Press of Waterdeep

"The boom in broadsheets that has befallen the City of Splendors over the last thirty years was spurred by the tireless efforts of Emberstone Haumbroad, but made possible in the first place by the large number of independent " "backroom"" frame presses, calligraphers, and woodcut artists available in Waterdeep. They were there because of an industry that had already been flourishing in the city for centuries: chapbook publishing.
Chapbooks are parchment pamphlets, often having only a dozen pages, but sometimes as many as thirty-six. Most are two human-handwidths across by three handwidths high in exterior dimensions, and about as thick as the edge of a large man's hand (smaller examples retain the same rough proportions). Chapbooks always have covers of dyed and sewn hide (usually of rothé or other livestock), which are sometimes stiffened with metal plates or thin (and often faulty in looks) ceramic tiles. The covers and pages are sewn to thick leather ""spines."" Although most chapbooks look quite trim when new, damp causes many to bulge and swell into curved ""bundles.""
Recently, the publishers of broadsheets have discovered an increasing hunger among Waterdhavians for swift, accurate reporting of ""the real news"" -- even if mysteries remain unsolved and tales untidily unresolved. Fancies of talking fish in the harbor and lost princesses from other realms discovered among nobles' servants just don't have the allure they once did. Waterdhavians still love their trashy serials, but they want sober facts in the front pages.
This trend is by no means so strong among chapbooks, which from year to year display a ""stable"" mix of publications: religious tracts; oft-scary ""feel the wonder"" books about magic, for the uninitiated; political rants; smart-mouthed adventurer yarns; lurid romantic tales for hungry male readers; tear-reaping romances for female readers; a small number of useful ""hard information"" books on spells, herbs, and how-to-do tasks; an even smaller number of histories that almost no one seems to buy; and a very large number of quirky, opinionated ""the True Secrets of"" tomes on a bewildering variety of topics.

PRESS OF WATERDEEP

News for Sale

Only the most wealthy and powerful Waterdhavians can afford large private libraries of bound tomes. Though the majority of citizens can read, and they do so often both for pleasure and to feel "on top of Mount Waterdeep" (which means commanding a view of current events, politics, trade activity, and near-future business opportunities), most citizens own a few well-worn chapbooks, some scrolls, and a large selection of the "short scrolls" commonly known as "broadsheets."
Chapbooks are pamphlets about two human-handwidths across by three handwidths high, and they consist of parchments sewn into hide covers (sometimes stiffened with very thin "reject" ceramic tiles or metal plates). Rarely having more than thirty pages, they often sport as few as a dozen. Apt to contain about anything from poetry to furious arguments against guilds, governing policy, or methods of tiling roofs, chapbooks are most often devoted to memoirs and to romantic tales of either the tearful (for goodwives) or bawdy (for jacks old and young) variety.
Traditonal or "long" scrolls tend to have writing on one side only, and they are the form of choice for setting down religious texts, accounts that are maintained over time (large ledgers are favored for official coinkeeping, however), and spells that will be cast directly from the writing. Although long scrolls can be printed by mechanical methods, "block after block," they are usually handwritten.
"Short scrolls" or broadsheets are what we call "newspapers." Usually strips of parchment no longer than a human is tall and of widely varying widths, from chapbook width to thrice as broad, they are printed by mechanical means on both sides (at different times; that is, after one side is printed, it's left to dry before the other side is printed). Their vegetable inks tend to run when wet, no matter how long ago they were printed (a few of the more exclusive broadsheets are baked to inhibit this effect), and at times cause certain neighborhoods to reek when many hearth fires are started with their crumpled carcasses at the same time. To Waterdhavians, these short, written newsheets are known as "broadsheets" after Haumbroad "the Humble," a now-dead tireless producer of them, who through years of sheer persistence trained the folk of the city to seek out and trust this form of news.
Older Waterdhavians remember Haumbroad as a wizened, untidily bearded old man who stood hunched over on many a street corner along the High Road, day after day, calling out to passersby to "trade a nib for the wonders of the world!" Many broadsheets still cost a single copper coin today, though most of the better-known ones are priced at twice that (until a vendor wants to be free of them and elsewhere in a hurry).
Haumbroad certainly started something popular. On a given day, thirty to forty regularly produced broadsheets are for sale on the streets, and some shops (notably the stall of "Sharkroar" Horth Shalark in the Market, and Berendarr's World of Words on the High Road, west-front just a few doors up from the Waymoot) even specialize in broadsheets. (The older ones are rolled and thrust into wall-shelves, and more recent offerings hang from the ceiling on clips like so many miniature tapestries.) Most old broadsheets sell for two to five per copper coin, but a few that contain especially salacious tales or notorious rants are sought after by collectors and fetch prices of as much as a dragon each!
Many Waterdhavians are fans of particular broadsheets, preferring the political rants, sly social comments, jokes, and serialized "adventures" (often bawdy or pranksome) they contain. New issues of most broadsheets appear on the streets every three or four days, and important events always trigger floods of "extras." The most haughty broadsheets (favored by the wealthiest and most noble clientele) publish once-a-tenday, and these concentrate on overviews of unfolding events and the best-written serial tales of entertainment.
Broadsheet vendors are usually young street children or the printers themselves, and they are universally known as "broadcryers" for their common habit of calling out headlines.

"Learn who's behind the mask! A hidden Lord revealed!"

is a frequent cry (almost always denoting a fanciful tale used when there's little news of worth to be told).
Other favorites used in place of "real news" include the following:

"Noble lord kidnapped into slavery years ago; impostor wears his boots!"

"New undead among us! They don't stink, you can't tell, they stay alive by taking part in the activities at festhalls!"

