The Painted Boat

The Painted Boat was one of the more unique eateries and event spaces, a floating structure that once was anchored off of Ravens Bluff's harbor and jurisdiction in the waters of the Fire River, later, relocated to the shores of the Ladyrock neighborhood by the late 14 century DR.
==Location==
The original Painted Boat stood on pilings around into the Fire River. The rebuilt restaurant was placed on the southwestern beach of Ladyrock on the laneway called the Ladyrun.
==Structure==
The Painted Boat was a small wooden building constructed out of driftwood and shipwreck materials. The restaurant stood on stilts over the waters of the Fire River, affixed to a submerged sandy shoal. It consisted of two floors and an attic in the building's peaked roof, shingled with salvaged red, brown, and dark yellow clay tiles. Both floors had windows that were usually kept open, apart from when it stormed.
The first floor stood on a elevation over the water level, staying protected from storm waves, looming over a landing dock, which was connected to the kitchen via a dumbwaiter big enough to haul up barrels of drink and produce. The first floor had twelve stout docks for customers to tie their boats to. After arriving, they were faced with ladders that led up to the restaurant's first floor and its sizable outside dance deck that was twice as big as the entire building.
Outside, one could find a single swift mainland sloop called The Flying Fish tied to the docks. The ship belonged to the restaurant's owners in the 14 century DR and could fit three or four people and their baggage.
==Interior==
The upper floor and the ceiling were supported by thick ship masts, both inside and on the outer terraces. The masts and the materials used to build the establishment gave it a rustic and maritime feel on the inside and the outside. The dining room consisted of several large collapsible trestle tables that once were doors on wrecked ships. The seating was a collection of mismatched stools, and high-backed chairs cobbled together out of old barrels. The dining room walls were decorated with various pieces of naval equipment, such as anchors, capstans, pulleys, ropes, lanterns, figureheads, spyglass, scrimshaw, dried sea creatures, shells, and even whale vertebrae. The room was heated by lit brass braziers in winter months.
The restaurant's humble kitchen was a large rectangular room connected to the dining room via two doors. It housed several counters and sinks and a long fireplace on a massive stone slab with skewers, cauldrons, and pot hangers. The biggest piece of kitchen equipment was a metal box used to smoke and barbecue foods. The metal box was built into the floor and had its own chimney. Pots and pans were stored, hung from the racks attached to the kitchen's ceiling in the back, while spoons, knives, dippers, tongs, and other utensils were stored in racks along the walls. Diners' utensils were made of pewter, and plates and cups were carved out of wood. The kitchen was also well-stocked by its pirate owners with swords, butchering and carving knives, gaffs, and loaded hand crossbows.
The second floor was used as the owners' spartan living quarters that consisted of sturdy wooden beds, stools, mirrors, weapon racks, and some small tables, with sea chests used for storage. The two bedrooms were separated by a reinforced strong room that was a combination of a safe and a closet. The restaurant's attic was inaccessible to all but the owners, and they didn't care to share what was stored there.
===Atmosphere===
The Boat was a quaint establishment despite its clientele of typically boisterous sailors and laborers.
==Services==
The Painted Boat's grub was well seasoned, evident by a collection of herbs and spices always present in the kitchen: garlic, onion, dill, chervil, fennel, marjoram, sage, tarragon, and thyme. To no surprise, the restaurant's menu was dominated by the catch of the day fish, some of which was seasonal and not found on offer daily. Some of the irregular fish and seafood included dolphin, catfish, bass, tuna, mackerel, cod, lobster, crab, clams, oysters, scallops, kingfish, shrimp, crayfish, pompano, shark, flounder, grouper, frog's legs, octopus, squid, and redfish. The restaurant also had a variety of popular soups, stews, gumbos, and jambalayas on the menu. Some of the soups of the day included pea soup, mushroom soup, clam chowder, vegetable soup, chicken soup with rice or barley, and a spicy vegetable mix. Apart from these dishes, the restaurant offered barbecued pork, chicken, and curried goat. The most favorite dish, the restaurant's specialty, was a large casserole of fish, crab, oysters, and shrimp, with rice and vegetables. All orders were accompanied by a side dish, a choice between rice, oats, barley, and bread. Salads were sold as their own dishes and were flavored only with oil, vinegar, and salt. As for the desserts, the Boat offered nuts, fruit pies, and torts.
