Shackled City: Life's Bazaar - Down These Streets

[The Tygre]

Morgan, Kelkin, and Boddynock all head West from City Hall. Past the imposing guard barracks, the trio begin their descent down the twisting and winding road to Crater Lake. The air grows wilder, more full of energy, but also fouler; the smell of tanners and livestock strike from one direction, while the stench of fish comes from the lake. The atmosphere even now is loud, workers shouting at each other from across the street, women between buildings, and children between alleys.

In the Southwest corner of the city, firmly between Lava avenue and Ash avenue, the trio find the Slippery Eel Tavern. The building is made entirely from wood, as many of the newer buildings in Cauldron. But the yellow-brown timber looks as if it has endured a thousand tavern brawls, a veritable tornado of smoke, and a deluge of liquor. Two stories tall with a dark-brown tile roof and windows that haven't cleaned in a dog's age, the Slippery Eel looks much simpler than the Drunken Morkoth. Above the wooden door, a sign with the inn's name hangs, a freshwater eel wriggling between its letters and borders.

Inside, the Slippery Eel is much like its predecessor. A set of stairs lead to the balcony and rooms for rest. The ground floor is layered with worn wooden tables and stray chairs. The bar in front of the kitchen has a surface so smooth as to almost be glass, accompanied by a set of bar stools that look like they were repaired out of stubbornness instead of any kind of practicality.

Behind the bar, a balding man with crow's feet around his eyes but a trusting smile on his face looks at you as you enter. There are already a number of other patrons here as well; two half-elves sitting in the corner, five humans, a table with two gnomes and a dwarf, and a half-orc at the bar.