Whistling Fish

Greyhawk Site

Whistling Fish
The Whistling Fish inn, art by Ken Frank in Falcon's Revenge (1990).
General information
Type:	Inn
Location:	Free City of Greyhawk

The Whistling Fish is an inn in the River Quarter, in the Free City of Greyhawk and is one of the safest inns in the city, by reputation.

Description

The Whistling Fish is one of the better inns in the River Quarter. The Whistling Fish is owned by a very short half-hill giant of good nature, Gruenab.
It consists of a large pub/dining room, kitchen, storerooms, several guest rooms upstairs and a stable. Gruenab has his own cottage attached to the rear of the tavern.

Exterior

The Whistling Fish is in the River Quarter (at location R16 - or F21 in 2001+ sources) along Marsh Street - a fairly major street. It is where Marsh Road branches into a four- way crossroads, forming an elongated x-shape. Various shops and stores line these streets, but the Whistling Fish stands out. It's a large, well-kept inn on one of the triangular parcels of land formed by these roads.

A freshly painted sign in the shape of a plump fish bears the name of this interesting establishment - "The Wistling Fish: Potentate of Potations".

A shaggy lawn surrounds the inn. The grass is a color peculiar to Greyhawk: the blades are a deep green along the edges but are dark red down the centers. Natives of Greyhawk can tell you that although the color is unusual, this grass has one distinct advantage: it has a bitter taste that only goats can tolerate. This prevents the grass from being chewed away to nothing by other animals. Gravel paths lead to the front door and to the adjoining stable. A long hitching rail runs along the front of the building. Although seven horses are tethered here, there is room for at least another dozen animals.

This two-story inn looks unusually tall, with oversized windows and doors.

The inn is built of the half-timber construction common to Greyhawk. Its size, however, makes it unique. From the positions of the inn's windows, the building appears to have two floors, but the structure looks far too tall to be an average two-story inn. Its roof, made of wood shakes, towers above the other buildings in the neighborhood. Even the front door seems unusually tall.

Interior

The entrance of the Whistling Fish is a ten-foot-tall door to find a spacious barroom. Anyone would feel dwarfed by the large proportions of the entire establishment: the ceilings here are twelve feet high. The perimeter of the room is divided into small alcoves, each of which has its own table and benches. The bar forms a three-sided rectangle, beginning at the right wall and making two square comers until it eventually ends at the same wall from which it began. A doorway and a window to the kitchen are visible behind the bar. Round and rectangular tables with stools and chairs fill the rest of the bar. A wide wooden staircase leads upstairs. Two fireplaces and two round wood-burning stoves are strategically placed to provide heat to the entire room.

Those who enter the bar are greeted by delicious aromas and a cozy (although noisy) atmosphere. Within a few minutes, they will be able to find a table and order supper. The Whistling Fish serves standard fare: stews, soups, roast chicken, mutton, pork, fresh bread, and pies for both a main course and dessert. The food is excellent and reasonably priced.

Gruenab is able to provide lodging for the party at a slightly higher rate than they might hope to pay.

The tavern will become increasingly active as the dinner hour draws near. It is busy during midday. nearly deserted throughout the afternoon, and reaches standing-room-only capacity during the supper hour. After the supper hour, the crowd dwindles to a comfortable capacity.

The bar empties around midnight every night. Gruenab does not enforce a strict closing time, and sometimes stays open extremely late for special occasions or when good friends are celebrating.

Other Features

The Whistling Fish has a total of eight guest rooms. The largest room holds six beds, three rooms have four beds, and the remaining four rooms have two beds each. In each room, there is one chest of drawers per two beds, a wardrobe, a small table, and one straight-backed chair per bed. The rope beds have been well-used, but areextremely clean. Simple homespun curtains cover the windows, and the doors are equipped with sturdy locks. The floors are bare and creak slightly. Gruenab will ask one of the waitresses to lead the party upstairs to show them their rooms.

Stables

The proportions of the stable are on a normal scale. The stable is built of wide wooden planking and has a sod roof. The roof is nearly flat, but is mounded in the center and slopes gently toward the sides. Two goats are grazing on the roof. The doors to the stable are open, and a boy of about fourteen is inside brushing one of the horses. There are four horses inside, and they appear to be permanent residents, since their names appear above their stalls: Sharna. Myrna, Gabe, and Gus. A wagon and a cart stand at the front of the stable. tack hangs on the walls, and four saddles rest near the wagon. Twelve other stalls stand empty.

The boy lives nearby and considers the inn a nice place to work. He knows the food is good and the rooms are clean. He knows no rumors about Greyhawk and does not seem too bright.

