Shop: Zed’s Fruit Stand

This business did indeed start out as a fruit stand. The young Zed Narr has always been a hard worker and he wanted more than to simply be a fruit seller for someone else. First he saved up enough coppers to open his own fruit stand. Then he hired urchins and those looking for any sort of work to sell fruits throughout the city, often with nothing more than a small basket or cart as they wandered the town. Then he began to buy direct from farmers outside of town. Then he began importing fruit until now he is the premier fruit importer, not only of local produce but he also brings in exotic fruit from cities far away. There is talk that he is soon planning on purchasing some farms outside of the city so he has a complete supply chain, as well as broadening the variety of goods he sells.

Zed Narr has a number of fruit stands and moving vendors spread throughout the city. The joke within the city is that there is a Zed's Fruit Stand on every corner; while this is not true, it is close. The produce he sells is of good quality and is shipped into the city every day. It is his network that allows him to continue to sell the fruit cheap enough so anyone attempting to undercut him will do so at a loss.

Zed Narr

Zed is terrified. A few months ago he discovered one of his drivers was smuggling in goods for the Chain Gang thieves guild. When he tried to deal with the situation he was approached by the thieves guild and boldly had his life threatened by them if he did not allow the smuggling to continue. Fearing for his life he kept silent. Since then the smuggling has increased to the point that almost every day one of his transports is bringing in some type of contraband. Since then Zed has become paranoid and irritable, not sure of how to deal with the situation; he is scared for his life, but also scared that the smuggling operation will be discovered and he will take the fall for something he did not do.

Adventure Ideas

-A rare and magical fruit, the bacca, has been brought to the attention of Zed Narr. It is said to never rot and can pass on this luster to those that eat of it. It is also from a land far away. Zed is looking for some adventurers to travel to this land, locate the place where this fruit grows, discover the price of the bacca (or a means to acquire the fruit), and then return with their information. This would be a long journey through foreign and unknown lands rife with adventure.
-The local authorities have seen an increase in the amount of smuggled goods that have entered the city. The situation is made worse by the fact that a highly addictive herb, sarrio, has been one of the contraband. They are looking for someone to investigate that will not be seen as members of the city and the characters fit that description. What will they do when they uncover the beleaguered Zed Narr? What will they do when they have an entire thieves guild out to kill them?

List of Names for Thieves Guilds

 

1)      Brotherhood of Stealth

2)      League of Daggers

3)      Silent Eyes

4)      The False Union

5)      Society of Dusk

6)      The Blind

7)      Shroud of Blades

8)      The Benefice Club

9)      Lodge of the Splinter

10)   The Sly Fraternity

11)   Circle of Blood

12)   The Gold Faction

Shop: Yolanda's Bardic Circle

Yolanda's is a clearing house for bards of various types. If a person or organization wants a proficient bard to perform at their function they come here and hire one. They are predominantly musicians and singers; other types of performers, such as jesters, acrobats, mummers and dancers, can be hired elsewhere. They have an excellent reputation of providing top-notch entertainment and the local high society look down on any bard not hired through this shop. While most of their business is local, they are willing to hire out in other towns and there are even times when they will form a traveling show for a season.

There is, however, a dark side to the Bardic Circle. Ten years ago, the husband of Yolanda was killed by a drunken patron and due to the killers political position nothing was done about it. This caused Yolanda to lose faith in government. She saw a blight upon society that needed to be corrected and at times excised. A year later the killer of her husband was found dead, having drunkenly fallen into a pool and drowned. Since then Yolanda and the Bardic Circle has continued their secret agenda of righting the wrongs that government can not or will not. The bards are welcome in all the influential homes of the city and they use this to ferret out the corruption of the city. From there they use magic, blackmail and other coercion, up to and including killing, to influence city policies for the betterment of the populace. Most of this "betterment" is violent revenge for wrongs committed by those above the law.

Yolanda Charr

To outward appearances Yolanda is very outgoing and personable. However, she has a hard inside that can peek out if something touches off her sense of "rightness". Also, despite looking like she is easy to get along with, she is judgmental and she is not afraid to make mention of other people's failings. While she made a name for herself as an excellent harpist, she finds she has little time now to actively play due to running of the business occupying most of her time. This has made her even more bitter.

Adventure Ideas

-A new bard has joined Yolanda's Bardic Circle, Alic Tre'valle. She is a young woman and plays a mean dulcimer. However, she is disturbed by a few of the off-hand things some of the other bards have said within her hearing. She fears there is more to the Bardic Circle than a simple business offering bardic services. She is willing to hire the characters to investigate Yolanda's Bardic Circle to make sure everything is above-board and nothing sinister is going on.
-One of the bards is having second thoughts on the "goodness" of the Bardic Circle's secret agenda. Nik Huck feels the Circle is too quick to use violence to right the wrongs and he is not pleased with some of the things he has been asked to do for the Circle. He has decided to ask the characters to shut down the Bardic Circle but as he goes to meet them, he is killed before he can tell them what he wanted them for, right at their feet. Yolanda had gotten wind of Nik's intentions and had given the order to have him killed before he could disrupt their good work. Will the characters investigate what this man wanted of them and avenge his death?