Perils & Presses

Although magisters of the city have firmly applied the "blasphemy against" laws to broadcryers who misquote Watch, Guard, and city officials, broadcryers are otherwise free to print what they like, unfettered by good taste or laws forbidding the spreading of lies or the damaging of reputations.
However, both guilds and noble families have hired thugs to "silence" printers who publish damaging things (true or false) against their patrons. Usually these "long hard arms" smash presses and beat printers senseless (breaking hands, arms, or ribs in "accidental drunken brawls") rather than resorting to murder or arson. Usually.
Interestingly, attempts to intimidate broadcryers into being only purveyors of fanciful entertainment, perhaps with veiled comments slid into the mouths of fictional characters, have failed because of two surprising things.
First, the haughty broadsheets (those read by the wealthy and noble) persisted in publishing such news and commentary anyway, daring the thugs to act. This was followed by Lord Piergeiron saying that as long as printers quoted all sources (himself, any citizen or outlander regardless of rank or position, and other broadsheets or writings) with strict accuracy, the Watch would be sent to "energetically" investigate all acts against broadcryers with the assumption that the persons and organizations they printed news about were to blame. Guilty parties would face the usual penalties plus the burden of all printing costs for that broadcryer for a year.
This edict caused an uproar in the city (and a few attempts to "frame" rivals by attacking printers so that someone else they'd written about would get the blame for the attack), but after some months of wild gossip and staged stunts to get florid news coverage, Waterdhavians decided they liked it -- and denunciations of a broadcryer, these days, tend to cause citizens to buy more of the next broadsheet put out by the denounced, to "see what was being complained about."
Though they prefer to churn out endless short chapbooks of torrid love tales and tearful romances (which they'd been doing for years before the rise of broadsheets and broadcryers), many gnomes and halflings of the city have been happy to help Haumbroad and his imitators and successors to produce broadsheets, using their small "frame presses." Some folk believe several thousand frame presses would now be found in Waterdeep, if one day, without warning, everyone went looking for them. Frame presses consist of a table on which rests an adjustable frame, and it is usually made of stout wood with clamps at the corners. A single page at a time is assembled for printing by placing illustrations carved in wooden blocks, and rows of script, in a "cast" (we would say "layout") with the use of many odd-sized wooden shims and wedges, often modified on the spot with a deft hatchet-blow.
The rows of script are formed in thin metal by laboriously "punching" individual letters with hammers and metal punches whose points are worked into the shapes of reversed script characters, so the punched characters "stand forth" (are raised up) from the strip. When all the elements of a page are clamped together into a frame, ink is rolled onto the cast, and pinned-flat-on-paddles sheets of parchment are laid on the inked result to print one page at a time.
A good printing establishment has lots of clean room to lay out drying broadsheets, a plentiful supply of thin sheets or strips of metal, and several sets of script punches with skilled "hammerwords" who can turn them into script speedily. Popular poems, sayings, jokes, and good tales are kept for re-use, though Waterdhavians are unforgiving when they see the same text twice in a year -- they will notice such "coin skimming" (a popular city term for small acts of swindling).
The sage Irbryth Authamaun (his home and office stands on north-front Sashtar Street, just across from the Thann noble family villa, North Ward) once defined Waterdeep's broadcryers to an outlander as "folk who stand in the streets crying torrid and dramatic headlines and selling both sides of a long strip of paper, usually rolled into a scroll, that have been printed with crude summaries of the latest news and gossip."
Most Waterdhavians would agree with that definition. They're quite used to "broad cries" like these (heard on a short North Ward street a few nights ago):

Festhall lady revealed as doppleganger! Make sure your husband is truly your own!

and:

Thousands of dragons missing from Castle vaults! Masked Lords to be arrested!

Broadcryers

The most aggressive broadcryers take up stations inside the city gates (Waymoot near the South Gate being the busiest), places many Waterdhavians visit daily (such as the Market), and strategic locations like the moot of the High Road and Waterdeep Way, the northerly moot of the High Road and the Way of the Dragon, and entrances to the City of the Dead around highsun (when many Waterdhavians enjoy their midday "highsunfest" by taking portable viands to the cemetery's parklike setting).
Some broadcryers strike deals with inns and taverns (particularly those near city gates), who allow them to sell in the lobbies without the usual calling of headlines. Almost all other broadcryers, save the few who deliver broadsheets personally to the villas of the noble and wealthy, cry out headlines on the streets -- which usually irritates folk living or shopkeeping nearby.
As a result, any citizen can complain to any Watch officer to have a broadcryer (or any street vendor) "moved along," and the Watch officer is bound to promptly issue such an order. This will always be "at least onto the next street," and is good for about half an hour unless the vendor wants to be detained and frowningly questioned for an entire morning or evening (losing a lot of trade in the process). Because of this, only the quietest broadcryers remain stationary in their vending locations. Young children selling broadsheets may even run to intercept or catch up with persons who seemed interested in their cry but in a hurry to accomplish some pressing task. Few broadcryers sell on the streets before dawn or after dusk -- and those who try to "cry headlines" at such times will be arrested by the Watch, taken to a Watchpost for a stern (and time-wasting) lecture, and then sent on their way without charge or punishment.

Broadsheets of Waterdeep

Today, broadsheets do a wide-ranging business. Gone are the days where you could only get Straight Talk from the Docks from a colorful piratical figure stumping from the Waymoot up and down the docks. Today, the Straight Talk printers deliver stacks of them to various inns and taverns in the Dock and South Wards.
One can also find a wide variety of "broadsheet stands" up and down the major thoroughfares of Waterdeep. Simple stands that buy stacks of various broadsheets, sold alongside "nib-dreadfuls" and cheaply printed steamy serial romances and adventure stories have become ubiquitous in the years after the Wailing Years. Improvements by Gondar and Lantannese engineers to the printing presses have made it easier than ever to mass-produce these works, and many are the outfits that not only set up stands to sell them to passersby, but who also employ lads and lasses to deliver "subscriptions" of these works to businesses and residences around the stand.

