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Officially Recognized Shopping Areas
1. The Bazaar:
A massive and rather chaotic area filled with tents where merchants hawk wares of all sorts, from cheap pottery all the way up to some lesser magical items. The bazaar is loud, disorganized, and poorly regulated. While thieves are dealt with, fraud tends to be commonplace. Buyer beware.
*2. Ellena's Enchantment Emporium:
A three-story stone tower located only a block to the east of The Temple of Kanara, Ellena's shop is the second largest magic item store in the world. Walking through the massive rune-covered adamantine door, a visitor is greeted by a pair of large dog statues with red eyes that seem to follow you everywhere. The inside of the shop is lit by glass globes set into the walls at regular intervals, each of which glow with a warm purplish glow, and combined with the fact that the display cases are made entirely of ornate glass (actually glass-steeled) with mithril fittings, gives the entire place a slightly eerie, ethereal glow. The floor is covered with a green rug that has ornate red strips running along each aisle. This red carpet will cast a clean spell on any one who is the slightest bit dirty.
The display cases hold all sorts of magical items, as well as scrolls and books on magic theory, but the vast bulk of the inventory is kept upstairs, which can only be reached through the back room.
Prices are book normal and selection is suburb (assume that almost any book item is available, though like all magic items, it probably has a few quirks), and items can be sold to the shop at half their sale price, or sold on consignment for two-thirds their sale price (wait 1d4 RL weeks before adding the gold), although the shop does not deal in invoker supplies or items of great evil. Most items are actually consignment sales, but that's normal for the industry, so haggling on prices is fairly limited, unless you wish to be patient.
Customwork (altering what slot a magic item uses, such as making a hat into a belt) is possible here, but expensive (it costs 2000gp or 20% of the item value, whichever is higher. More for extreme changes to the item). It is even possible to commission items, but only the wealthiest of individuals can afford such a service.
Spells are cast here, but having Ellena perform them herself is extremely expensive (due to her tremendous power), but sometimes worth the cost.
The regular shopkeepers are sages who will identify magic items for the usual 50gp for an id spell or 800 for a analyze dweomer. Half of the latter cost will be refunded should the individual sell the item through the shop.
Magics protect the shop form thievery and attack (don't even bother rolling :P), and payment is required before services are rendered.
3. Alestair's Arcane Curiosity Shop:
The second largest shop in Kethmar (and 4th largest in the world now that the magic shop in the Tousan capital is no longer in business), Alestair caters to a different clientele than Ellena (who he makes no secret of loathing).
The building itself is a large, square, black building with a sign out front that is covered in mystic symbols. It's located in the merchant district closest to the docks.
Stepping into Alestair's Arcane Curiosity shop, one sees exactly what one might expect. The shop is filled with oaken shelves covered in all sorts of mystical paraphernalia, from wands to staves, to pickled brains.
Alestair himself almost always mans his store. He's an imposing human man who appears to be in his late thirties (but is actually closer to eighty) in black robes. He speaks with a light Dracenfellian accent that gives an exotic, and slightly sinister tone to his voice.
Selection in the Curiosity shop is almost as good as Ellena's Emporium, and items tend to cost three-quarters normal, but there is a dark side to them. Nearly every item in the shop radiates with the evil that was used to create them (Dracenfellians create magic items quickly and cheaply through blood sacrifice), and some are so vile that they will slowly twist their user (many require regular human sacrifices to remain operational!).
Alestair will purchase any item of magic at the usual half price. Unlike Ellena, he is more than happy to buy cursed items or vile items of pure evil.
Regarding custom work, he can craft items for a fee (again at about three-quarters Ellena's prices), but any one who has him do so will find themselves sliding towards evil.
Like Ellena's Emporium, Alestair's Arcane Curiosity Shop requires payment in advance.
4. Walton's Used Mounts:
A medium sized ranch abut 2 hours north of town along the trade road, Walton's ranch has the traditional wooden beam fences, paddocks, barns, etc of any horse ranch. It is in decent condition, and the staff seem fairly well treated and satisfied.
Walton himself is a somewhat portly human of about sixty years of age. He runs the ranch with the help of his two sons Billy and Fitz, as well as a number of farm hands. In most ways it is like any of a dozen horse ranches in the vicinity of Kethmar. Horses (riding, draft, and even a few warhorses) are readily available, as are mules, riding dogs, and even a few donkeys.
There is one difference, however. Walton's ranch sells mounts for half the usual price. The downside? They're near the "end of their operational life", as in the horses he sells only have one or 2 good years left in them. He's not deceptive about this in the least, however. He freely admits that while his mounts are all of decent quality, they aren't for people who want a horse that'll last 10 years. For an adventurer whose horse is unlikely to survive 6 months much less 6 years, they're a great buy, and Walton has made a great deal of money by catering to that market.
Simply put, any basic mount can be purchased here for half the usual price, but it will be too old to use in 1-2 game years. Saddles and tack (also used) can be purchased at similar discounts and with similar lifespans.
5. Llewellyn's Bows:
A small shop in the eastern edge of the merchant's quarter, Llewellyn's Bows is well-known among serious archers throughout the city. A simple two-story building of plaster and beam construction with a bull's-eye sign hanging over the door, it looks far less impressive than it really is.
Inside the shop is equally normal, with a very small open area in the front dominated by a counter that has a number of bows and crossbows hanging carefully from pegs on the wall behind. Typically Llewellyn himself mans the shop, which is a mixed blessing, since Llewellyn is a stern man of little humor who seems to care more about his craft than his customers (which is probably true).
