BeregostTired travelers on the Coast Way between Baldur’s Gate and Amn often stop in Beregost. Beregost is located just off the road about a day’s travel on horseback south of where the Way of the Lion that leads to Candlekeep branches off from the Coast Way. It’s within reach of the northern borders of Amn. Merchants of that land often use it as a rendezvous for caravan assembly before attempting the perilous overland runs north to Waterdeep or east to the Sea of Fallen Stars.
As a result, this small town gets very crowded at unpredictable intervals. Begun as a farming village under the protection of a school of wizardry, Beregost is now dominated by the Song of the Morning, a major temple to Lathander. The mage Ulcaster, a conjurer of note, founded his school over 300 years ago.but grew too successful, attracting would.be wizards from all over the Sword Coast. Calishite mages came to fear the school’s power and destroyed it in spell battle, though Ulcaster himself disappeared during the fray and was never found.
The school burned to an empty shell, which still stands on a hill east of the town. Local fear of the ruins, which are said to be haunted by phantoms who are still able to cast spells, has caused Beregost to be expanded to the west of the Coast Way road, leaving the hills east of it to the sheep.
Beregost has only one tavern. It is called the Burning Wizard, of course. It has no signboard, but the traveler can easily find it. It’s the building with the crowded hitching rail that stands just north of where the small rivulet known as Wizards. Doom Creek. which rises on the hill where the ruins stand against the sky.crosses the Coast Way. That’s where I heard of the two chief dangers to the curious and to young magelings hoping to gain spells or items who approach the ruins too closely. There’s a wizshade who hurls random spells at folk, sometimes appearing as a thin, wraithlike, impossibly tall, bearded man and sometimes just as a battered wizard’s hat. There’s also another wizard wraith.a haunt.who tries to lure folk into the depths of the ruin’s cellars and possess their bodies. Old villagers also speak of magical traps deep in the ruins and at least one gate that leads to unknown destinations.
This last claim has been confirmed as truth by no less a pair of magical personages than the Lord Mage of Waterdeep, Khelben .Blackstaff. Arunsun, and Elminster of Shadowdale. Beregost’s governor strongly disapproves of explorations of the ruins.
Although there is a five-person town council, the governor’s word is law in Beregost, and he is a tireless proponent of farming, starting up new businesses, and improving the place. He is also Most Radiant of Lathander (high priest of the temple) Kelddath Ormlyr, and his temple troops police the town, keeping it safe so that trading, meetings, and spending at the shops are brisk. In this, he has two powerful allies: the wizard Thalantyr, a conjurer of great repute who unfortunately wasn’t at home when I visited, and the smith Taerom ‘thunderhammer - Fuiruim. Kelddath has also successfully encouraged several important Amnian merchants to establish estates around Beregost. notably the Craumerdaun family, whose fine horses (now bred here) are highly prized in Amn and Tethyr.
The visitor today will find the following local features of note.
Places of Interest in Beregost
Temples
The Song of the Morning
This large temple to Lathander consists of a fortified church surrounded by stables, refectories, guesthouses, and outbuildings. It rises up right beside the east side of the road in the center of town, and its distinctive rose-red spires can be seen for miles. Its many clergy and 200 lay-member militia assist local businesspeople and farmers, and in return the temple receives regular and large offerings. The servants of the Morninglord also tend temple fields of potatoes and herb flowers east of the road, and keep sheep on the slopes of the hill topped by the ruined school of wizardry. They keep them there ostensibly because these fields are more open to view than those of local farmers. The sheep are thus more easily watched, preventing theft and raiding beasts from ravaging them. The real reason that the sheep are kept here is that the servants of the Morninglord want to keep some control over expeditions into the ruins and to prevent uncontrolled expansion of Beregost. (Over the years, various Amnian merchants have shown a distressing tendency to lay claim to all land within easy reach of the Coast Way that’s not strongly defended.) The folk of the temple are vigilant, and stand for no lawlessness or aggression, but are otherwise helpful to strangers. Those willing to give 20 gp or more to the temple are welcome to stay in its guesthouses for two nights. People may stay longer if they are sick or injured. Priests will tend them and won’t expect any more money, although most folk do give something. Temple fare is simple but good, and baths and stabling are available.