The Harbor Trumpet

Nightlife & Festivals | Tendaily Descended from Turjan's Trumpet, this broadsheet maintains Turjan's legacy: it is the go-to place for writing directed at young gallants and bon vivants, all directed at the best places to party in Waterdeep's ever-shifting nightlife. All of the articles are written in conversational first- and second-person styles, as though addressing a friend, and all bylines are fictional names with the Turjan surname. Though it is all gossip in the Trumpet, it is interestingly diverse gossip: fashion, whirlwind dalliances, rivalries, and even bits of the noble's Great Game that comes into the sight of common folk in these taverns, festhalls, and inn taprooms. These articles get so salacious sometimes that the broadsheet is widely nicknamed "the Strumpet" by those in the know.

The Vigilant Citizen

the most reputable broadsheet BT / DS38

The Blue Unicorn

BT

The Mocking Minstrel

caustic, sarcastic and widely read DS22-23,37

Daily Luck

DS39 Broadcryers of Waterdeep By Ed Greenwood

Waterdeep News

Waterdeep News was a newspaper based in Waterdeep on the Sword Coast North, published daily in the early 1370s DR.
It reported on a variety of current political matters, crimes, social events, gossip and unusual happenings in the city. It was one of the largest daily newspapers in Faerûn.

Daily Trumpet

North Wind

features illustrations of fashionable garments and easy-on-the-eyes models and gossip about the higher circles DS39

Merchant's Friend

DS86

Waterdeep Wartrumpet

Horkle's Gossip Cauldron

Published by Annath Horkle of Beacon Street, Trades Ward (ED)

Straight Talk from the Docks

Dock & Newcomer/Visitor Stories | Daily
"the seafarers' forum, where all dirty truths are told"
A broadsheet by this name has come and gone over the years in Waterdeep. The most-recent version of it has been around for about twenty years or so, something of a record for the name. Like previous versions, the Straight Talk focuses on the sights around the docks, of strange cargos and fascinating visitors. The gossip of sailors often makes its way into the rag, discussing the sinking of ships, attack by monsters, and the predations of pirates. It also advertises hiring of sailors and reviews of craftsmen and businesses that cater to the needs of ships.

Waterdeep Wazoo

Gossip & Japery | Tendaily
Catty gossip, mocking recounting of important public and private events, and stright-up bawdy jokes are the order of the day when it comes to the Wazoo, and even those who purport to hate broadsheets often chuckle at the Wazoo's content. One of the recurring columns in the Wazoo mocks the nobility quite openly using the old joking "Glunder & Bladderblat" names. Specifically, a column by that name takes something ridiculous done by a real member of the nobility and reports on it, changing the name of the ones involved to either Glunder (if the noble was being stodgy, highnosed, and tightvested) or Bladderblat (if the noble was ridiculous, extravagant, or just plain without dignity).

Calagar's Caravans

Thaeler's Coinwatch

Merchants' True Friend

Eternal Dawnit

The Eternal Dawnit concerns itself with new ventures, new organizations, near-future plans, and probable politics just ahead. Like the "gilded broadsheets" of the rich and noble, the devout broadsheets tend to cost three nibs to a shard per issue Broadcryers of Waterdeep By Ed Greenwood

Lady Amaranth's Falcon

for the young, fashionable gently born lady Broadcryers of Waterdeep By Ed Greenwood

The Anklet

for her more conservative mothers and aunts, who demand the very height of good taste and literate fare -- which some critics define as "gossip dressed up in ruffles to hide the long, raking cat claws") Broadcryers of Waterdeep By Ed Greenwood

Burnstel's Oracular

Noble Lords' Topics | Daily
he hunting, riding, and sober sneering-down-upon-all-others publication of senior male nobility
Practically an echo of every sneering, highnose patriarch and stodgy old nobleman in the city, the Oracular contains praise for noblemen who hold to traditional noble pursuits such as hunting and riding, sneering disregard for "brightcoin pretenders" and "upjumped merchants," scathing recrimination for the Lords of Waterdeep and magistracy when they make decisions counter to the benefit of the nobility, and absolutely no word whatsoever of any modern trends or news about young noblemen who buck the old traditions. Some folk like to joke that the Oracular is so fitting for an old nobleman's study that it comes pre-scented with the smell of stinky old pipesmoke. The back page of the broadsheet doesn't exist as far as most noble readers are concerned, as those are the "Valet Pages" – an entire sub-broadsheet intended for the gentleman's gentlemen, advertising vacancies, trading recipes for bootblack and button-polish, and generally examining the right way to serve a nobleman properly, according to the dignity of the loyal valet.

The Sword in the Sun

for young, vigorous male nobles and rebellious she-nobles who favor revelry and pursuits frowned upon by their elders, many of whom refuse to "have that waste of coin in the house!") Broadcryers of Waterdeep By Ed Greenwood

Hulbrant's Record

a bland but exhaustive catalog of who was seen where and wearing what, or will be seen where and with whom Broadcryers of Waterdeep By Ed Greenwood

The New Waterdhavian

,regards nobility as "the outdated, pretentious decadent affectation of lazy holders of 'yesteryear's money,'" Broadcryers of Waterdeep By Ed Greenwood

Halivar's Lords and Ladies

reports all the news and nasty gossip about the "Old Nobility" in a cynical manner, but fawns upon the "New Nobility" of the wealthy but not yet ennobled Broadcryers of Waterdeep By Ed Greenwood

The Sword in the Sun

Noble Revelry & Gallant Topics | Tendaily Considered the fashionable reading material for any of the noble (and noble-aspiring) bon vivants of any gender, the Sword in the Sun focuses on who's who. It is the society page for those who aspire to a life of excess and revelry, for forbidden dalliances full of passion and terrible decisions, and for those who help themselves to a little too much of the many indulgences made available to the very wealthy at elite parties and gatherings. The only sin in these pages is that of being dull, and the further from dull the topic, the more the Sword loves them. These are common at festhalls, casinos, and taverns that cater to expensive tastes, though most nobles entrust the securing of their copies to trusted servants.

