Zayle’s Jewelry & Gems

For the adventurer’s who are looking to sell hard to sale items, or lighten their purses Zayle is your man.

Right on the city square is a fine, two story building with a lavish marble façade, the name “Zayle’s Jewelry and Gems” is proudly carved above the door. Zayle offers several services, he is an expert appraiser, and scholar of several time periods. He appraises items for 10%, and will also answer questions as a sage for a fair price.

Zayle offers two ways to turn gems and precious stones into gold, he will either buy the piece for half of what it is worth (up to 1,000gp) or he can sell the piece for 25% commission. Zayle can usually sell a piece in about 2 weeks, he knows everybody who buys expensive wares and can move a product fairly quickly.

He is a very popular store for adventurers, he is open 4 days a week (Tuesday-Friday) from Noon until 5pm. He is closed on all holidays, major and minor, with the exception of the holidays based on romance and love, for those days he stays open from dawn until 5pm, and this is when he makes most of his money. Zayles does much of his buying and selling by appointments only, these appointments may or may not be during regular business hours.

STOCK IN TRADE

If the optional encumbrance rules are used, he can lighten the weight of treasure being carried by selling the adventurer jewelry and other objects which are much lighter. For 10% in profit, he can lighten a load of treasure carried by 75%.

Zayle always have many different pieces available for purchase, and he does produce much of his own jewelry as well as buying fine pieces, thus he will be happy to purchase any loose stones which an adventurer has found.

Zayle is not a fence, and if he believes that something was stolen, he will detain the seller and have the city guard summoned to arrest them. Zayle gets a large percentage of his profits for doing this too, thus he is always up to date on stolen merchandise and who is wanted.

DM: Use your discretion as to what a player tries to sell, when lightening a characters load, it will be impossible to determine exactly what form the gold is in, but it will be a combination of Jewelry set with precious and semi-precious stones.

Zayle also sells appropriate Equipment from the PHB that is of superior quality, thus these prices are doubled. He offer a few items which may interest adventurers.

CHESTS: He sells both Large (10gp) and Small (5gp) chests which reduce a thieves chance to open them by –50%.

LANTERNS: Which are hooded and of such fine quality that they burn half the oil then the standard lantern (14gp)

LAYOUT

The building is brick and wood, with a Marble front. Zayle and his family live in the upstairs rooms, while business is all handled on the first floor. He likes to hire gnomes who work whenever they wish and let themselves in by the side door. This is also the door which Zayle and his family uses to come and go.

A. Storefront: (30’ x 50’) This room contains shelves and display cases of Zayle’s wears, jewelry is mainly kept under the counters, Zayle prefers to talk to the buyer and get a feel for what they may be interested in buying, and what they can afford, before actually showing them anything. He spends all of his business hours behind the counter, not trusting anyone but himself to run the store.

A private door is set behind the counter, this door is average thickness and regular lock quality. The front door, however, is another matter. It is thick wood, reinforced with iron settings and a lock which is resistant to picking (-75%). Any attempt to bash this door down will draw the attention of the local guards.

B. Workhouse: (20’ x 35’) This small area features a small forge meant to melt down small amounts of precious metals, and turn them into jewelry and other items made of precious metal. Zayle likes to keep at least six gnomes on staff, and this area features all the tools that they need to refine and cut gems and stones, as well as finish objects of art.

The private entrance to this area is a high quality door, reinforced with iron and set with a lock which resists picking at –75%. All gnomes who work for him has a key, which he asks them to return before wandering out of the area, as do all members of Zayle’s family, who use this door for their private use as well.

The stairway doors are average doors, with average locks. The door to the living quarters is rarely kept locked, however the door leading down into the basement is always kept locked except during business hours. The side-door key fits both of these locks.

C. Living Area: (30’ x 30’) Meals are always eaten outside of the home, Zayle has a wonderful knack of getting invited to dinner, but he also handles much of his off-hours selling during dinner with collectors. If adventurers need an expensive and impossible to find item from him, he will typically set up a dinner at an expensive fine restaurant which will charge 10gp per person, he will expect the buyer to pay. This living area is designed for comfort. A nice hearth fireplace warms the entire upstairs nicely, furniture is all of highest quality, and he has an extensive book collection with most titles aimed towards the subject of history. This space is compact but extremely comfortable.

D. Master Bedroom: (20’ x 30’) Again, comfort is the key word here. A large canopy bed dominates the room, the other piece of notable furniture is a vanity which he and his wife share, however he spends more time primping himself then she does.

