Logos Location #7: The Sordid Rhinoceros

Warning: This post deals with adult themes including drug use. 

Thanks to Dyson Logos' generosity, he has made a large number of his high quality maps available for use. I have decided (with his approval) to incorporate these into locations within Mystara.

by Dyson Logos, source

The Sordid Rhinoceros is an inn in the lawless and dangerous city of Vlaad in the nation of Ierendi. It is not a conventional dungeon crawl, rather a meeting point for various NPCs, some of whom may be hostile, others treacherous, others who can be bargained with. None are particularly charitable or benevolent.  The tavern sits quite close to the docks, so there are a few sailors and pirates among the patrons. 

Rather than going through this room by room as I would with normal dungeons, I will list the most notable NPCs to be found here, along with the rooms they are usually found in. 

The Staff:

• Gaerloth: human male Fighter 7, align N, Str 16, Int 10, Wis 13, Dex 12, Con 16, Cha 10. Equipment: Leather Armour +2, Mace +2 of Stunning.  Gaerloth is the Innkeeper and the manager of this establishment. He is also the main bouncer and enforcer. During business hours he is usually behind the bar in the barroom (room #1). Although he can be quite laissez-faire about how patrons and guests interact with each other, he has a strict policy of nobody hurts or threatens his staff or steals from him.  He is particularly protective of his wife Madrina. 
• Madrina: human female thief 5, align C, Str 10, Int 14, Wis 15, Dex 14, Con 10, Cha 13 Equipment: Bracers of Defence AC 5, Dagger +2. Madrina is the brains behind this business and looks after the money. Like Gaerloth her husband she does not care what patrons do to each other. She runs a small drug-dealing sideline here which Gaerloth is not aware of - as such she is not so welcoming of other drug dealers who she sees as rivals.
• Benardia: dwarf female warrior4, align N, Str 14, Int 10, Wis 12, Dex 10, Con 16, Cha 8, Equipment: meat cleaver (as hand axe), leather armour, Ring of Levitation.  Benardia is the cook for the inn and prepares nearly all the meals for both staff and paying guests. She also buys in a lot of the ingredients, and some of her sources are quite dubious. But as long as it is both tasty and non-toxic (and preferably non-humanoid) she will buy it and cook with it. Despite this she takes pride in cooking good meals, and takes customer responses to her meals personally. During working hours she is in the kitchen (#2). 
• Nazgeth: human male, thief 3, align C, Str 10, Int 12, Wis 13, Dex 14, Con 8, Cha 10: Equipment: Dagger +1. Nazgeth is the janitor of this inn, He is also Madrina’s front man in her drug-dealing, and is often found casually sweeping the floor in the main barroom (#1) and the saloon bar (#1a) where patrons can easily approach him for a packet of something special. He has a knack for disposing of dead bodies which is above and beyond the duties of most janitors.  
• Quilla: human female, thief 2, align N, Str 9, Int 13, Wis 10, Dex 17, Con 10, Cha 13. Equipment: dagger. Quilla is the classic young attractive bar maid, serving drinks and clearing tables. She stays out of most of the illicit activities going on in the inn, and is primarily concerned with keeping herself safe and out of trouble. Gaerloth and Nazgeth respect this and both are quite protective of her. However, she has been known to pick pockets of very drunk patrons and also claim items accidentally left behind in the bar. 

