Merchants are common in fantasy settings as they are in others and, though many have fixed places of business, some, for varying reasons, do not.
This supplement has 100 fantasy merchants that characters could encounter whilst travelling. Their stock ranges from junk to valuable, the merchants for normal to bizarre and their honesty from scrupulous to anything but.
To use the list, either roll d100 for a random result or select appropriate ones manually.
Here are some sample results:
61. Orirdraic Steelhands: Orirdraic drives an iron-plated wagon that is pulled by four unusually large oxen, each of which is protected with steel barding. The oxen have cunningly-designed helms and their eyes are also protected to a degree by transparent plates. The wagon and the oxen’s’ armour look to be too heavy for the beasts to be able to move, but the armouring is lighter than it looks, due to a dwarven technique. Orirdraic is a travelling smith, and the wagon can, in a matter of comparative moments, be unhitched from the oxen and unfolded out to reveal that it’s a smithy, complete with forge, tools and supplies. Mechanisms allow an ox to provide power to some parts of the smithy, and Orirdraic can do repairs and make new items from scratch.
62. Parrandon Marrickan: Parrandon is always accompanied by at least two guards, even though they have only a small wagon. What they transport is always well-protected, for what’s carried in the wagon, in strongboxes that are always locked and built into the wagon itself, are spices, which are often worth more than their weight in gold. However, spices are only the most visible and advertised good that Parrandon sells. Inside many of the strongboxes are secret compartments, and inside these are various drugs and poisons that are both substantially more valuable than even the most expensive spice and substantially more illegal. If Parrandon’s wagon was ever searched properly, they would be in a lot of trouble, but they have contacts with various criminal organisations and act as supplier and seller for them.
63. Phnn: Phnn looks to be, and may well be, some sort of ambulatory humanoid plant. They are definitely intelligent and can speak, though it’s not clear how as they appear to lack a mouth. Phnn is a trader in things that are connected to plants, from cuttings to fertiliser to seeds to small plants, and anything bought from Phnn is almost guaranteed to do well; Phnn has a literal green thumb. Four of them in fact; their hands are not quite human in design. Phnn, when not selling, seems to talk to their stock. Though it’s not unknown for people to talk to plants, it’s slightly less common for them to talk back without magic, but Phnn certainly gives the impression of oddly detailed conversations. No-one knows what Phnn is and no-one has ever seen another of its kind.
Released: 29th October 2022 Pages: 24
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