B1 - B30 Business Quarter

Bustling Marketplace

The Business Quarter is Verbobonc’s beating mercantile heart: broad cobblestone streets lined with two- and three-storey shops, busy guildhouses, and temple façades watching over the flow of coin. On any given day, wagons from the Kron Hills mines, barges from upriver and downriver ports, and caravans out of Celene, Dyvers, and the Wild Coast all empty their wares here. B1 - B30 Business Quarter

The district sits between the High Quarter, the Civic Centre, and the waterfront, stitched together by Bridgewalk Road, Temple Street, and the approaches to the market squares. This is where adventurers come to sell loot, outfit expeditions, hire help, find contracts, and stumble into the city’s overlapping webs of faith, politics, and crime.

Entering the Business Quarter

Trade & Commerce at the Table

Verbobonc is one of the major trade hubs of the Central Flanaess; its maximum trade limit reaches roughly 40,000 gp, reflecting the wealth that passes through its markets and specialized houses.

Use these simple guidelines when the party buys or sells in the Quarter:

Buying

• Standard PHB gear: Readily available at list price in the Trader’s Market, outfitters, and craft row.
• Mundane rare items, alchemical goods, masterwork tools, low-level potions/scrolls: Usually available but may take 1d4 days to locate or have made.
• Specialty gear:
• Jala’s Armoury & Weaponsmithy, Big Weapons forge, etc. handle superior arms and armor.
• Scribes and Paper, Betham’s Books, and temples handle scrolls, books, and similar items.

Selling – General Market

• Non-magical items: Normally sell at 50% of list price; clever haggling or the right contacts can improve this slightly.
• Bulk sales: Larger lots take more in-game time, but the Business Quarter can absorb significant quantities thanks to its wide network of merchants and caravans.

Selling – Specialized Stores

For high-value or exotic items, use the specialist houses rather than the open market:

• Macor’s Merchant House, Nib’s Importers, Vulin’s Gemstones & Jewelry, Expedition Outfitter’s, and similar shops buy within their niche.
• Magic items: As a baseline, treat specialized merchants as offering 50% in coin, 75% in store credit for items they truly want, representing taxes, guild cuts, and “protection expenses.”

Market Procedure for DMs (Quick Rules Reference)

1. Finding a Buyer / Seller
2. Common goods: automatic within an hour.
3. Specialized / rare goods: 1d4 hours of searching or one focused encounter.
4. Price
5. Start at 50% (selling) or list price (buying).
6. Modify ±10–20% for strong/weak bargaining checks, reputation, or temple blessing.
7. Big Ticket Items
8. Direct PCs to named locations (Vulin’s Gems, Jala’s Armoury, Expedition Outfitter’s, etc.) for major pieces; use store-credit vs. cash trade rules.

Security & Law – The Vigil Wardens

The Vigil Wardens of Verbobonc maintain a moderate to high presence in the Business Quarter, responding to trouble in roughly 2–5 minutes of in-world time.

Blue-cloaked Cobwalkers and Peacekeepers patrol the bazaars, resolving brawls, chasing cutpurses, and enforcing tariffs and charter laws. They are backed by the Church of St. Cuthbert but operate under the Lord Mayor’s authority, embodying the motto:

“Ever watchful, justly bound, for honor and order we stand our ground.”

Security, Temples & Oversight

Open trade in Verbobonc is propped up by a lattice of law and faith.

• The Vigil Wardens of Verbobonc patrol streets, markets, and docks, backed by informants and occasional discreet magic. They favor community engagement and warnings over harsh punishment for minor offenses, but crack down hard on organized violence or fraud. B1 - B30 Business Quarter
• Priests and acolytes from temples of Zilchus, Mouqol, Xerbo and other deities of trade and the sea offer paid services:
• Identify and appraise items
• Detect curses and malign auras
• Oversee fair negotiations (sense deception, confirm contracts) B1 - B30 Business Quarter

Typical rates (adjust as needed for your table):

• 10 gp/day retainer for priestly oversight, plus 10% commission on items bought or sold under their supervision. B1 - B30 Business Quarter

Behind this respectable façade lurks the Battirovka Family thieves’ guild, operating from the hidden sub-basement under B32 Manor House. They quietly regulate serious crime, prefer predictable prosperity over chaos, and can become uneasy allies or dangerous rivals once the PCs begin tugging on Temple-of-Elemental-Evil threads.

