II. THE SILK ROAD

Luxury goods. The merchants here dress well, speak softly, and their guards are better-armed than most soldiers.

💎 The Veiled Gem

Jewelry & Precious Stones Proprietor: Mirova al-Dashreem, an elderly woman with a magnifying glass permanently fixed to her left eye

Mirova has appraised more gemstones than anyone in the city, possibly in all of Calimshan. She rarely sells — mostly she buys. But the pieces behind her glass case are exceptional.

Standard Stock:

Cut gemstones (10–500 gp range)
Uncut raw stones — reduced value, useful as spell components
Gold and silver jewelry — various prices
Gem appraisal service — 5 gp per item

Unique Items:

The Grief Stone — A deep violet amethyst carved into an abstract weeping face, clearly very old. When held quietly, the bearer may sense faint impressions — not images, but feelings — left by previous owners. Mirova is reluctant to part with it and will not say where she found it. — 200 gp
~~Sunscale Earrings~~ — Gold earrings set with scales of a desert basilisk. The wearer has advantage on saving throws against being Petrified. — 180 gp
The Counting Ring — A thin silver band with twelve tiny notches around the inside. The wearer always knows the exact number of coins in any pouch or container they hold. — 75 gp

🧵 The Loom of Ashara

Luxury Textiles & Tapestries Proprietor: The Ashara family, collectively — three generations work the floor simultaneously

Silk, velvet, linen from across the known world. The tapestries hung along the back wall are functional art — some have been in the family for a century.

Standard Stock:

Bolts of fine cloth — 10–100 gp per bolt
Finished tapestries — 50–500 gp
Custom commission — quoted by complexity

Unique Items:

~~The Dreamer's Tapestry~~ — A large tapestry depicting a sleeping figure surrounded by abstract landscapes. Any creature that takes a long rest in a room where it hangs reports unusually vivid, complete sleep — as though the space itself became briefly sacred. — 350 gp
Silk of Silence — A bolt of fabric woven with a peculiar tight pattern. Anything wrapped in this silk produces no sound — a sword wrapped in it won't clang; boots lined with it make no noise on any surface. One bolt makes roughly 4 pairs of boots or 6 sets of hand-wraps. — 90 gp per bolt

🪙 The Gilded Scale

Currency Exchange & Financial Services Proprietor: Odel Farouche, a meticulous half-elf in pressed white robes who speaks only in complete sentences

The most important merchant in the Bazaar for anyone doing large business. Odel exchanges currency, validates letters of credit, and brokers loans. He has a reputation for knowing more about Ka'limport's commerce than any single person should.

Services:

Currency exchange — 3% fee
Gems-to-coin conversion — 2% fee
Letters of credit to Waterdeep, Baldur's Gate, Amn — 5% fee
Secured vault storage — 1 gp/week per item

Unique Offering:

The Merchant's Bond — A formal contract drawn on special paper. Both parties sign; the document cannot be physically destroyed until the terms are fulfilled. Breaking the contract leaves the offending party with a magical mark — invisible to ordinary sight, but recognisable to anyone else who has signed a Bond. — 25 gp to draft