Cottage

The cottage behind the inn is home to Gruenab, the inn’s owner. The cottage is divided into five rooms: four bedrooms and one large sitting room. It is designed to be home to Gruenab, his assistant Harsi and her son, and other employees of the inn who may wish to live there. Gruenab occupies the largest bedroom. Harsi and her son share a room, and the other two rooms may be occupied by other employees at the DM's discretion. The scale of Gruenab's bedroom is almost comical. All the furniture was custom-built to accommodate his large proportions. The room contains a bed, nightstand, chest of drawers, wardrobe, and a round table with four chairs.The wooden plank floor is covered by several rugs that appear to be animal skins.

The room contains the typical clothing and personal articles that a bachelor might possess. The room is clean and neat, but nothing unusual or valuable can be found with the exception of a large, flat chest stored under the bed. The chest is unusually sturdy and is made of wood reinforced with metal bands. The chest is 8' by 4' by 10". A large, ordinary padlock is always kept in place on the chest.

The chest holds Gruenab’s chain mail armor and sword from his days as a bodyguard. These were purchased by his former employer. Gruenab’s size is intimidating in itself, but his employer decided to enhance the image by outfitting him in chain mail and providing him with a two-handed sword. The sword is two-handed size by human standards, but Gruenab wields it easily with one. The chest holds no other items.

People

The clientele of The Whistling Fish is a mixture of sailors, dockworkers, farmers, and shopkeepers. Although the group can become boisterous, they are well-behaved. This crowd is similar to any other barroom crowd. The PCs will hear some local gossip about men who are drunkards, cheaters, and hen-pecked husbands. News may arise of an engagement, birth, or death. Dockworkers might discuss their tyrannical boss or an unusual shipment that has recently arrived. Chatter around the bar can provide another 1-3 rumors.

Notable individuals

• Gruenab - A part-time adventurer who inherited a large sum and used it to build The Whistling Fish.
• Harsi - Harsi is Gruenab's right hand, and they have the affection of a brother and sister for one another. Harsi was widowed when Willy was five years old. Two years later. Gruenab saved her from a vicious attack. She was walking home late one evening when she was attacked and dragged into an alley. Gruenab heard her screams and came to her aid. Her attackers were dealt the full wrath of a hill giant's anger and Gruenab carried Harsi to the inn to care for her injuries. They became friends instantly, and Harsi and Gruenab struck upon a plan which pleased them both. Harsi moved into the inn with Willy, and the two of them helped Gruenab run The Whistling Fish. Gruenab never expected to have a family, but he plans to leave the inn to Willy when the time comes.
• Willy - Harsi's son. (12y/o in 591 CY).

Staff

The inn is staffed by Gruenab, a cook named Fedden, three waitresses, two cleaning girls, two stablehands, a human female named Harsi, and Willy.

• Gruenab - Gruenab can be seen tending bar. When the PCs approach Gruenab to engage rooms, he greets them warmly and shakes hands with a surprisingly gentle grip, not the crushing grasp that might be expected.
• The waitresses are competent and quick. In addition to being good servers, they recite the prices of the guest rooms and direct them to Gruenab to engage lodging. The waitresses may provide rumors. They add that working at The Whistling Fish is a position coveted by waitresses since brawls almost never break out with Gruenab there to break up fights. This is one of the safest inns in town.

References

Bibliography

• W., Richard and Anne Brown. WGA1 Falcon's Revenge. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1990. Item code TSR9279.
• Brown, Anne. Player's Guide. Renton, WA: TSR, 1998. Item code TSR9578.

Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index

The Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index (EGI) is based on previous work of Jason Zavoda through '08, continued by numerous other fans. The EGI article has a list of sources, product names, abbreviations, and a link to the full, downloadable index.

Topic	Type	Description	Product	Page/Card/Image
Whistling Fish, River Quarter (City of Greyhawk)	Building	Inn, Tavern, Bar, or Restaurant ,	Living Greyhawk Journal #2	5
Whistling Fish, River Quarter (City of Greyhawk)	Building	Inn, Tavern, Bar, or Restaurant ,	Player's Guide to Greyhawk	30, 31, 33
Whistling Fish, River Quarter (City of Greyhawk)	Building	Inn, Tavern, Bar, or Restaurant ,	The Adventure Begins	111
Whistling Fish, River Quarter (City of Greyhawk)	Building	Inn, Tavern, Bar, or Restaurant ,	WGA1 Falcon's Revenge	IBC, 4-7, 9, 12, 14-16
Whistling Fish, River Quarter (City of Greyhawk)	Building	Inn, Tavern, Bar, or Restaurant ,	WGA2 Falconmaster	8
Whistling Fish, River Quarter (City of Greyhawk)	Building	Inn, Tavern, Bar, or Restaurant ,	WGA3 Flames of the Falcon	10