A magical underground grotto, only accessible via teleportation. It is always sunny, with hot springs and cool clear pools, ringed by the balconies of apartments. It serves as an interfaith sanctuary for good and neutral clerics, hosted by the Church of Sharess. As of AR20, it is solidly established and attended by many influential clergy of diverse faiths.

Nightly revels fuel the protection from evil Focus enchantment. Member clergy pool their talents for ever stronger wards and protective enchantments. Each full member pays significant dues and is issued a custom Scarab of Protection made my the Church of Sharess.

Founded in Waterdeep by a mixed group of Faerunic Clergy, primarily children of Thalion Paurgiliath Arch Duke of Eltán, after the burning of the The Free Imperia's embassy by Master Vampires in AR3(?) by the Free Imperia's Calendar.

Surface location of the Cat's Meow, above the Benevolent Grotto

These founding clergy (who became and remain the Gatekeepers of the Benevolent Grotto), include a disproportionate number of diviners. Mixing research and meta-divination, they discovered a forgotten grotto dedicated to Sharess, which had been used for revels more than a century ago.

A perpetually sunny sealed cavern, with recirculating hot spring, pool, and fountains, it had been an idyllic pleasure spot. A small Fey Cherry tree grew around a statue of Sharess in the the middle, supporting a tower of fountains. Surrounded by greenery and tiers of balconies fronting private chambers in the walls, the cavern is roofed in what appears to be naturally grown crystal, which distributes the sunlight.

When they found it, the plumbing had long since clogged and shut down. The curtain had been left covering the mirror which scries the sun, beaming sunlight through the crystal ceiling. The greenery had rioted, then mostly died and rotted after filling the available space, and the smell was indescribable.

For more on the rediscovery and history, see the Gatekeepers article.

Because of its location in a sealed cavern, when the builder (who controlled the Mirror of Mental Prowess that transported people to and from the cavern) died unexpectedly, invitations quit coming and the cavern was lost. It is protected from direct scrying, and only the indirect nature of their original queries (about which paths of inquiry which would lead them to the most ideal defensible forgotten consecrated space), followed by a long series of chasing clues which were subject to divination eventually led them to its location under the Docks Ward near the borders of South Ward and Trades Ward.

Surprisingly (for underground spaces in Waterdeep), it is considerably deeper than the sewers but nowhere near any of the passages of Undermountain, Skullport, or any of the other hidden sub-surface features. The builder, a gnomish Cleric of Sharess, had chosen well. His enchantments, except for the plumbing, had survived intact, and the space was still consecrated.

The builder had become a ghost, trapping himself in the Mirror of Mental Prowess when he died, to scry on the bawdy house that used to be on the street above the grotto. He is certainly unsavory and distasteful company, but does not seem to be evil or undead; at least to the best detection clerics and paladins could provide. He says he is dead, not undead; unquiet at worst, and a lech not a lich.

Exorcism of the interdimensional space without damaging the mirror was viewed as risky enough that he has been allowed to linger.

Learning to operate the mirror, it was discovered that the ghost imposed a -3(-15%) to scrying, which could only be offset by placating it. Fortunately the site remained dedicated to Sharess. The -3(-15%) may be offset by 1/5 of the net charisma bonus of bathers in the pools, potentially rising to a max of +1(+5%) if the highly skilled ghost is so pleased that it helps instead of hindering. When the party in the central atrium isn't at full volume, burning the ghost's favorite incense (a particularly horrible 'strawberry' made in the gnomish quarter) can offset one point.

As many Waterdhavian churches are good aligned, but unwilling to take steps to keep out evil, there are a great many clergy who are happy to have a retreat where evil shouldn't be able to intrude, and should explode if it did. Once the original group of Thalion’s children got the Clergy of Sharess involved in the restoration the project got a great deal of momentum.

The requirement of sustaining a clerical Focus spell is the daily worship of any combination of 10 clerics or 100 laypeople. Of all the churches in Faerun at this time, while not a particularly large church, the sensualist nature of worship at Sharessian Revels makes attracting sufficient population to services fairly easy.

These celebrations now maintain a protection from evil area 180' in diameter, extending a little past the deepest chambers in the walls of the roughly spherical grotto.

Moreover, membership comes with a responsibility to contribute to the wards against evil. As clerics of many faiths came to attend, or rent Sanctuary apartments in the walls, this work went increasingly rapidly, and produced a wide diversity of glyph effects. About 90% are triggered by evil, the rest being triggered by the undead.