Hulbrant's Record

Noble Fashions | Monthly Once a month, all of Waterdhavian society seeks out the Record. Its pages contain illustration-heavy articles discussing who is wearing what, how it was made and by whom, and most importantly, what the editor Hulbrant thought of it. Waterdhavians delight in recognizing their neighbors and friends in the Record. They tend to be a bit more ambivalent about their own names appearing in it, of course: most of the time, it comes with opprobrium about choices in garment and presentation. But the times that it features high praise for stunning style? Why that is nearly enough to make it all worth it, and is certainly an easy way to gain quick renown and invitations to a positive avalanche of dinners and parties.

Halivar's Waterdhavian

Brightcoin Gossip | Daily A combination of at least two similar rags of the past, the New Waterdhavian and Halivar's Lords and Ladies. The content of both are combined into a single daily page that is read by those with wealth but no title in Waterdeep (those referred to by the slang "brightcoin"). The broadsheet's stance on the subject is very redolent of sour grapes: they consider the old nobility to be outdated and pretentious, and the true nobility of Waterdeep those who rise by their own strengths and labor to positions of wealth and earned (rather than inherited) privilege. Needless to say, they find ample readership in the city, with their articles decrying noble excesses, mocking noble fashions, lauding the "working wealthy", and in general feeding the feelings of resentment most of their readership labor under. The Waterdhavian has an especial contempt for those families who were once merely rich but became noble under Neverember's rule – these they consider base traitors, and it is rightly supposed that never a kind word for a Hedare or Nantar will ever find its way into the pages of the Waterdhavian.

The Mocking Minstrel

Censurous Public Opinion & Gossip | Daily One of the many "secret broadsheets," no one claims to really know where their copies of the Mocking Minstrel came from: "Surely someone just left it behind," they all claim. The reason for this is fairly understandable, for the Minstrel has been publicly censured by the magistrates and even the Lords on more than one occasion, so vitriol-filled and satirical are its mockeries of public and famous figures of Waterdeep. No one is spared its barbed quill: Open Lords, high priests, archmages, guildmasters, noble xatriarchs, one and all have felt the lash of the Minstrel. To some degree, everyone knows that while not strictly fiction, the reporting in the rag does veer strongly into inflammatory versions of the truth. Unfortunately, most readers are content to read (and repeat) the worst about most folks who make an appearance in the Minstrel, up until it is their names on the page.

Pleased Toes

Pleased Toes
** Probably had to flee the Warrens
Philbin: Male Halfling, printer of ‘Pleased Toes’, gruff patriarch, one of the wealthiest merchants in Waterdeep (DS 40-41)
Lin: Female Halfling, Philbin’s wife, have several children; Dem and Mira and probably Harravin among them, (DS 40)
Harravin: Male Halfling, Works as a crier in Castle Ward, sells ‘Pleased Toes’ set of tales written printed and sold exclusively by Halflings (DS 40)Male Halfling, printer of ‘Pleased Toes’, gruff patriarch, one of the wealthiest merchants in Waterdeep (DS 40-41)

Mouth of True Waterdeep

say very rude and inflammatory things about Lords, Palace officials, nobles, and other socially prominent citizens

The Waymoot Times

Caravan & Trader News | Tendaily An amalgamation of many similar broadsheets over the years, the Waymoot Times was created by the commingling of the old Calagar's Caravans and Thaeler's Coinwatch broadsheets over a hundred years ago. Today, it is one of the highest-circulation broadsheets in the city, and with good reason. It talks about caravans just arriving in Waterdeep and their goods, advertises caravan mustering and guard-hiring, reviews craftsmen and businesses who provide provisions and gear for caravans, and has a small army of editors happy to weigh in on shipping business trends and forecast the rise and fall of fortunes.

The Plinth

Religious Stories | Monthly Named for an old Waterdeep institution – a grand temple-tower that maintained worship spaces for all faiths, particularly those that did not have temples in the city – the Plinth has absorbed other religious broadsheet operations over the sixty-or-so years it has been in operation. The Plinth publishes stories of all sorts relating to religion, theology, and the goings-on in temples and monasteries, with stories ranging from conversational interviews with important clergy to no-nonsense recounting of festival successes and tragedies to gossipy stories so salacious and near-blasphemous that the broadsheet has been warned by the law on more than one occasion. All of this is usually focused on Waterdeep and nearby locales, although important religious happenings further afield may warrant a mention occasionally.
Many of the names of old religious broadsheets have ended up as "features" in the Plinth: "Thy Daily Luck" is a Tymoran-written bit about investments and gambling, and the "Merchants' True Friend" is a Waukeenar feature that looks at business opportunities and faithful approaches to money-making. Every issue also has "The Eternal Dawn," where the Spires of the Morning's clerks announce the new babies, marriages, ventures, organizations, plans, and other sundry beginning-things recently consecrated at the temple to Lathander.
The Street of Whispers Festhall Gossip & Guide • Tendaily Never sold by shouted broadcryer because of its (delightfully) salacious content, the Street of Whispers (named for the festhall-heavy thoroughfare) has reviews of individual festhall workers as well as the entertainments of festhalls in general, a heavy gossip column that avoids mentioning names but is good enough at describing people that everyone knows who they are, and an entire back-of-sheet dedicated to ongoing steamy serial fiction.

The Gilded Laurel

Social Clubs News • Tendaily The social clubs of the Waterdhavian nobility are an eternally-fascinating topic for the average Waterdhavian: places rich with luxury and privilege, permitting only those who are members into their halls, and above all defending their guests from public opprobrium and shame? Oh yes, that is catnip for the average Waterdhavian. As such, it should come as no surprise that the Gilded Laurel has cropped up to attend to that fascination. And it does so marvelously, describing the interiors of various clubs, who can be found in them, and what scandals and gossip occur within them. Indeed, the Gilded Laurel is so accurate so often that many nobles want to know exactly who it is that is responsible for it, but that is a secret. There is no doubt in anyone's mind that nobles are at least giving details, and some even think it is a noble themselves who run the rag. So impactful has this implied class treachery been that the term "a guilded laurel" has arisen among the Houses to describe a noble who sides with those outside of the nobility on any topic.

