Tatha's Broomworks

Tatha's Broomworks was a small business near Elturel owned by Tatha Beruel circa the Year of Wild Magic, 1372 DR. She sold brooms in bulk, wooden spars, and herbs from her gardens. However, the majority of visitors to the Broomworks came to see Tatha herself and bargain with her to use her special gift.^[1]

Location[]

Tatha's Broomworks was a part of her leaf farm she called Aloum Lyndren that was located a few miles west of Elturel on Skuldask Road in the Fields of the Dead. Her place was on the north side of the road and, when the weather was clear, the walls of the city were still visible looking from atop Vixen Rise (the easternmost hill on her property).^[1]

Structure[]

The two primary structures on the farm were her dwelling and her barn. Both were underground single-story buildings lined with stone and roofed with sod that held her herb gardens. The barn could be identified by the three large wooden chairs, two sawhorses, and a chopping block in front of the double doors that led to the interior. Her house was the structure with a sign and a bell hung on a tree a few paces from her front door. There were two outhouses a short walk down a path from her home, one in good repair and one very dilapidated.^[2]

Interior[]

The barn held a grinding wheel and stacks of wood in various stages of seasoning and preparation for making brooms and spars. This was the Broomworks, although, in good weather she did most of her work sitting in a chair outside.^[2]

The house had a main kitchen and living area, and two bedrooms. The main room contained a big hearth, a rocking chair, a cutting table, and other household items. Water trickled into a barrel through a pipe from the spring and the overflow drained down another pipe to the swampy area at the edge of her property. One of the bedrooms was mostly filled with a large loom, objects that she whittled, and general storage. The other bedroom held her book collection.^{[2][note 1]}

Services[]

Tatha sold brooms in quantity to merchants for resale elsewhere. She also made and sold wooden spars in various lengths that could be used in making wagon wheels, pole arms, or as gaffs or yards on small sailing vessels. She was skilled at growing herbs and making herbal remedies to treat ailments of both people and livestock.^[1]

Apart from the wares she sold to traveling merchants, many folks from all over Faerûn came to Aloum Lyndren to ask Tatha to use "her gift from Mystra," as she called it. Tatha had but to touch a magic item and experience a brief trance where she usually saw at least fleeting scenes of past uses of the item. Upon emerging from her trance, she could describe her visions in detail. The visions were just that—visual images lasting a few seconds each—she did not experience any sounds, smells, tastes, or tactile sensations. These scenes often revealed a description of previous owners, places where the item had been used, and/or possible hints as to its function or powers. Her gift was not completely reliable. Sometimes the visions failed to manifest while other times they were strong and clear. Her minimum fee for making an attempt was 20 gp, but she was known to charge as much as 2,000 gp depending on the customer's means, attitude, character, bearing, and manners.^[1][2]

Defenses[]

Skuldask Road was patrolled by the Hellriders from Elturel every few hours,^[3] but the land and farm buildings on Aloum Lyndren had no known defenses other than their stone construction and underground placement. There was a hidey-hole big enough for two people back in the stone ruins behind her house, but a determined search had a fair chance to discover it, and it also had no special defenses. However, Tatha Beruel seemed to be under the protection of Mystra because she continued to survive alone and unharmed after various encounters with hungry winter wolves, evil brigands, a quite a few individuals and groups who attempted to bind her and force her into slavery.^[1] All those who captured her and removed her from the farm became feebleminded for multiple tendays and she was teleported back to her home unharmed.^[2]

History[]

As of 1372 DR, Tatha's Broomworks had been in business at this location for at least 20 years. The leaf farm that supplied the raw materials for the business was established by Tatha and a sun elf friend of hers. The location was chosen for the natural spring that bubbled up in the midst of the surrounding hills. She named the farm Aloum Lyndren after her friend who shortly thereafter departed for Evermeet.^[1]

Appendix[]

Notes[]

1. ↑ Some descriptions are based on the artist's rendering.

References[]