At first the area was quickly covered in the largest Glyphs of Warding that could be made without diamond dust. Once that phase one was complete, those were removed one by one and replaced with many smaller Glyphs of Warding. Glyphs cannot overlap, but have no minimum size, and are only a 3rd level divine spell. In a place populated by clerics, this project has resulted in startling density over the years.

While this method takes considerable low level clerical horsepower over time, it also has the result that wards are so small that they are very unlikely to harm anyone except the triggering entity. To replace a single 1 square foot glyph with 144 1 square inch glyphs takes the 3rd level casting power of 10 average 6th to 7th level clerics (not counting wisdom bonuses) for a week. Probably the entire temple will never reach this density, but a great many scattered patches have.

More wards, larger, noisy, and less selective, have been laid in the surrounding strata of rock and earth from the border Ethereal. Should anything at all approach by tunneling, phasing, or the like, considerable alarum will ensue.

The intent lies not only in the immense density and diversity of the existing work as is, but that in the face of the most puissant dispelling, the 1/20 surviving wards remain significantly formiddable. Eldritch things with hundreds of hit points and 90% magic resistance would still not enjoy a stroll around the grotto.

The tiers of fountains climbing around the central statue, each worth more than 10,000gp, are spellcaster items casting the series of Divine Magic spells that perpetually re-create the top, smallest, basin full of Holy Water of the temple of Sharess. This fountains up, and is dispersed as holy mist shot through with rainbows from the crystal-spread sunlight above, as it gently precipitates over the idyllic cavern.

Air elementals are bargained with to play with the rainbow-shot holy mist, and spread it around the grotto. They are replaced monthly; many are entertained by the beautiful setting, but they don't want to live in a cave forever, however magnificent.

Visitors are given dark tinted lenses in wooden frames when they enter through the gate; the light is not blinding, but these odd glasses reduce the eyestrain of the spectacular environment.

Veins of the crystal roof extend to the chambers surrounding the central atrium, and if not curtained provide a gentle sunlight in the rooms. When the Mirror of Mental Prowess is curtained, or otherwise occupied than projecting sunlight, the crystals gradually run down through ruddy colors of sunset for 3d4 hours, then twinkle with gentle light for another 3d4 hours. How the crystals, which can't be as natural as they appear, were grown in place, or how they store light, is unknown.

Paladins are encouraged to be placed on duty to detect evil intent, and there will usually be at least a couple at the mirror and half a dozen inside, though those on duty may be low level, functioning more as spotters than muscle. The methodology of detection being different is viewed as a significant advantage.

After the incident in the second year when a particularly oily and unpleasant CN guest suffered alignment drift looking at the pool, and had to be removed in a dustpan, and the third year double-fatality prank with a Helm of Opposite Alignment, preemptive removal of non-evil but unpleasant or evil-intending people before they explode has been a widely supported policy.

Further, admittance policy is vetted by mind-reading through the mirror, regular security auguries, and deeper divination in questionable cases.

Over the years the organization has grown and diversified, however the core group of Thalion's children remain the chartered Gatekeepers Of The Benevolent Grotto, keeping responsibility for controlling the Mirror of Mental Prowess in shifts.

This includes both the duty of providing a secure and selective taxi service for the Grotto, picking up and dropping off attendees, and the resource of a tremendously powerful scrying enhancement tool for their own purposes.

Members rent the side chambers from the Gatekeepers, and guests make donations, with the profits going to the temple of Sharess being able to provide each member with a custom Scarab of Protection and provide attendees with a surfeit of sybaritic luxuries.

While many of the churches involved have military arms, and their protection is appreciated, the Grotto has avoided staging active assaults on evil to avoid drawing attention.

Founding members include Magistrati of Azuth, Sibylites of Savras, Glyphscribes of Deneir, Sensates of Sharess, a Holy Strategist of the Red Knight, and both a Shiallan Druid and a Woodwife, who came from the High Forest to help create a natural sanctuary in Waterdeep.

All of those churches have remained involved, with more clergy joining the original. The Shiallan and Sharessian overlap brought in a group of Werecats who also worship Selune.

Members of other churches who are good aligned, and not too stuffy to pass by the revel on the way to their chambers, often rent apartments just for the secure facilities.

Surprisingly senior members of other churches take advantage of the scrying protected area to kick their heels up and party, or have unobserved meetings in the private chambers.

Any evil faction which did somehow stage an assault on the grotto would make a great many un-friends.

Mirror of Mental Prowess

Holy Water Font

Scarab of Protection