The Falcon & Anklet

Noble Ladies' Topics • Daily A combination of yesteryear's Lady Amaranth's Falcon and the Anket, this broadsheet is intended for the consumption of genteel noble ladies and those who would emulate them. Exhaustive articles on proper decorum and etiquette, critique of fashion trends vis a vis their suitability to the delicate dignity of the noblewoman of Waterdeep, and excited looks at the new trends considered appropriate by the Falcon & Anket's noble editrix, every noble household has a subscription to the broadsheet, it seems. The broadsheet makes a great deal about noble marriages and births on its pages, and always has something to say about the various festivals and balls thrown by the nobility.

The Guild Table

Guilds News & Announcements | Tendaily A combined effort of the Scriveners', Scribes', and Clerks' Guild and the Stationers' Guild, with articles contributed by the masters of nearly every of Waterdeep's guilds, the Guild Table is an unabashedly pro-guild rag, focusing on announcements by the various guilds (including the achievement of new mastery, the opening of shops, and events held by various guilds), as well as thoughtfully dull examinations of guild structures and the overall benefit to society in general that guilds provide.

The Cracked Table

Guilds Gossip & Criticism | Tendaily In contrast to the Guild Table is the Cracked Table, a secretly-printed broadsheet that purports to publish all of the best gossip and scandal occurring behind closed guild doors. The Cracked Table also published scathing editorials looking at the underhanded policies of the guilds, their efforts to quietly crush non-guild competition, and their various alliances under the table. They also routinely publish tell-all biographies of guildmasters and other senior guildsfolk, and are right often enough that everyone dreads the prospect of finding their name in a headline in the rag. The Cracked Table is a thorn in the collective side of the guilds, in terms of public perceptions, and the myriad guildmasters would dearly love to know who is responsible.
The Castle Chronicle Law Reports, Legal News, Gossip on Magistrates, Watch, and Guard • Daily Generally assumed to be written by some small cadre of enterprising clerks in Castle Waterdeep, the Castle Chronicle is basically a rundown of the important legal actions decided in magistrate courts, of important arrests by the Watch the previous days, and in general has information and topics gauged to be of importance (or at least interest) to the general reader. Not only does the Castle Chronicle release a once-daily sheet, but they also compile a full month's sheets into a slim bound volume with month and year on it, and sell them for 5gp at their office in the Castle Ward.

"Sharkroar" Horth Sharlark's Broadsheets: Printer (Broadsheets)
""True secrets"" books have yielded most of Waterdeep's bestsellers thus far, in a busy, bustling mercantile city. Most long-term citizens read voraciously for pleasure and ""don't want to miss"" anything important that could be an opportunity to make money (and so try to keep abreast of any topic that strikes the popular fancy). Like the broadsheets, almost all Waterdhavian chapbooks are printed in Common, and so travel well, and are often found in unexpectedly distant places in Faerûn.
Examples of past ""foreseeable"" bestsellers include Whisper-Secrets of the Lords and Ladies of Waterdeep; Skullport: the Lurking Evil Below; Lashes of Loviatar: Beloved Pain and Those Who Seek It; and The Exploits of Roral Readysword, Knight-Adventurer.
A few of the useful steady sellers among chapbooks, decade after decade include Engelvaer's Poison and Sickness Remedies; Herbs of the North and How to Recognize Them; and Trade-Roads and Tavern-Notes: A Wayfarer's Guide to Inns, Wells, Taverns, and Perils in the North.
Here follows a sampling of the more unexpected ""highcoin"" titles:"
"On any given day in Waterdeep, battered, well-used copies of all these titles can be found by someone who visits a mere handcount of printers or ""old tome"" shops.
Anyone can copy any book without legal penalty in Waterdeep, and printers amass libraries of chapbooks printed by their rivals so that they can plunder for ornaments and illustrations when a ""new"" book must be swiftly assembled. Many woodcut artists and apprentices can't craft a new illustration to save their lives, but they can readily and speedily accomplish what they've been trained to do: exactly copy something set in front of them.
Bookshops in Waterdeep tend to be crowded with dusty histories and volume after volume of adventure, romance, or bawdy sagas that are twenty to forty titles long."

