B14 Nib’s Importers

A Treasure Trove in Verbobonc

Nib’s Importers looms over the eastern side of the Market Square: a colossal, warehouse-like block that feels less like a shop and more like a slice of the Central Flanaess tipped out onto shelves.

Inside, the building holds:

• A bazaar-like ground floor of rugs, robes, tents, trinkets, and curios from across the Flanaess.
• Upper levels stacked with boxes, barrels, and hanging wares—tapestries from Sunndi, furs from the barbarian north, delicate jewelry from distant cities.
• A guarded half-floor gallery where Nib keeps gems, rare jewelry, and minor magic under ward and watch.

For most citizens, this is the place to find almost anything; for adventurers, it is both outfitter and treasure-house.

Exterior & First Impressions

As described in the original article, Nib’s Importers is a 4½-story behemoth of stone and timber that dominates its corner of the Business Quarter:

• High, gabled rooflines and a ragged patchwork of windows.
• Narrow slits between Nib’s and neighboring buildings, hinting at how tightly packed the quarter has grown around this older structure.
• A wide set of double doors opening directly toward the Market Square, through which a constant stream of customers flows.

Approaching Nib’s

Inside the Shop

Stepping inside Nib's Importers, you're immediately enveloped in a maze of goods:

• Floor Displays: From hanging rugs of the Central Flanaess to fine hand-crafted robes from Furyondy, every step takes you deeper into the bazaar-like atmosphere.
• Hanging Decorations: Primitive golden statues from Sunndi dangle alongside warm furs from the Snow Barbarian realms.
• Boxes and Shelves: Piled high with merchandise, they offer elaborate tents from Celene, carved necklaces, and more, making the search for a specific item an adventure in itself.
• Upper Half Floor: Home to the most valuable items—gems, jewels, and magic—guarded by magic wards and vigilant security.

Notable People

Nib Nighthand

Political & Trade Relationships

Nib’s background anchors him firmly in the gnomish political web, even though he is not a gnome himself:

• He is on friendly, first-name terms with Lord Hilewy and the staff at Hilewy’s Gnome Palace, having grown up running errands there; the palace’s visiting dignitaries often send their stewards “down to Nib” for familiar comforts from home.
• He is a quiet but reliable ally of “Prince” Jimm Pithriggen, acting as one of the Free Alliance’s preferred importers for Kron Hills goods into Verbobonc—especially when Jimm needs a human-facing storefront that can still be trusted by gnome clans.

From the Free Alliance of the Kron Hills article, we know:

• Gnome merchants worry about cheating in trade deals and unfair prices in Verbobonc.
• Caravans from the Greenway Valley and Kron Hills risk bandit ambushes and mine-ownership disputes cloud relations with the Viscounty.

Nib’s unique role:

• He openly advertises fair dealing to gnomes and halflings, giving them market-rate coin and acting as a trusted broker when they must sell to human buyers who might otherwise lowball them.
• In return, human traders see him as a convenient one-stop contact for Kron Hills goods; they can buy from Nib rather than negotiate separately with half a dozen gnome clans.
• When tensions flare between the Free Alliance and Verbobonc over mines or tariffs, Nib often becomes the unofficial back-channel, passing messages between Jimm’s manor, Hilewy’s Palace, and various human merchant houses around the square.

He is not a formal agent of the Alliance, but among Greenway caravans, the saying goes: “If you must sell in Verbobonc, sell first to Nib.”

Goods & Pricing (for Play)

From the original Nib’s Importers article:

• Mundane items: Almost anything from the Player’s Handbook can be found here, sold at standard cost.
• Exotic / masterwork / alchemical goods: About a 50% chance to find unusual imported wares; these are sold at above-average prices (reflecting rarity and transport).
• Gems & jewelry: Roughly 30% chance to locate desired stones or pieces.
• Magic items: A curated selection of minor rings, wondrous items, and wands, typically priced at 110% of normal—customers pay a premium for assurance that what Nib sells is genuine and honestly appraised.

This makes Nib’s Importers an ideal one-stop outfitter when your players return to Verbobonc laden with coin and looking to equip for the next push against the Temple.

Adventure Hooks

• Alliance Ledger: Prince Jimm quietly asks the PCs to escort a caravan from Tulvar whose manifest includes a sensitive shipment bound “only for Nib’s hands.” Bandit attacks on Kron Hills caravans are increasing, and Jimm suspects more than simple robbers are at work.
• Cheated No More: A gnome clan from Greenway Valley arrives furious, claiming a human merchant house has been skimming weights and falsifying contracts. Nib, who guaranteed the deal, asks the party to investigate; if he’s wrong, his hard-earned neutrality may shatter.
• Smuggled Curios: Among the crates off-loaded at Nib’s night-dock is a sealed chest bearing markings tied to the Temple of Elemental Evil or strange Suel ruins. Nib wants it gone—but also wants to know who slipped such a thing into his care. He offers a generous finder’s fee to the PCs if they trace it back.
• Summoned to the Palace: Lord Hilewy invites the party to a reception at the Gnome Palace. Over dinner, it becomes clear that Nib has vouched for them as “reliable tall-folk,” and the gnome leaders want to sound them out about escorting Free Alliance emissaries—or sabotaging a particularly predatory human trade syndicate.

Use B14 Nib’s Importers as the trade-nerve and cultural crossroads of your Business Quarter: where the party buys gear, hears rumors from every road of the Flanaess, and feels the tug-of-war between Verbobonc’s human lords and the stubborn, gem-rich gnomes of the Kron Hills.

Meeting Nib

The noise of the market wraps around you as you step beneath the painted sign. Inside, the air changes: spice and dust and pipe-smoke, the murmur of haggling voices, the creak of ropes and rafters heavy with rugs and lanterns. Crates and bales rise in uneven stacks, banners from half the Flanaess droop from the beams, and everywhere you look some curious trinket glints in the lantern-light.

A small figure stands upon a stout crate near the entrance, pipe stem clenched in his teeth, dark eyes sharp beneath a thatch of curls. He takes you in from travel-stained boots to scarred harness in a heartbeat, then his face breaks into a wide, knowing grin as he hops down nimble as a cat.

Nib Nighthand – read aloud