Portobello Row

Portobello Row is a monthly open air black market that permits thieves to sell their purloined goods, allows victims (if invited) to attempt to buy back their stolen keepsakes, and lets strange merchants of all stripes to sell merchandise that might otherwise be hard to acquire and cannot be sold in regular stores.

Portobello Row attracts a wide clientele. It includes criminals, of course, especially thieves looking to sell stolen items and fences looking to make a profit off their inventories of purloined goods.    Servants to noble households can often be found here, having been invited to search for and buy back their lord or lady's pilfered heirlooms.  Some will also come to purchase information: secrets and whispers that might enhance one noble's reputation or damage a rivals are commonly for sale for the right price.   Collectors of rare or unusual artifacts frequently come to the Row to seek out pieces that will complete their collection of the rare and unobtainable.  Sometimes these are also noblemen or ladies, but are more often the wealthy and idle folk without lands and titles.   Finally, adventurers of all stripes seek the Row, both to sell treasures found in looted tombs and ruined keeps (especially things rejected by Baron Bardock's Auction House), but also to buy objects unable to be found anywhere else: long-forgotten maps, magical weapons or armor, scrolls pulsing with magical energies, or magical tools that will help them in their future quests.   Rumors abound that Baron Bardock sends people to every session of Portobello Row to see what is on offer and purchase the best the Row has to offer, especially if he can then turn a profit auctioning the item off later.  Most believe this rumor to be true, if only because of the Baron's reputation for cunning and business sense.  Less believeable are the rumors that the Dreaded Nighthawk routinely skulks through the Row in disguise, watching the criminals to select his next prey.  Considered completely false is the rumor that the Lord Constable Embro Bass patronizes the Row and permits it to thrive.

Adventurers that are lucky enough to be invited to enter the Row have a better-than-average chance of finding the uncommon or rare item they are seeking.  Adventurers can roll search Tests with Advantage to find an item they are looking for; the test is Easy if the item being sought was stolen in the last 30 days.  Only one roll is permitted per item being sought, and no more than 5 items can be looked for by any individual for each session of the Row they attend.  A failure means the item is either not there or not for sale.   However, the Row is not without its risks.  There is a 1/3 chance (1-2 on 1d6) that any item found by an Adventurer is a forgery rather than the real thing.    Some things that can always be found for sale on the Row is cheap (stolen) clothing, thieves tools (lockpicks and the like), secrets and rumors, and people for hire, especially sellswords and criminals.

Portobello Row is always located in the Ratyard District of Avencourt. It generally covers about three city blocks, filling the streets with densely-packed tent stalls. Narrow walking paths wind between the stalls. The stalls are not organized in any way, such as by type of goods sold. Indeed, most stalls do not even display a sign indicating what wares they sell. Those few that do ususally fly a banner with a personal symbol that identifies the seller rather than the goods they sell.   The walking paths covered by a patchwork of awnings to shield the prospective buyers from inclement weather, like rain or snow.  Their secondary purpose is to make the Row deliberately confusing, so mapping it or describing it is a next to impossible task.   At each end of the Row are cauldrons filled with bubbling liquid that give off a heavy fume.

Entry to The Row is by invitation only. Those invited are discretely sent a note inviting them to the next session of the Row and a small spotted mushroom. On the appropriate day, invitees will meet with apprentice members of the Court of Shadows at predetermined locations, who will then direct them to consume the mushroom and will guide them to the entrance to the market. The mushroom counteracts the effect of bubbling cauldrons that emit fumes that create both confusion and an illusory image to anyone not invited onto the Row. These cauldrons are positioned at every entrance to the Row, along with members of the Court of Clubs who work security to keep the uninvited out and ensure that the Row is generally peaceful.