List of Medieval Musical Instruments

 

1)      Bagpipe

2)      Bladder Pipe

3)      Cornamuse

4)      Crumhorn

5)      Drum

6)      Dulcian

7)      Dulcimer

8)      Cymbal

9)      Fiddle

10)   Flute

11)   Gamba

12)   Gemshorn

13)   Harp

14)   Harpsichord

15)   Lute

16)   Organetto

17)   Recorder

18)   Sackbut

19)   Trumpet

20)   Viol

Shop: Xorn Leather

This is a fairly run of the mill leather shop. The proprietor, Sam Tully, sells only leather, but no leather goods; he lets other shops actually manufacture goods. His claim to fame, and the reason he opened a leather shop in the first place, was that he had managed to kill a Xorn when he was younger. He skinned the creature and made enough from the sale of the skin to a magician's guild that he was able to open this business. He still keeps the head mounted in the shop. Since then he has been a middleman selling the skins that others bring him; he has not hunted since then. He will also skin a creature brought to him and then sell it. Ay any given time the shop will have a couple of more exotic skins, such as drake or owlbear, brought in by a group of adventurers, but the majority of the stock is generic, ordinary leather. He will, however, not knowingly sell the hide of a sentient creature.

Sam Tully

He is now middle-aged, 37, and his fairly sedentary lifestyle has caused him to pack on a few extra pounds. For a man who makes a living as a salesman, he has an odd habit of never making eye contact. This is because he constantly feels ashamed. First is that he did not actually kill the Xorn that funded his business. Instead he came across it's corpse where it had apparently died of some injuries it had earlier sustained. When he brought the corpse into town the people cheered him as a mighty hero and he never seemed to get around to clearing up the confusion. Second, is that he later learned that Xorn can be intelligent creatures and the thought of skinning a sentient creatures makes him ill.

Adventure Ideas

-Unknown to Sam, some Xorn exhibit a measure of sentient and intellect. And they are out for revenge after all these years. The characters will likely first meet a band of Xorn as a random encounter, but the Xorn keep coming. The characters will be asked by the local authorities to find out why the Xorn continuously attack and eventually the trail will lead to Sam.
-A special request order has come into Xorn Leather. Sam Tully is far too inactive to actually go and get the hide himself, so he is looking to hire a group of adventurers to hunt down the creature and get it for him, all for a good price. This can be run multiple times, choosing a different monster each time to keep things interesting. The monster to be hunted can be chosen by you or randomly rolled from the following list.
 

List of Exotic Leather

 

1)      Ankheg

2)      Basilisk

3)      Bulette

4)      Carrion Crawler

5)      Darkmantle

6)      Dire Animal

7)      Displacer Beast

8)      Drake

9)      Gorgon

10)   Grey Render

11)   Grick

12)   Hellhound

13)   Hydra

14)   Manticore

15)   Nightmare

16)   Owlbear

17)   Purple Worm

18)   Rust Monster

19)   Umberhulk

20)   Worg

 

Shop: Wine Shrine

As expected, this shop sells wine. It has the usual assortment of wines that can be found at various taverns and similar shops. They do try to carry a wide selection. Whereas a tavern or inn might carry only a couple of wines, the Wine Shrine, carries about twenty different types ranging from chardonnay to merlots. Their prices run normal and range from a cheap bottle to some of the more expensive ones.

However, their claim to fame and what sets them truly apart is the Centaur Pressing. This bubbly wine appears in the shop on the first day every three months. There are only ever 100 bottles of the wine, they are priced very high and they are gone usually in a day. Wine connoisseurs, and even those with nothing but a taste for alcohol, claim this is the finest wine ever produced. People are willing to pay almost any price for a bottle and do so happily. The owner of the Wine Shrine, Pe’re Caville, has to date refused to reveal where he gets the wine. All anyone knows is that the week before the day of the sale he heads out with a wagon full of empty bottles and then he reappears the day before the sale with a wagon full of the wine.

The truth of the mysterious wine is that Pe’re was once an adventurer, the cleric for a group called the Special League. During one of their adventures they came across the Bloody Eye goblin tribe. This tribe was fairly weak and hurriedly offered to pay the adventurers off to make them go away. In the pay-off was a bottle of wine they had made. It was absolutely fabulous. Sometime soon thereafter the Special League split up (due to a romantic triangle that ended bitterly) and Pe’re decided to retire from the dangers of adventuring. Not sure what to do he thought again about the Bloody Eye tribe and their wine. Seeking them out he negotiated buying the wine they had made and he resold it in town. People wanted more. So he again went to the goblin tribe and came back with more. And that sold just as fast and for a higher price. Since then, Pe’re decided to open the Wine Shrine selling a variety of wine and the occasional sale of Centaur Pressing. And the name, Centaur Pressing? Pe’re decided to direct people’s attention away from goblins as the source of the wine by making them think centaurs are somehow involved in its production. So far, it’s worked.