Notably, the Painted Boat provided entertainment to its guests. The music played at the eatery consisted of tambourine, recorder, cymbal, bell, and drum melodies, accompanied by bellowing of sea shanties, spicy songs, and spirited ballads. Some of the oddest acts that found their way to the restaurant included balladeers, jugglers, fire-eaters, trained animals, clowns, and tumblers. The music was accompanied by dancing couples on the dance deck. On some nights, when the darkness fell on the dance deck, it turned into an arena for dog or cock fights.
===Bill of Fare===
:;Fish
::Dolphin, tuna, grouper (1 sp) • flounder, mackerel (10 sp) • kingfish, pompano, redfish (2 sp) • bass, river (15 sp) • bass, sea (12 sp) • catfish, river (5 sp) • frog's legs (3 sp) • shark cutlets (2 sp)
:;Shellfish
::Oysters, clams (1 sp) • mussels, scallops (10 sp) • lobster (2 sp) • shrimp (1 sp) • crabs, river crayfish (5 sp) • octopus, squid (3 sp)
:;Specials
::Catch of the day (7 sp) • soup of the day (2 sp)
:;Drinks
::Ale, two gallon keg (2 sp) • ale, mug (1 cp) • beer, gallon keg (1 sp) • beer, mug (1 sp) • wine, house, gallon keg (1 sp) • wine, house, mug (2 cp) • wine, fine, gallon keg (2 sp) • wine, fine, mug (4 cp)
:;Bread, Eggs, Fruit
::Wheat bread, loaf (6 cp) • rye bread, loaf (5 cp) • rice bread, loaf (3 cp) • raisins, one pound (2 sp) • figs, one pound (3 sp) • nuts, one pound (1 gp) • cheese, wedge (5 cp) • cheese, round (2 sp) • eggs, two cooked (1 cp) • vegetables, fresh (2 cp) • vegetables, cooked (2 cp)
:;Gumbos, Soups
::Gumbo, jambalaya (1 sp) • seafood casserole (2 sp) • pea soup (2 cp) • mushroom soup (5 cp) • clam chowder (4 cp) • vegetable soup (3 cp) • chicken with rice soup (6 cp)
:;Landlubbers
::Barbecue chicken, spicy sauce (3 cp) • barbecue pork, spicy sauce (2 sp) • curried goat (1 sp)
:;Deserts
::Pie, fruit, slice (3 cp) • torts, fruit (5 cp)
:;Banquets
::By special arrangement (per person 8 gp)
==History==
Brothers Ticaht and Nimtu opened the Boat as a way of turning a profit by doing legal work while doing it on their own terms. However, it never stopped the brothers from allowing certain unsavory activities to take place in their restaurant late at night. Industrious by nature and nurture, Ticaht and Nimtu were "wreckers"–salvagers of shipwrecks and flotsam, evident by the restaurant being built and decorated from just that. Some of the wrecks were caused by the brothers through luring unwitting vessels to their rocky doom via signal fires built exclusively along the dangerous shores of the Wild Coast at night, about the half-a-day journey to Ravens Bluff.
The restaurant was perched in the middle of the river for at least two hours, before it was run over by a rushing pirate ship. None of the owners, staff, or the cats was killed, and eventually, the restaurant was rebuilt on the beach of Ladyrock in Ravens Bluff proper.
==Inhabitants==
When the entertainment was not provided, or when the business was closed, the dance deck was occupied by fishers and loud seagulls, as well as a pair of large dock cats–Venus and Adonis, that belonged to the owners and were used as security. Once a year, the Boat's owners sold the cats' litter for a high coin.
==Appendix==
===References===
Category:Year of Metropolises
Category:Restaurants
Category:Taverns
Category:Businesses
Category:Locations on Toril
Category:Locations in Faerûn
Category:Locations in Interior Faerûn
Category:Locations in the Eastern Heartlands
Category:Locations in the Vast
Category:Locations in the Fire River
Category:Locations on the Fire River
Category:Locations in Ravens Bluff
Category:Locations in Ladyrock
Category:Locations on the Ladyrun