The Mystery of The Black Spur

One oddity among chapbooks that never fails to ignite furious debate among collectors and sages alike is The Black Spur, a curiously stilted work of fiction purporting to recount the disputes, intrigues, and romances within the sprawling, luxurious household of a fictional noble family of Waterdeep. Many folk believe its prose conceals spell incantations, for those who know how to look for them, and this and other strange beliefs about the Spur have been fanned by the fact that every single copy of this chapbook is slightly different, with paragraphs or individual lines added, omitted, or altered. Certain wealthy collectors of the city (who've learned to remain anonymous since those who were more public suffered, one after another, robbery and murder) have for years tried to amass as many copies of the Spur as possible.
At least two thousand copies of the Spur were printed some twenty-four winters ago, by unknown presses acting for an anonymous author. Blackstaff Tower is known to hold more than a dozen copies, and all of the noble houses like to own at least a copy each (to hunt for what are said to be thinly veiled references to real nobles, not necessarily out of any interest in chasing down spells at all). One long-lasting rumor insists the spell hidden in the copies of the Spur is a ""hanging"" doom spell that will be unleashed to devastate Waterdeep if it is ever properly uttered. Still other whispers say it will set the Walking Statues to performing some unknown task, or cause the Castle to collapse down into Skullport, or force all living things up out Undermountain or the sewers into the city streets."
"Production of Chapbooks
Resale prices of used chapbooks vary with demand, but the fees paid by printers to produce a book can be summarized thus:
Most printers pay an author a flat fee per tome (no royalties) of 6-12 gp (8-10 is the average), though the fee can be much higher for books ""the public is demanding"" such as tell-all tales from celebrities of the moment. Artists are usually paid 1 sp per illustration or 1 gp for all the illustrations needed for a book. (Many printers will recycle these woodcuts for several future tomes with no thought for paying the artist any more coin: once a woodcut is sold, it becomes the buyer's property.)
Newly printed chapbooks are usually sold to vendors (who can rarely add more than 2 or 3 gp to the price, lest they be undercut by another seller) at 2 to 4 gp a copy.
Waterdeep is home to literally hundreds of printers, but the best-known (and regarded) ones are: Nanalo's (Nanalo Druen, north-front Keltarn Street, two doors east of the Street of Silver, Castle Ward) and the House of Sharp Quills (Speakers: Immarsk Tanthuulen and Blaela Murrowind; south-front Julthoon Street three doors west of Gothal Street). Generally, the respectable printers, and those with a lot of money, but also a few well-heeled rebels and mavericks, are located north of the Market (""upcastle"") and the less respectable makers of lower-quality chapbooks are south of it, or ""downcastle."" The most notorious ""print anything"" business, Malikho's Maw, can be contacted only by asking doorguards of certain Dock Ward taverns to arrange clandestine meetings."
Any roster of the most popular, important, and useful chapbook titles published in Waterdeep will inevitably be subjective and hotly debated -- but in all such lists drawn up fairly, the following titles must appear. (It should be noted that their resale prices reflect lasting popularity; lesser-known chapbooks usually fetch 2 to 4 gp at most, and many go for less than that.)
Title Description Format Typical Resale Price Sample Passage Typical Resale Price2
Engelvaer's Poison and Sickness RemediesEngelvaer's Poison and Sickness Remedies is a compendium of alchemical preparations and folk medicines (including herbs and the placing of certain gems and other substances on the tongue of the stricken). Most of its contents have been discredited, but many sages believe some instructions may have limited efficacy if augmented by information deliberately left out by Engelvaer (and rumored to be contained in a second chapbook, the very expensive and rare Coderium that he sold for 1,000 gp per copy). 12 pages, bound in "dusty blue," with silver gilt stamped title on front.4 For relief from ye shaking fever, take first ye outer leaves of ye salath plant, taking great care that they be not withered but yet retain their prickly hairs, and soak a goodly handful of these in ye blood of. . . .
Herbs of the North and How to Recognize ThemHerbs of the North and How to Recognize Them is a fanciful overview of a strange selection of ground plants found in the Dessarin valley. The roster is considered odd in that none of the plants, so far as is known, actually has healing properties. Each is portrayed in a crude line drawing and identified by common names plus a grandiose title apparently crafted by the unknown chapbook author. Listings of uses follow; readers may learn (some the hard way) that every single use was apparently invented for this work and that attempting many of them may be harmful. 34 pages, bound in dark brown, with no lettering on the covers.3 Dragonfire Weed, hight also Common Thrubweed, Bootspice, Rust-Tassel, and Brownshar. A creeping, wilted-looking plant of slender, ragged dusty-green leaves sprouting from a single root without apparent flower. Older, outer leaves turn brown and lengthen into long stalks ending in the shriveled leaf, or "tassel." This plant sprouts wherever fiery dragon-breath touches fertile ground. Uses: Wards off dragons when worn on naked body instead of -- not as well as -- clothing or armor. Cures burns when rubbed on them. Calms troubled digestion and cures drunkenness instantly when chewed and swallowed. When boiled, yields a brown dye that can tint eyes and hair as well as skin.
That Old Cask: A Drinker's TalesThat Old Cask: A Drinker's Tales is a compendium of colorful but simply told yarns, all of the "I was told this good story of Waterdeep in a tavern" sort. Most are clever little tales of revenge, farce, or strange gods-fated happenstance and are entertaining rather than moralistic or useful. It is a standard book in Waterdhavian households, where many old folk read it aloud to younglings around the evening fire or low-lamp. 28 pages, bound in black with copper corners; a copper-painted metal cask badge is claw-stamped into the center of the front cover (the corners go green very swiftly, and it's rare indeed to find a cask badge with any paint left on it).4 But the miller was not quite ready to give up on his gold just yet. Down he came a-creeping, with three stout friends and all of them bearing cudgels, too, to where the proud knight lay sleeping, and they set upon him like thrashers in a hurry to be done before a windstorm, flailing with their cudgels until blood flew like raindrops and cracks and splinters beset the wood that had bludgeoningly served them for lo these years. . . .
The Exploits of Roral Readysword, Knight-AdventurerThis chapbook tells a grand, stirring tale of rollicking derring-do in light, arch prose, of the seemingly endless rescues, fights, pranks, and monster-slayings practiced by the smilingly empty-headed hero Roral (pronounced "ROAR-all"). Set in an imaginary landscape of always summer where roads wind through lush farms and deep forests populated by endless bad barons and sinister always-helmed knights (and by legions of beautiful damsels who lie fetchingly bound and oppressed by aforementioned barons and knights), this sprawling tale of bold action after daring escapade strays neither into foul language, bawdy description, nor truly frightening description, and reading it can lift spirits. 36 pages, bound in red, with covers embossed with a large "RR" (most editions).4 But Roral came down then upon him like a child upon hot tarts. Zish went his bright blade, and zlosh, and at each stroke gore gouted like wine and evil men cried out as they perished, until all the guards lay fallen and Roral faced his foe alone. And then the bold knight drew his dagger sharp, and then he let it go -- and then the air itself screamed loud, a-sliced both high and low! The Baron of the Black Jaws darted he to the left and then to the right, belly and mustaches bobbing wildly, as Roral's sword and hurled dagger sought his vitals. . . .
