Art Dealers
During the course of play, you or your players will undoubtedly load up on all kinds of really cool art objects, gems and magic gear – the sort of neat knickknacks that players undoubtedly gravitate towards, but don’t have any real use for and will likely end up selling at some point. This week’s Top Ten provides 10 flavorful faces who want to buy those goods, adding a little something extra that keeps a cool golden griffon statue from becoming just 150 gp.
1) Norman Welterfroth. A tall man with impeccable dress and a well-respected dealer in classical art. Though he prefers to deal in paintings and sculpture from established artists, he has been known to make exceptions for particularly fine pieces. Well known to noblemen around the world as the go-to source for fine art, Norman often finds himself needing to restock his wares or find specific pieces to meet the demands of his clients, and is known to pay adventurers handsomely for their plunder,
2) Herita Veloris. A comely young human woman with a truly bizarre method of dress, featuring a large number of white and pink spikes on her dress which could serve as some form of armor. Herita is a planar traveler and quite an accomplished adventurer who travels between the Material Plane and mysterious outer realms, trading in various arts and curiosities between the two places. Due to what she claims is a great demand for Material Plane artwork in far places, she is known to pay extremely well for things normal dealers find pedestrian or lame. She also sells exotic and magical items from her other journeys to discerning customers and is happy to trade such goods for new merchandise.
3) Gershrrixiana the Terrible. The offspring of a truly mighty bronze dragon, Gershrrixiana is surrounded on all sides in her coastal home by enemies and is kept alive only through displays of power and the ability to bluff her status as greater than it is. Being only a young dragon herself, Gershrrixiana relies upon goods procured by heroic individuals who come to her lands in order to fill her horde. Though she doesn’t pay for her goods with gold, her offers of service are a temptation for many mighty heroes eager to have a dragon owe them a favor.
4) Max Hormis. A strange portly dwarf who makes his progress through civilized lands on an overladen pack horse, the keen-eyed Max Hormis is always on the lookout for goods to fill his store. Max doesn’t wait for goods to be brought to him, but rather travels the world in search of adventurers, nobles, and those who don’t know the value of their family heirlooms in order to convince them to part with something shiny. Most find Max greedy, if enthusiastic, and would only deal with him if desperate. His store, to which he eventually returns all he finds, is located deep in the heart of his remote mountain home, and is said to be stocked with one of the most varied and extraordinary collections in all the land.
5) Homer Blackraven. A brilliant and renowned occultist, Homer makes his home in a dreary swamp, which he claims is excellently positioned to make use of nearby ley lines. Homer might not receive any visitors at all, were it not for a publication he made on the study of the latent energies inherent in magical objects, which is noted to be insightful and well-researched. The article also contains a call for anyone to bring their objects to him and states a standard bounty of 20 lbs. of gold for any item that catches his interest. Homer is chiefly concerned with items of an occult nature, but is well known to be fond of any odd curiosity.
6) Cadence Ca’Alad. A traveling half-elf merchant Cadence is well known to be an accomplished scholar and a shrewd trader. Strangely, though she calls herself a merchant and carries her store with her at all times, she is extremely reluctant to sell anything, and convincing her to part with her goods is noted to be akin to driving mules. Still, many find her services useful and she always has a large store of gold and silver to purchase new goods, the source of which is of great interest to those who have bargained with her in the past.
7) Tavor Saren. A once renowned seller of magical items, known far and wide for his exceptional collection, after growing tired of the ever-increasing demand of adventurers for ever more specific magical gear, Tavor got out of the magic item game and decided to deal in less demanding merchandise. As the majority of his contacts were still adventurers, he ended up dealing in rare works of art or curiosities of the type common to those found in the adventuring profession. His business is now as popular as ever, and his trade in curiosities is second to none. Further driving his reputation are the rumors that he has several exceptional magic items left over in storage, waiting to be pried away for the right price.
8) Gibor Gibberlit. A quirky gnome merchant with a fascination for statuary, Gibor is a great disappointment to his family, all of whom are gem merchants. Gibor doesn’t lament this estrangement, however, but rather revels in it, and recently has resolved to stop purchasing items that incorporate gemstones of any kind, finding it a great joke. His brother Hible is committed to avenging himself against his brother by ruining his business.
9) Nephirm the Wicked. A mighty pit fiend, Nephirm is supposedly undersecretary to one of the great treasurers of hell and demands that all his transactions are secured by iron clad contracts. He is renowned for dealing almost exclusively in material goods rather than in mortal souls like his kin, and is considered one of the safer devils to deal with. Nephirm is normally very businesslike, but can occasionally be very keen to acquire some rare item, without clear purpose.
10) The White Cat. A very difficult merchant to find, the White Cat is a strange figure, always cloaked in illusion which disguises his or her features. The White Cat approaches its clients—usually those who have a habit of acquiring very fine objects of art—and offering great treasures of gold and silver in return for their goods. The White Cat explains that it has a great fondness for art, akin to the greatest of thieves, but having no patience for stealing, has turned to mercantile diversions.