The Dead Fish
Connects to: 15.07, 23.32, 50.03 and 50.20.
The Wayfarer’s Quiescent Repose (usually known as the Dead Fish after the enormous dried shark that hangs over the door) is a rough bar near the docks of Jahur that caters to local toughs, bloodstained travelers and members of the theater. There they guzzle down Thringish brandy of amazingly low quality, mutter quietly about the viceroys of the city, chew on bucket kelp, eat steaming plates of entrails fried in the local style (15.07) and watch a never-ending series of bare-knuckle brawling matches set to accordion music.
Useful relationships can be struck up here but generally not those of an amorous nature as giving the locals the wrong looks can result in foreigners being volunteered for the next brawl (in which the patrons will helpfully throw mugs at the hapless fighter until they learn how to fight in time with the music).
The local authorities, both legal and otherwise have little love for the Dead Fish but they would have everyone in the place up on the Lonely Crag within the hour if they knew the truth. And no, it‘s not that the Dead Fish engages in bucket kelp smuggling everyone knows that, it‘s that the place is a front for the hated octoids. The proprietor, who is famous for having much of the flesh of his lips and cheeks missing leaving him with a hideous toothy grin, is their agent and he communicates with them regularly through a tunnel beneath the bar that leads down to the sea.
During nights of the new moon the bar grows even more rowdy than normal and octoid Lashers hidden beneath moon elephant leather slither across the damp and salty floor working their magic.
Connection:
- The proprietor gained his signature smile during a disasterous expedition to the Bone Heap (50.03).
Hooks:
- Why is there a large dried shark hanging over the door?
- Why do actors and actresses hang out here?
- What‘s the Lonely Crag?
- Anything else interesting about the proprietor? Who is he? Did he bring back any treasure from the Bone Heap?
- What are the octoids trying to do here? Why are their agents called ‘Lashers’?