The Ramath SagaThe long-running series called the Ramath Saga deserves special mention. Although it never achieves the splendid tone and humor of the Roral tome, it has been the daily reading fare of men of action -- and the vastly greater ranks of men who idly dream of being men of action -- for two decades. Greater numbers of these chapbooks have been sold than any other series, perhaps because readers of romances have more to choose from. Ramath is a grim, darkly handsome hero who calmly and tersely handles all perils in stride, never seeming to change in character from one book to the next. All of the anonymously-penned Ramath books are dreadfully written, but those listed hereafter contain such striking tales that they remain popular while the others are now largely forgotten. (most volumes) 22 pages, bound in crimson with a diagonal silver stripe emblazoned in black: Ramath.3 gp (for titles listed hereafter; 3 to 6 sp for other Ramath titles). The dark figure laughed coldly, but Ramath strode forward undaunted, the sword that had slain seven sorcerers in his hand. When he was but a pace away, the cowl facing him grew empty and fell to the stones in a heap, and his foe was not any longer there. Ramath turned as swift as any serpent, questing alertly in all directions for the peril he knew to yet be assailing him. . . .
The Dark DragonThe Dark Dragon is a frankly lewd tome that is notorious for the vivid details of its largely plotless narrative, which concerns guests overcome with passions in the mysterious castle of the Dark Dragon. 36 pages, bound in black, with a leather binding-closed loop fashioned to look like a dragon's tail.7 And beneath her straining fingers -- and the blazing flame of his desire -- his tunic gave way, and. . . .
The Rose of Neverwinter: Love Conquers DarknessThe most popular of dozens of well-loved feminine romances concerned with matters of the heart rather than of the flesh, The Rose of Neverwinter: Love Conquers Darkness is setin a city of Neverwinter that no inhabitant of the real one would recognize. (The fictional Neverwinter is a remote northern city of linked castles surrounded by a tamed "garden" wood, in an always-warm, always-fair-weather setting.) This long narrative is crammed onto the pages, and it has tiny margins and even tinier script. It follows the Rose, most beautiful of the "seventy lovelorn ladies of Neverwinter," as six rival princes from distant lands arrive one "wolf-howling night," and all set about seeking to conquer her heart. 36 pages, bound in maroon, with the full title stamped onto the cover in flowing script (the characters painted in silver).4 They drew off their gloves in unison, saluted each other with full finger-weaving courtesy, and then -- the darkly-glowering Prince Haundrath boldly, and the Rose slowly, the graceful advance of her hand daring yet reluctant -- touched just their fingertips together.
Nargeth's Roving Eye, and the Wonders It WitnessedA bawdy tome more humorous and less torridly written than the notorious Dark Dragon, Nargeth's Roving Eye, and the Wonders It Witnessed concerns many amorous goings-on seen by the arcane eye of the young wizard Nargeth, who seems to have an affinity for hiding in closets in grand mansions and castles and just watching life . . . er . . . unfold. 34 pages, bound in light buckskin, with a single, staring eye (with a smile just beneath it) embossed on the cover.5 Giggles and chuckles seemed to be at war with each other on the other side of that door. A passing guard cast a look of frowning envy at its closed darkness as Nargeth urgently sought to find a hole, no matter how small, that would permit his skulking orb to see into the bedchamber of the princess. . . .
Trade-Roads and Tavern-Notes: A Wayfarer's Guide to Inns, Wells, Taverns, and Perils in the NorthTrade-Roads and Tavern-Notes: A Wayfarer's Guide to Inns, Wells, Taverns, and Perils in the North is a guidebook consisting of very brief (alphabetical, by place) listings of travel-relevant features found along the roads of the Sword Coast North. Out-of-date judgments and curious omissions abound; no maps are provided and the work in general is "only a little better than nothing at all," but despite years of warnings by outlanders and Waterdhavians who've tried to use it "in the wild," the "Trusty Guide" is widely considered reliable by Waterdhavians who've never traveled. If such folk do undertake a journey, most will bring along a copy. In the words of one caravan rider: "Well, let them wave it about. Judiciously used, page by page, it can help get about ten wayfires going." 20 pages, bound in green (apt to fade in a mottled manner) with the letter "T" stamped on the front cover.3 Drowned Lady Well. A day east of Calling Horns along the Evermoor Way: seek small hill crowned by three tall pines, cairn like ram's head at west end. Well covered by large flat stone below cairn, flows out into stone-lined basin. Watched by wolves. Drinkable water, no drowned ladies. Troll country; camp with ring-fires.
Punishment for a crime can include one or more of the following, based on the nature of the crime, who or what the crime is committed against, and the criminal record of the convicted: Death
Exile (for a number of years or summers)
Flogging (a set number of strokes)
Hard labor (for a period of days, months, or years de- pending on the seriousness of the crime)
Imprisonment in the dungeons of Castle Waterdeep (for a period of days or months depending on the seriousness of the crime)
Fine (payable to the city; inability to pay the fine leads to imprisonment and/or hard labor)
Damages (payable to the injured party or victim 's kin; inability to pay damages leads to imprisonment and/or hard labor)
Edict (forbidding the convicted from doing something; violation of an edict can result in imprisonment, hard labor, and/or a fine)
I. Crimes against Lords, Officials, and Nobles:
Assaulting or impersonating a Lord: death
Assaulting or impersonating an official or noble: flogging, imprisonment up to a tenday, and fine up to 500 gp
Blackmailing an official: flogging and exile up to 10 years
Bribery or attempted bribery of an official: exile up to 20 years and fine up to double the bribe amount
Murder of a Lord, official, or noble: death
Using magic to influence a Lord without consent: imprisonment up to a year, and fine or damages up to 1,000gp
Using magic to influence an official without consent: fine or damages up to 1,000 gp and edict
II. Crimes against the City:
Arson: death or hard labor up to 1 year, with fines and/or damages covering the cost of repairs plus 2,000 gp
Brandishing weapons without due cause: imprisonment up to a tenday and/or fine up to 10 gp
Espionage: death or permanent exile
Fencing stolen goods: fine equal to the value of the stolen goods and edict
Forgery of an official document: flogging and exile for 10 summers
Hampering justice: fine up to 200 gp and hard labor up to a tenday
Littering: fine up to 2 gp and edict
Poisoning a city well: death
Theft: flogging followed by imprisonment up to a tenday, hard labor up to 1 year, or fine equal to the value of the stolen goods
Treason: death
Vandalism: imprisonment up to a tenday plus fine and/or damages covering the cost of repairs plus up to 100 gp
Using magic to influence an official without consent: fine or damages up to 1,000 gp and edict
III. Crimes against the Gods:
Assaulting a priest or lay worshiper: imprisonment up to a tenday and damages up to 500 gp
Disorderly conduct within a temple: fine up to 5 gp and edict.
Public blasphemy against a god or church: edict
Theft of temple goods or offerings: imprisonment up to a tenday and damages up to double the cost of the stolen items
Tomb-robbing: imprisonment up to a tenday and damages covering the cost of repairs plus 500 gp
IV. Crimes against Citizens:
Assaulting a citizen: imprisonment up to a tenday, flogging, and damages up to 1,000 gp
Blackmailing or intimidating a citizen: fine or damages up to 500 gp and edict
Burglary: imprisonment up to 3 months and damages equal to the value of the stolen goods plus 500 gp
Damaging property or livestock: damages covering the cost of repairs or replacement plus up to 500 gp
Disturbing the peace: fine up to 25 gp and edict
Murdering a citizen without justification: death or hard labor up to 10 years, and damages up to 1,000 gp paid to the victim's kin
Murdering a citizen with justification: exile up to 5 years or hard labor up to 3 years or damages up to 1,000 gp paid to the victim's kin
Robbery: hard labor up to 1 month and damages equal to the value of the stolen goods plus 500 gp
Slavery: flogging and hard labor up to 10 years
Using magic to influence a citizen without consent: fine or damages up to 1,000 gp and edict Sewers, Cellars, and Secret Passages of Castle Ward
Broad Beneath My Back: Sixty Summers of Mattress-Making in Snail Street
Feuds of the Founders: Old Quarrels and Disputes of Early Waterdeep
Hunting Haurauthadoar: The Slaying of a Great Green Dragon
Jossra's Sayings: Mind-Governing Advice for All Social Occasions
Lady Naga, and Why I Loved Her
Lord Malavar's Moustache: A Mirthful Mystery of Old Waterdeep
Malpurth's Catalogue of Lances, Pendants, and Banners of Fallen Houses
Moonfall: The Tragic Tale of a Dancer of Waterdeep
Songs on the Wind: Ghosts of the Old City, and What They Whisper to Me
That Old Cask: A Drinker's Tales

