X. THE SHADOW MARKET

Doesn't appear on any official map. You find it by following someone who looks like they know where they're going. Torches here are hooded. Prices are negotiated in whispers.

Proceed with Caution The Shadow Market operates outside Ka'limport's official commerce. Merchants here ask no questions about buyers. The city guard does not patrol it — officially because it doesn't exist. What is sold here is not always legal to own. What is bought here is not always wise to use.

🗡️ The Black Measure

Poisons & Illicit Substances Proprietor: Unknown — customers are served by a heavily cloaked figure who may be a different person each visit

Wares:

Sand Widow Venom — Harvested from a rare desert spider. An injury poison of considerable potency. Extremely illegal to possess within city limits. — 200 gp per vial
Dimmer — An odorless powder dissolved in liquid. The target remains conscious but becomes highly suggestible for several hours, retaining no memory of the period afterward. — 80 gp
The Long Sleep — A contact poison that induces deep, uninterruptible sleep for 8 hours. Non-lethal. Selling it is officially punishable by death in Ka'limport. — 150 gp

🔑 The Unlabeled Door

Stolen Goods, Forgeries & Intelligence Proprietor: Essa, a halfling information broker who charges based on what the information is worth to you, not what it cost her to find

Essa sells fenced goods, forged documents, and information. She is not cheap. She is also rarely wrong.

Services:

Forged documents (letters of passage, guild charters, noble seals) — 50–500 gp depending on complexity
Information on a specific person or organisation in Ka'limport — 50–200 gp
Fenced goods — she sells on consignment and takes 20%

Notable Goods:

~~A water-damaged ledger~~ — appears to record commercial transactions in Ka'limport over the last several months. Some pages are missing. Some names have been crossed out with unusual care. Essa claims she doesn't know what it is and has had it for two weeks. She wants 300 gp. — She does not negotiate on this one.

🎲 The Brass Serpent

Gambling Den & Underground Auction House Proprietor: Gavrel, a half-orc who runs games and twice-monthly auctions with quiet professionalism

Games of chance, games of skill, and private auctions for items that cannot be sold above ground. The auctions draw wealthy merchants, criminal figures, and occasionally people who have no business being here.

Current Auction Items:

~~A locked iron chest with no visible keyhole~~ — the bidding has reached 150 gp and is continuing, on principle
A painting of the Ka'limport harbour from an impossible angle — as if viewed from underwater, looking up, ships' hulls rendered in extraordinary detail — 200 gp opening bid
A ring that whispers the name of whoever is lying in your presence — the previous owner sold it because they "couldn't stop hearing it" — 500 gp opening bid

Tags: #location #ka-limport #calimshan #market #shops #items