Pe’re Caville

Pe’re has managed to stay in shape from leading a fairly regimented lifestyle that he carried over into his retirement. The only indication that he is getting older is his receding hairline. Pe’re is enjoying his semi-retirement. Other than procuring the Centaur Pressing he does little of the day-to-day management of the Wine Shrine. The rest of the time he frequents taverns, shows and other entertainments. And when there is nothing exciting going on in town he likes to go fishing, a hobby he has recently picked up.

Adventure Ideas

-Pe’re Caville is looking to hire some guards on his next trip to gather the Centaur Pressing as he fears a more violent attempt will be made to follow him to his source. The characters are hired to keep him safe and then wait for him as he goes on alone. After the trip is made successfully (after fighting off a couple of ambushes) the characters are offered money by a rival merchant to reveal everything they know about the trip.
-Pe’re Caville comes to the characters with an unusual request. There has been an uprising in the number of attacks from local orcs and goblins. Local authorities have called a hunt on them and are offering bounties. Pe’re knows the Bloody Eye Tribe is not involved. Pe’re wants the characters to deal with the other orc and goblin attackers and to make sure that the Bloody Eye Tribe is kept safe from other adventurers.
 

List of Wines by Race

This can be used in an encounter where you want to add in a bit more flavor. They can be served when in a racial community or found as part of a treasure.

 

Fiery Red                                      Dragonborn

Husk Harvest                                Dragonborn

Foundry Grape                              Dwarf

Special Reserve Mead                   Dwarf

West Wind Assemblage                Elf

Leaf Whisper Preserve                  Elf

Apple Appellation                         Halfling

Sparkling Burst                             Halfling

Robust Premier                             Human

Grand Dry                                     Human

Fermented Growth                        Gnome

Moonberry Wine                           Gnome

Black Grape                                   Orc

Ever Red                                        Orc

Dark Amber                                   Tiefling

Shadowberry Wine                        Tiefling

 

Shop: Viable Connection Service

This business is a one-man operation run by Lian Weaver. In effect, he introduces a person who is looking for something to a person who has that something. His business is built on effectiveness and discretion. In the past, he has done such things as helping a necromancer find a lost tome (and barely avoided going to the dungeons for it), found a wizard adept at making traps for the city guard and helped a noble family sell its jewelry collection. He knows everyone and what they are capable of. He usually has several deals going on at the same time and it can take a few days for him to make the right connections. The charge for his services is usually 10% of the value of what is to be traded, though he only takes his fee once what the customer is looking for has been found.

Indeed, one of the first people the characters are likely to meet within this town is Lian Weaver. He makes an effort to meet everyone new and introduce his services. For adventurers he is able to connect the characters to someone willing to buy esoteric books, magic items and other objects that the characters may be looking to sell off. All too often some items are almost impossible to sell on the open market for anything approaching their value and Lian can help move them. Lian can also help adventurers find a person with knowledge that the party may be in need of, such as a specialized sage.

Lian Weaver

Lian is actually a fairly friendly person; certainly he is very outgoing. However, he also has an air of a snakeoil salesman. He makes his living by getting people to trust him and by knowing the details of everyone’s life. He appears to have no conscience with his “no questions asked” policy, but he puts the spin of “trust” and "discretion" on it. However, those who know of his four girlfriends are not so trusting.

Adventure Ideas

-Apparently Lian does have a conscience. He was recently contacted by M’mrac the Yellow, a noted magician, to find a book called the Tome of Closing. Lian did so, having discovered the book lies in the library of a local merchant. However, his research also turned up the pure evil of the book and how it can bring about "The End Times". Fearing for his life he still told M'mrac where the book was. Now he is looking for adventurers to prevent M'mrac from acquiring the Tome or, if failing that, to stop whatever M'mrac is planning with the book.
-At the request of Yun Supp'e, Lian introduced him to a mutual merchant, Sherrod Diamond. Yun has since disappeared before he paid Lian for his services and now Sherrod claims to have never met Yun. Lian suspects something untoward has happened and hires the characters to discover what it is going on, if only so he can get paid. Unknown to Lian, Sherrod is actually a diabolist using his mercantile business as a cover. Yun has been searching for him for a few years now, but Sherrod managed to gain the upper hand and dispose of Yun. Now Sherrod needs to clean up the trail to him and that includes Lian and the characters.
 

List of Evil Tomes

 

1)      The Book of Inverse

2)      Codex of Pain

3)      The Insidious Volume

4)      Manuscript of Souls

5)      Journal of a Lost

6)      The Black Edition

7)      The Scrolls of Madness

8)      The Diabolic Works

9)      Scripts of the Stone Blood

10)   Manual of the Damnable

11)   The Foul Works

12)   Treatise of the Tentacle