Homes
High Hedge
Northwest of the main settlement of Beregost stands High Hedge, the estate of Thalantyr the Conjurer. It is guarded by a fiercely loyal mated pair of griffons and by some sort of invisible servant creature that has been known to spy and deliver things for its master right into town. Thalantyr is a courtly man who can sometimes be seen walking about the countryside, his long, black staff in hand. He’s had no apprentices for years and doesn’t welcome visitors. Locals say he’s interested in far-off places and things, and is sometimes absent for long periods.
Those who.ve seen his abode say that it’s a dark, turreted stone house overgrown with pines and that he has his own fishpond behind it. Sometimes he sits next to the pond and talks with something that stays just under the surface of the water.
Shops
Thunderhammer Smithy
Armor Maker and Weaponsmith
Taerom ‘thunderhammer. Fuiruim is a burly giant. His chestnut hair and mutton-chop whiskers are now shot through with gray and white, but his huge hands remain strong and deft. He is a master armorer, and his warmongery equals the best in Faerûn.
On several occasions he’s made items for Thalantyr to enspell, and even dwarf smiths admire his work. Taerom keeps over a dozen apprentices busy with all the orders that come his way (mainly from Amn). He fights with a huge iron staff and has been known to slay orcs with a single blow, but is generally a quiet man. He is not given to leadership, but is respected in town more than anyone else.
Taverns
The Burning Wizard
This tavern is a bustling place, as favored by the locals as by visitors. Acolytes of Lathander are trained to keep lively conversations and entertainments going here, and even to gamble. (Any takings are donated to the temple, of course.) Traveling minstrels are always welcomed, stay for free, and are paid 5 gp per night atop that. No food is sold at the Wizard, but all three local inns keep runners here to go and fetch hot covered platters from the kitchens of their establishments. In winter, don’t expect the food to arrive very warm! This is a good little place, with several small rooms to stay in adorned with donated bric-abrac from loyal regulars. It’s a delight to find enough cushions in a room to let one sit up in bed in comfort!
Inns
Feldepost’s Inn
Named for its now-deceased founder, this is an old and comfortable place. Service is careful and kindly, if a trifle slow, but a room comes with a fire alight (except in hot weather), and a bath that is skillfully filled to one’s own taste in warmth by several old men of many smiles but few words. One can even request assistance bathing. All this makes the place a favorite with the elderly, and so makes for a quiet stay.
The food is superior. Don’t miss the cheese and cucumber buns, or the onion and mushroom fireside tarts served to all by the hearth in the evenings. (The tarts are free if you.re ordering drinks.) The inn cellar includes an excellent sherry.
The Red Sheaf
Folk come to the Sheaf for fast service. This inn prides itself on getting you to your room or to a board in the dining room as fast as possible. If the weather is cold or wet, you.ll find yourself in a warm house robe before a crackling fire just as quickly, with your wet things taken to the warming room behind the kitchen chimneys to dry on warmed stone shelves.
Fare at the Sheaf is of the warm or cold soups, cheese and grapes, bread and spreads, and whole roasts variety. The cold potato soup is delightful, and carries the homey taste of onion and celery, along with a more subtle and indefinable seasoning that I was unable to pin down. Unfortunately, the roasts are either blackened to crisp ashes or.on the other side, or deep inside.near raw. The cooks haven’t mastered the slow fire yet, only the too-hot, too-quick one.
This is Beregost’s largest inn and is favored by merchants wanting to hold business meetings or sit in quiet. Those willing to part with 7 gp for an evening can rent private meeting rooms with doors that lock, though I suspect there are spyholes in the serving passage that runs behind them all. Entertainer folk.minstrels and such.aren’t welcome at the Sheaf except as paying customers. The Sheaf provides no entertainment at all.
Local gossip whispers that a secret passage at the back of the inn leads down to an old smugglers. warehouse comprising caverns that were abandoned when drow tunneled up into the caverns from below. They had to be dealt with by Thalantyr, who left some sort of magical barrier.
The Jovial Juggler
This inn is on the northern edge of town, on the west side of the road. Its huge roofboard depicting a laughing carnival juggler in jesterlike garb identifies it instantly from afar. It’s very much an average roadhouse, but young Beregostans love it.it’s their dancing and drinking club. It outpays Feldepost’s for minstrels and other entertainers, and there’s scarcely a night at the Juggler without some sort of loud revelry, complete with several oxen, hogs, and boars roasted whole. Thankfully, all of that’s confined to one wing, so patrons do get some sleep!