His customers come, and they pay plenty of gold for the dour half elven man's work, as he is the only Elven trained Grandmaster Bowyer in Kethmar (an artisan capable of making up to +2 bows!!!! ). Service is curt but efficient, and his stock includes not only masterwork bows, crossbows, bolts, and arrows, but low-end magical (+1 and +2), as well as a few bows made of the exotic Darkwood.
Customers should be aware that Llewellyn may be a half elf, but he has the arrogance and prejudices of a full elf, and his tongue can be almost as sharp as the points of his arrows. Still, the 60 yr old (about 30 in human years), 5'4 black-haired, blue-eyed man will sell his wares to anyone with the coin and patience to endure his snappishness towards "the lesser races".
6. Noogle's Adventuring Emporium:
A large, slightly run-down wooden shop located in the poor quarter of town (only a block from The Silver Stag), Noogle's Emporium caters to adventurers on a budget. It carries a number of cheap (both in price and quality) adventuring goods such as used burlap sacks (often a bit musty, though usually still able to bear appropriate loads), stained traveling cloaks, torches, particularly bland hardtack, badly (if at all) dyed bedrolls, dented pots, used lanterns, and other such goods.
The shop was opened twelve years ago by an enterprising gnome who had contacts with the city guard. He offered to sell their old gear off for a cut of the profit. He's since made arrangements with other organizations, and has earned his place as a moderately wealthy man, in spite of the fact that some people consider his shop to be a small step above a refuse pile.
The shop itself is a bit chaotic, with items being dumped into old crates, seemingly with little rhyme or reason, not to mention a number of shoppers busily rooting through the piles of "merchandise". Condition of the goods is "fair", but if you're looking for a bargain on a pair of hip boots, and don't mind the fact that one is green, the other brown, and both are badly scuffed, you're in the right place.
Noogle is rarely in his shop, instead leaving it in the capable hands of his three assistants Brock (a half orc who mostly is there to dissuade thieves), Murr (who is Brocks' brother and serves a similar purpose), and Heimy (who rings up sales). All three are a bit harried and not particularly helpful, so shoppers are definitely on their own.
Security is moderate (his guards are level 5 rangers with high spot scores), but he has good ties to both the silks (who he helps fence cheap goods through the shop) and the city guard, so few people would be foolish enough to try.
*7. Ssin`Kyil's Alchemical Wonders and Devious Devices
In the Poor Quarter of Kethmar City, located about a block and a half south of the Silver Stag, is a quaint and non-descript three story brick building, identified by a hanging wooden sign bearing its name in colorful script, with a subscript stating “Featuring various potions and other magical and mechanical marvels, inquire inside”. The large bay window, guarded by lockable wooden shutters, displays a few odds and ends to catch the eye including a “Philter of Love”, “Potion of Healing”, “Alchemical Fire”, and one of Ssin's Hand Lamps, its iris bullseye portion adjust to shine a pencil thin beam of light against the wall of the display, attracting the eye and directing customers to the shop's door.
Inside one will find a small store and counter taking up two thirds of the width and length of the otherwise of the first floor, kept cool in summer and warm in winter by magical and mechanical means, one side of the shop dedicated to the display of potions, both arcane, divine, and general, along with alchemical products in small racks. These are protected closed and locked glass covers, allowing the labeled contents to be clearly displayed while protecting it from thieves and vandals. The other side of the shop displays devices of mechanical and minor magical nature, such Ssin's Hand Lamps and collapsible ten foot poles, and items clearly of dwarf and gnome manufacture.
The shop itself is lit by hand lamps hanging from the ceiling, self advertisement as to how the lamps can be used, and the floor is covered by a mauve rug enchanted to keep itself clean and incense burns in various holders filling the place with a pleasant scent of sandalwood. All and all, Ssin`Kyil's place of business exudes a feeling of comfort, respectability, and quiet professionalism. Its small layout and mirrors strategically placed in the upper corners of the shop facing the counter make shoplifting difficult at best even if the thief can get past the glass cases without the clerk, usually Ssin`Kyil herself from noticing.
Besides Ssin`Kyil, the shop is sometimes run by her lover and companion Shalle, both of them possessing the only keys to the place or their ward Caramina. Hazy, the Silver Stag cook, also works as store clerk part time. When locking up for the night, sturdy wooden shutters are closed and locked over the windows from the inside except for the shutters covering the bay window which by its nature requires a lock on the outside. All of the locks are the best that money can buy, DC 40. In addition the doors and windows are alarmed by means of thin wire (DC 30 Check to find, DC 28 to disable) connected to noise makers that give a good chance of waking up the occupants in the upper floors.
Besides the items that are on display, Ssin`Kyil will make potions on request as well as unusual and unique non-magical items if given the concept and plans, though she reserves the rights to sell duplicates later if she desires. Ssin`Kyil will accept trades in magic items, especially magical scrolls, for shop items at 80 percent book value, but will not accept cursed or evil items.
As for the other parts of the building, the rest of the first floor is made of stairs going up and a door that leads to a back room which contains and small forge and metalworker's shop, suitable for fine work such jewelry making and construction of Ssin's devices. It also has a small area set aside for glassblowing and making, a skill that Ssin`Kyil intends on eventually learning.
Just behind the counter the stairway leads up to the second floor which contains Ssin`Kyil and Shalle's living quarters consisting of a Master Bedroom, a guest bedroom, bath area, and a living / lounge area for entertaining guests along with a library. Another set of stairs leads up to the third floor which houses Ssin's alchemical laboratory, library, and workshop. It is here that she makes the potions, poisons, and other exotic items for her shop and well as research and come up with ideas and plans for new devices.
* represent PC owned shops
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