Patrons At the Bar

• Malphorius: human male, thief 4, align C, Str 14, Int 10, Wis 10, Dex 16, Con 10, Cha 16,  Equipment: Dagger of Backstabbing, leather armour. Malphorius is a thug for hire. Superficially he is handsome and charming, with a smile and a gift for banter. But he is a cold-hearted killer: he is hired as a hitman and enforcer. He also has a sideline in burglary, robbery and extortion. He is  also a notorious Casanova, with a string of abandoned lovers. He is interested in Ilshamet but there is something odd about her that causes Malphorius to hesitate. 
• Brandiga : human female, fighter 3, align C, Str 15, Int 12, Wis 10, Dex 10, Con 13, Cha 13, equipment: Scimitar +1, Leather armour +1. Brandiga is the first mate of a small pirate sloop, the Crimson Raven. When not at sea she will hang out here, listening for tidbits about ships movements and the crew and cargo they might carry. She has also been known to recruit new crew and accept offers of service here. She has talked to Dribneg but doesn't believe any of his tales. 
• Cartegissa: elf female, spellsword 4, align C, Str 10, Int 16, Wis 12, Dex 10, Con 10, Cha 13, equipment: Chain mail +1, longsword +1. Cartegissa regularly travels between Vlaad and her homeland of Alphatia. She buys and sells Zzonga fruit (a mind-numbing drug grown in Alphatia) and is the main supplier for Madrina and Nazgeth for this particular substance. As she does business through Madrina she is very welcome as a guest. Cartegissa can be very snobbish, and has a particular disdain for dwarves and halflings. 
• Blackjack Joshusos: human male, fighter 3, align N, Str 12, Int 14, Wis 10, Dex 10, Con 12, Cha 15 Equipment: Scale Mail, scimitar. Blackjack Joshusos is a gambler who regularly organises card games in the back rooms of the inn (#6 & #7). Gaerloth and Madrina allow this as long as the players pay them an entrance fee to the game. Joshusos thinks himself a skilled card sharp but he is actually a gambling addict who is getting deeper into debt. He is not nearly as good at cards as he thinks and he keeps borrowing money from Madrina, who is getting fed up with his empty promises of paying her back when his luck changes. 
• Durrunock: dwarf male, warrior 4, align C, Str 16, Int 7, Wis 8, Dex 12, Con 16, Cha 6.  Equipment: Chain Mail +1, Hand Axe +1, 4 throwing daggers. Durrunock is a surly bad tempered bastard, broad and tough. He is also quite insecure and instantly has a grudge against anyone who acts smarter or higher class than him (which is most of the inhabitants of Vlaad and this inn, which is saying something). Gaerloth tolerates him because he buys lots of drinks and has the money to pay for them (treasure from a short adventuring career before other adventurers refused to let him join their party). Durrunock just about stops himself from getting into trouble with Gaerloth and Madrina, but anyone else in the barroom had better avoid Durrunock altogether. He is surprisingly friendly towards Quilla, and fancies her although this is not reciprocated. 
• Ilshamet: wererat female, align C, stats as wererat. Ilshamet appears as a timid blonde woman who seems completely out of place in the Sordid Rhinoceros. In fact she will hang around at the bar and look for victims, usually those who want to take this poor woman back to their place. The staff at the inn are aware that she has visited here a number of times, left with strong looking men and come back alone, so they know she is not quite what she appears to be, but she keeps her true nature secret. She has a small pack of fellow wererats in an abandoned cellar a block away, and if possible she will lure her targets there. 
• Dribneg: human male, Fighter 2 align N, Str 14, Int 12, Wis 12, Dex 15, Con 10, Cha 10, equipment: leather armour, scimitar +1. Dribneg was bos'un of a privateer ship based in Minrothad, the Pride of Malfton. During his voyages he has seen and heard many strange things, from giant monsters on the Isle of Dread to Thyatian colonies on northern Davania, If someone buys him enough drinks he will even tell about the Lost Treasure of Captain Grigorovic. His ship the Pride of Malfton was wrecked on a desperate attempt to reach the sinking city of Quagmire - he and a dozen other survivors made their way up the east coast of the Serpent Peninsula using the remaining lifeboat until they reached civilization, after which Dribneg found his way to Vlaad. Dribneg is an eclectic and sometimes erudite, sometimes unreliable, source of stories, information and questionable rumours. 

Guests staying in the rooms

• Tizzelleth: human female, mage 22, align N, Str 9, Int 16, Wis 8, Dex 10, Con 12, Cha 14, equipment: Wand of Illusions, Wand of Fear, Dagger +3, several spellbooks. Tizzelleth is an exile from Alphatia, and a Zzonga fruit addict. She is compos mentis less than half the time, and then she is anxious and ashamed of what she has become. The rest of the time she is getting high on Zzonga fruit in her rented room (#9) and cannot look after herself or cast spells. Occasionally she will start to get her act together and declare she has quit Zzonga for good. This may last for a week or a month before deciding one or two Zzonga fruit won't hurt. But during her lucid periods she is a capable high-level mage, if rather nervous and highly strung. She has subdued and slain several violent troublemakers in the barroom, and Gaerloth and Madrina are in awe of her, at least when she is clear-headed. She has struck up a peculiar relationship with Nazgeth who is her main supplier and also Perrenia. 
• Tubrudd the Apostate: human male cleric 5, align C, Str 10, Int 11, Wis 15, Dex 10, Con 10, Cha 8, equipment: banded armour +1, mace +1. Tubrudd was a cultist of Chaos, but now he doesn't know what to believe in. He is keeping a low profile at the inn, usually staying in his room (#26), but he has a habit of getting drunk every weekend and ranting at other guests about his fears and resentments. Although he has tried Zzonga, he finds rum and whiskey are best for soothing his troubled soul. Sometimes when he is drunk he will tell people "in strictest confidence" that while a cultist he saw things happen that shocked and upset him badly enough that he quit the cult in disgust. Now he does not belong anywhere except maybe a bar stool. He can no longer cast clerical spells. 
• Perrenia: human mage 3, align N, Str 10, Int 15, Wis 10, Dex 12, Con 10, Cha 16, equipment: dagger, spellbook. Perrenia is an escort and good-time girl who has temporarily set up in the inn (room #28). She usually finds clients by hanging out in the saloon bar - occasionally she will speed up the process with a Charm Person spell. Although she expects to be paid for showing clients a good time, she does enjoy her work most of the time and some of her clients are regulars. She has fled from the other pirate port Jortan after getting involved with a very nasty madame. She is honest with the staff of the Sordid Rhinoceros about what she does and although she does not receive quite the same level of protection from Gaerloth as the staff do, Gaerloth will intervene if one of her clients gets unpleasant. Tizzelleth also likes her though the Zzonga addict is an unreliable ally.