Waterdeep News

Thongolir Heir Seeks Wife

Waterdeep -- Dolerphus Thongolir IV has put out a public call for a "kind, gentle woman who loves to cook, knows how to ride, won't disapprove of frivolity, hard drinking, or long hours of neglect while I attend to work, and is willing to share my bed." Thongolir promises to make his bride more wealthy than most women ever dream of becoming (his generally well-thought-of family is rich indeed), and the "work" he refers to is the family business concerns of calligraphy, limning, and printing.
Questioned bluntly as to the reason for his unusual request, the tall, slender, and handsome Thongolir heir replied that he now believes he can find a suitable life-mate only by casting his net wider afield. He has become disgusted by the predatory courtesans, daughters of ambitious wealthy merchants, and jaded, dishonest noblewomen who keep trying to snare him.

Monster-Man Found Murdered in Trollskull Alley!

Waterdeep -- Andruthra Thorn of the Watch will confirm only that they recovered "the corpse of an unknown man" from the notorious dead-end alley this morn, but several local residents and tradesfolk (notably Haunzro Thlam, of Thlam's Fresh Loaves of Immar Street, who was making early deliveries of his famous morningfeast buns) confirm that the "stabbed and cut open" man -- naked but for a pair of boots -- had one unusual feature: his body sported a ratlike, hairless tail more than a foot long!
The Watch took the remains to Farwatch Tower for examination, displaying only the face to interested persons, but the murdered man is as yet unidentified. Watchful Order mages were seen at work in the alley.
Located north of Delzorin Street in North Ward, Trollskull Alley was for years a favorite spot for duels and trysts, and local Watch patrols scour it regularly.

Flying Snake Seen in Sea Ward

Waterdeep -- Chanszra Ahlmhaund, a wealthy widow of the Street of Whispers, says she looked out of a high window at dimmergloam* yestereve, and saw a snake flying past: "As long as my coach horse! Black, mottled green -- with eyes like green flames! Nasty, 'twas, and looking for someone specific, too, I swear to the gods!"
The Street of Whispers is known for courtesans, soothsayers, and dabblers in minor magics. The Watch confirms several licenses for enspelled pets and guardian beasts are held by area dwellers, but none describes a wingéd snake.
However, at least two noble families with nearby mansions, Estelmer and Zun, have "sarser licenses" (named for the long-ago clerk who devised them, and often called "allcloak licenses" because they cover all nonprohibited beasts a property owner may wish to import, trade in, or keep). Anyone seeing the snake is asked to alert the Watch.
*When bright sunset is gone from city spires but not the sky, many Waterdhavians pause to enjoy this last, soft daylight.

South Ward Cobbler Finds Rubies

WATERDEEP: Dharjamyn Thauntle has collected "pretty rocks" for years, buying "stones from afar" from caravan masters. A short, stout citizen of respectable years, Thauntle says he can no longer swing a pick with "sureness," nor scramble up the brigand-haunted tors and cliffs within a halfday ride of the city. So he has turned to scaling the slopes of Mount Waterdeep despite City Guard disapproval.
Somewhere thereon, before sunset yestereve, he split a rock along a "soft streak" and found that it held six rubies of worthy size. Local gemcutters scoff at Thauntle's tale, but a nameless one of them purchased his stones this morn.
Horthan Hethdance of the Guard warns that citizens who "tear apart the mountainside looking for gems or anything else" can expect "arrest, at the very least!"
The cobbler's shop, Thauntle's Good Heels and Soles, stands on the north side of Olaim's Cut.
http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/wdn/20070103a