DM's NOTE: This one gives away some things your characters in the game won't know, so be extra-careful about Player Knowledge versus Character Knowledge here. If you play in my games, you should probably skip this one.
One day I got curious about just what Doxie can see when she has her 'magic eyes' going on. You see, she's got some ability that lets her see magic - not just a spell being cast, but ongoing things, magic items and the like. Some of the others on-staff can cast a spell to give them this spell-o-vision, but Doxie's something else. She can do it any time she wants, and that's a pretty useful thing in a public house, don't you think? She'll look around with her eyes glowing every hour or so, cataloguing the magic that patrons have carried in with them. But I asked her, not long ago, just what does she see when she does her thing? What does the Jolly Pecker look like under Detect Magic?
"Oh, the whole place has a gentle underlying glow to it. The building, and to a lesser extent, everything out for a few miles, it's all magic. I've walked down the road both directions to see how far it goes. Toward Juniper, it fades out just a little past the fork in the road. In the other direction, about the same. It is centered on the inn, where the glow is most noticeable.
"When you approach the door, you'll see the handle of the door light up - that's the Cleansing Stone worked into the handle. We love that little stone, since it means our tavern is much cleaner and smells better without all the road dirt and sweaty patrons. As soon as you come in, you'll find yourself in the light of the Lantern of Revealing. It's just a plain old lantern, not even very bright, unless you have something to hide. But with a detect spell going, it's extremely bright. Past that, the shield over the bar definitely has some strong magic on it. And everything else is just the general glow of the building or things that people have on them.
"I don't worry about anything the staff are carrying, but I do pay pretty close attention to whatever magic items the patrons bring in with them. But if you really want to know about the staff, well, you've been around long enough, Jayzachari, that I think it's fine for you to know. Just don't go telling everyone our secrets, or we'll have to talk."
Yep, I messed up there, and now I'll have the occasional nightmare where Doxie finds out and comes to have a talk with me...
"You already know about Willie's shield up on the wall. His battle-axe is dangerous, but it's not magical. Fluzie's got a fancy dagger, though, and a ring. The curse book on the shelf has a mild compulsion on it. We leave it out there because all the curses are pretty harmless, and it's entertaining to see if someone will pick it up. Also, I've made some extra coin taking curses off for people with more money than patience.
"Then there's your tankard, and if you go back into the kitchen, well, it's prone to have a number of things going, depending on what kinds of things Wilma's up to. But her hand-axe is the only thing she's got on her regularly.
"Upstairs, we keep a Wand of Create Water. When someone orders up a bath, it's easier to magic the water into the tub than lug it up there. And then, of course, a Prestidigitation will heat it up nicely. Not that anyone needs a bath, after touching the cleansing stone. But baths are about more than just getting clean.
"Pip's wearing bracers. He's the only one inside with any kind of armor. The rest of us don't wear armor on a day-to-day basis, let alone anything magical. That would be kind of silly, wouldn't it, just for running an inn? But Peter, outside, he is wearing some sort of armor, since he's out there by himself. He's also got some kind of bracers, and a dagger that glows, too.
"All in all, not a lot of items, and I know where to expect them. So when I check, and one of the patrons comes in with something, I watch them to see what it is. Usually it's armor or a weapon, but you sometimes have someone come through with something more interesting."
So that's it. Just a few magical items to keep the Jolly Pecker running smoothly, and some leftover items from everyone's adventuring days.
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