yawning Portal is a famous inn and tavern located
in the Castle Ward ofWaterdeep. Adventurers can meet
all sorts of colorful characters here.
The place is a stone building with a slate roof and
several chimneys. Most of the ground floor is taken
up by the tavern's common room, which contains a
40-foot-diameter open well (actually the outer s hell of a
sunken stone tower) that descends^140 feet to the first
level of Undermountain, the sprawling dungeon under
Waterdeep. A rope-and-pulley mechanism is used to
lower adventurers into the well and hoist them out. More
information about this entrance to Undermountain can
be found in Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage.
The upper floors of the Yawning Portal contain com-
fortable. nicely appointed rooms for guests.
Durnan, the proprietor, charges standard prices for
food, drink, and lodging (see chapter 5 of the Player's
Handbook for costs).F AMILIAR FAC E S
Give the Yawning Portal Familiar Faces handout in
appendix C to the players, and allow each of them to
select one NPC as a friendly acquaintance- someone
the player's character knows and trusts. More than one
player can select the same NPC. The information below
should be withheld from the players until their charac-
ters learn il.DUR NAN
N male llluskan human innkeeper
The proprietor of the Yawning Portal is a retired adven-
turer and a man of few words. Durnan (see appendix B)
bluntly warns adventurers of lower than 5th level that
entering Undermountain "isn't a good idea."' He keeps
a magic greatsword hidden behind the bar just in case
something monstrous crawls up out of the entry well." BONNIE"
N doppelganger disguised as Tethyrian human barmaid
This doppelganger posing as a friendly barmaid is the
leader of a gang of five doppelgangers that arrived in
Watcrdeep over a year ago. To help the gang make ends
meet, she works for Durnan as a barmaid. Mattrim
Mereg (see below) knows her secret.
MATTRIM "THREESTRINGS" MEREG
LG male !Uuskan human bard
This socially awkward bard (see appendix B) performs
at the Yawning Portal and is a better musician than
he pretends to be. He's called "Threestrings" because
he plays a lute that has only three strings remaining.
His secret is that he's a Harper spy, and he's far more
eloquent and composed than he lets on. He lives at the
inn, where he spends his afternoons and evenings spy-
ing on Zhentarim agents and gathering information on
other potential troublemakers. He recently befriended
Bonnie and wants to help her doppelganger gang settle
into the city.
I NTR.ODUCTION
jALESTER SILVERMANE
LG male Chondathan human lighter
Jalester Silvermane (see appendix B) is an agent of the
Lords' Alliance who reports directly to Laeral Silver-
hand. The Open Lord of Waterdeep has asked him to
spy on adventurers who might, through their actions, aid
or imperil the city and its citizens. Since the Yawning
Portal attracts adventurers of all sorts,Jalester spends a
lot of time here, usually seated by himself in a quiet cor-
ner. Durnan knows thatjalester works for Laeral and
leaves the young man alone.
Jalester is often distracted by thoughts of Faerrel Dun-
blade, his boyfriend, who was killed in a street fight last
year. When not engaged in alliance business. jalester is
lonely and looking for love.MELO ON WARDRAGON
NE male Chondathan human adventurer under the
control of an intellect devourer
Meloon Wardragon (see appendix B) comes across as
a cheery, optimistic, war m-hearted man eager to fight
alongside those he considers his friends. The Yawning
Portal staff and many of the regular guests know that
Meloon is a skilled fighter with ties to Force Grey.
An intellect devourer in league with Xanathar ate
Meloon's brain several months ago. Now under the mon-
ster's control, Meloon actively discourages adventurers
from exploring Undermountain and urges them to focus
on conflicts in the city instead. He also hunts down and
kills Zhentarim operatives for his secret beholder mas-
ter. He has his eye on Davil Starsong (see appendix B)
but won't kill the elf in plain view of witnesses.0BAYA UDAY
NG female Chu/tan human priest of Waukeen
Obaya, a pries t. bas traveled from Chult to sponsor ex-
peditions into Undermountain, with the goal of bringing
its magical treasures back to her employer, the mer-
chant prince Wakanga O'tamu of Port Nyanzaru. She
discourages low-level adventurers from exploring Un-
dermountain but is happy to help them with her magic
until they gain enough experience to be useful to her.
If you plan to run Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad
Mage after this adventure, Obaya can take on a more
prominent role as an advisor and a source of quests.YAGRA STONEFIST
N female half-ore thug-for-hire
Yagra is a Black Network mercenary who gets paid to
protect a Zhent negotiator named Davil Starsong (see
appendix B for more information on him). Yagra finds
the job boring and likes to pass the time by challenging
adventurers to arm wrestle. (Resolve such contests
using contested Strength checks.) If the characters
express their opposition to the Xanathar Guild, Yagra
might urge them to speak to Davil about joining forces
with the Zhentarim to destroy the beholder crime lord.
Yagra is a half-ore thug. When reduced to 0 hit points,
she drops to 1 bit point instead (but can't do this again
until she finjshes a long rest). She has darkvision out to
a range of^60 feet. She speaks Common and Ore.