District Type: Marketplace and shops
Buildings: Open-air market, temple (The Sovereign Host), shrines (the Keeper, Kol Korran), average lodging (24), average food (85), exotic trades (30), upscale trades (60), average trades (300), poor trades (110), upscale services (20), average services (100), poor services (40)
First Impression: The crowd and noise of this district are overwhelming. In addition to the shops and stalls, the streets are full of people offering questionable goods and deals; it seems like everyone has something to sell. The Watch maintains a strong presence in the Bazaar, but they are more concerned with preventing riots than in stopping trade of illegal goods.
Social Class: Lower class
Location: Sharn, Middle Dura
The Bazaar of Dura, the largest commercial district in Sharn, sprawls out across a dozen towers. The towers around the edges are devoted to shops and services. Almost anything can be found in this district, though the quality of any particular item or service cannot be guaranteed. At the center of the district, the open market from which the district takes its name presents a labyrinth of shops, tents, and makeshift stalls set up in the middle of the street. A marketplace permit costs only 3 cp, though many people try to avoid even this paltry sum. However, guards who catch such shirkers usually extort far larger sums in exchange for a pass.
Of the four markets of Sharn, the Bazaar has the highest concentration of criminal activity—illegal services and trades, as well as pickpockets, bullies, and con artists. These services are not as obvious as they are in Lower Dura or the Cogs, and quality and prices are not as good, but shopping here is generally safer than venturing to the lawless lower ward. The cost of illegal services should be increased by 25%. The Boromar Clan controls most of the illegal activities, but Daask has been pressing up from below, and those seeking services may be caught in the middle.
If an adventuring party displays obvious wealth— if they are spreading gold around, wearing glamerweave or impressive magic armor or clothes—they must deal with a constant stream of pleading beggars and con artists. Pickpockets pose a constant threat, and bullies try to lure shoppers into ambushes. When doing business in the Bazaar, it’s best to conceal your wealth.
The Bazaar is a good place to dispose of random acquisitions. Stolen goods aside (those requiring an actual fence), most items can be sold here for 45% of their actual value. The seller can make a DC 10 Charisma check; for every point of success, the sale price is increased by 1%.
Almost any sort of mundane item can be found at the Bazaar, including alchemical goods. A merchant might even have a few magic items in stock, or at least items that he claims are magical. Any magic or masterwork items found in the Bazaar are certainly secondhand, and might have a dubious or intriguing history. The 25,000 gp limit applies to all transactions in the Bazaar.
Caerlyn’s Blade: A troop of Valenar mercenaries that calls itself Caerlyn’s Blades uses the Bazaar as a base of operations.
Sharn Shrine of the Keeper: While the Keeper is associated with death, he is first and foremost the god of greed—the hunger to possess all things, from gold to souls. Gellis Candar (NE male dwarf expert 3/adept 3) runs a large pawnshop in the Bazaar, and he maintains a shrine to the Keeper in a hidden back chamber. A few of the other merchants know of the shrine and attend Candar’s services, believing that the Keeper can help them fulfill their greedy desires.
Vundry: Vundry (NE female gnome expert 6) runs a shop in the Bazaar of Dura. On the surface, appears to be a pawnshop and curio store. Behind this façade, Vundry is one of the most reliable and well-connected fences in Sharn. When dealing with a friend (Diplomacy DC 25; allies of the Boromar Clan gain a +5 circumstance bonus, gnomes gain a +3 circumstance bonus), Vundry can turn up almost any item within a week (within her 25,000 gp limit).
Normally, Vundry buys any legal item for 45% of its value, up to a limit of 10,000 gp. Her shop is full of odds and ends of all sorts—pottery shards from Xen’drik, a masterwork broadsword, a Riedran spice rack. For her friends, Vundry raises her limit to 30,000 gp and pays 55% of the value of items that she buys. Vundry also fences illegal goods, charging 20% of the value of the item. She usually drops this fee by 1% every subsequent time she does business with the same character, to a minimum of 10%. It can be expensive establishing credentials with Vundry, but over time it is worth the expense.
Source: Sharn: City of Towers