Temples of Trade & Oversight

Priests of Mouqol, Xerbo, and especially Zilchus work hand-in-glove with the markets, providing services that make high-value trade possible and safe.

For a flat 10 gp per day plus 10% commission on each item traded, they can:

• Properly identify magic items and pierce deceptive auras.
• Detect curses or malign enchantments.
• Sense evil or unlawful intent attached to goods.
• Oversee “fair dealing”, using divination and insight to sniff out lies at the bargaining table.

Clerics of Zilchus, the Great Guildmaster, see this work as sacrament: every honest contract and every profitable venture is an offering to their god of power, prestige, money, business, and influence.

Mood of the Quarter

• Day: Loud, packed, bright with banners and temple pennants; porters everywhere, Vigil Wardens threading through the crowd.
• Night: Shutters close on most stalls, but taverns, counting-houses, and discreet back-room deals continue under lantern-light; fewer Wardens, more private guards.

Security and Religious Oversight

The Business Quarter not only thrives on trade but also on the watchful eyes of the city guards and the religious community. Priests from temples dedicated to deities such as Mouqol, Xerbo, and Zilchus provide essential services like item identification, detecting cursed or evil items, and ensuring fair negotiations. Their involvement adds a layer of trust and security to the bustling trade activities, with a service fee of 10gp/day and a 10% commission on transactions.

The security and religious oversight within the Business Quarter not only ensure the physical safety of the marketplace but also protect and regulate the spiritual and ethical aspects of trade:

• Priestly Services: Priests from the temples of Mouqol, Xerbo, and Zilchus provide crucial services to maintain the integrity of transactions. Their abilities to identify, detect cursed or evil items, and ensure fair negotiations play a significant role in sustaining a trustworthy trading environment.
• Costs and Commissions: The priests' services come at a flat rate, with a commission on each item transacted. This economic model supports the religious institutions financially while offering valuable services to the traders and customers of the Business Quarter.

Using the Business Quarter in a Temple of Elemental Evil Campaign

For a DM running TOEE as an epic sandbox, the Business Quarter is more than a shopping mall:

• Logistics Hub:
• Track how Temple agents move coin, slaves, relics, and weapons: through Nulb, the docks, Adventure’s Guild postings, shady warehouses, and fronts like certain merchant houses.
• Let players choose targets—caravans, ferries, storage yards—to strangle the Temple’s reach.
• Political Stage:
• Tie in Prince Jimm, Publius Naso, Lakash Quallad (from the High Quarter), and guild leaders as competing voices over gnome trade, bandit crackdowns, and “security measures.”
• Use temples (Pelor, Heironeous, St. Cuthbert, Zodal, Zilchus, Rudd) as factions offering wildly different philosophies on how to confront the rising evil.
• Information Web:
• Betham’s Books deciphers prophecies;
• Jerkin’s House of Pleasure overhears indiscretions;
• the Adventurers Guild’s Message Pole tracks mercenary jobs;
• the Battirovka Family, from under the Forgotten Manor, quietly knows who’s paying whom and why.
• Downtime & Identity:
• Let PCs build reputations here: credit accounts at Nib’s or Vulin’s, guild membership, a favorite tavern booth at the Bridgewalk or Packard’s, a temple they tithe to.
• As their fame rises, upgrade how NPCs react—discounts, invitations, or hushed fear, depending on their methods.

Run the Business Quarter as a living machine: every time the party returns from Nulb or the Temple, something here has shifted—prices, alliances, rumor currents. When they finally stare down the Second Rising of Elemental Evil, they should feel the weight of this district behind them, for good or ill.