E. Master Wardrobe: (20’ x 20’) Both Zayle and his wife have a deep love for fine clothing. This room is kept completely researved for the master’s clothing, each day 4 attendants arrive to help everyone get dressed, starting, of course, with Zayle himself. There job is also to bring some breakfast for the family to eat, they typically stay until 10am, then leave until 9ish when their services are required to prepare the family for bed. On occasion, Zayle has a servant on hand during the day for odds and ends, but help is always coming into the house. They are all paid a fair wage and enjoy their jobs as much as can be expected.

F. Children’s Nursery: (20’ x 15’) A play area set aside for the families 3 children. It is stocked with toys and is also where they do they practice their studies. The three youngest children also sleep in this room. A nanny comes in whenever Zayle’s wife wishes to “get out and be sociable” which is often. Often the children can be found playing out behind the store, there names are Diamond (Female age 3), Opal (Male, age 5), and Bree (Female, age 8)

G. Jerred’s Room: (20’ x 15’) This is the room of Zayle’s oldest boy, Jerred. Jerred has many responsibilities around the home in regards to merchant work. It is Jerred who drives the wagon whenever moving stock is required, as well as maintaining a good relationship with the nearest gnomish village. His room is simple, and quiet. He is not like his father, he is much quieter and is uncomfortable dressed in clothes fit for the higher class. Jerred is only 16 years old, he is the product of Zayle’s sister who died years ago, but Zayle does love and depend on him, he tries to encourage him to dress and act more civilized and be worthy of his class, but he isn’t ever abusive about it.

H1. Treasure Room/Office: (40’ x 20’) This room is cramped, two large columns support the weight of the building, shelves lined with boxes of jewelry are neatly organized by value and size. Materials set to be melted down and unfinished gems fill boxes under the shelves, and a few chests as well as stock items which won’t fit upstairs are kept between the pillars. A desk is set up near the stairs, and a detailed list of buyers and sellers, as well as accounting sheets are all organized in large books kept on a shelf. Zayle keeps very extensive notes about all business transactions, as well as to what stock he moves which dates all the way back to when he first opened the shop.

The southern most column is hollowed out, and hides a secret spiral staircase. Gnomes are commonly in this room, they are aware of Zayle’s strict system, and put finished products away in their proper places, they also always have access to materials which they require to manufacture new jewelry and items.

H2. Secret Room: (20’ x 20’) Zayle is a very wealthy man, but he spends much of it. He dedicates much of his wealth back into his business, thus this room contains chest upon chest of gold and silver which he uses to purchase new products. Only he knows of this place (as far as he knows), and he is very sneaky about going down here unobserved. Only he knows what kinds of treasures that he has down here. If he discovers a magical item, like anybody he will horde it. Zayle will tell sellers that he’ll need a couple of days to gather the money if it is a large amount, this is were he will go but he is always careful not to be observed by the gnomes, and knows better then to ask for privacy (a sure way of enlightening a gnome’s curiosity).

PERSONALITIES

Zayle the Jeweler: AC 10; HD 0; hp 3/
#AT 1; dmg 1d3 (knife); THAC0 20; AL LN; ML 7

Zayle is a short, arrogant, but level-headed man of 35 years. He wears a small, neatly trimmed mustache and he keeps his thinning black hair cut short and greased back. He is a very smart dresser, preferring darks and whites together to form a contrast which he likes. Zayle is never dirty, and requires spectacles when he reads, which is often. He is a tad over weight, but wears a corset to hide it. Zayle is highly intelligent, and has a good memory for faces and dates. He is fascinated by history and is excepted as a sage specialized in human history, and human art. He is an accomplished, and very methodical appraiser, and while he has no fighting skills, most adventurers protect him because he is a great assest to them. He is friends with all noble houses in the area, and knows everyone of any high social standing.

Jerred the Merchant: AC 8; HD 0; hp 7/
#AT 1; dmg 1d6 (short sword); THAC0 20; AL LG; ML 7

Jerred is an opinionated, and rather uncultured young man. He wears leather armor and is skilled at guiding a team of horses with a wagon. He is personable with the gnomes which he deals with more then he does with people. Jerred hates all social classes, as he sees more of the ravages of the poor then his father does. What money he makes, he usually ends up giving most of it to beggars. He doesn’t argue with his uncle, and loves him a great deal, but just can’t find stock in dressing extravagantly while people in the same city starve to death. His high moral code tends to get Jerred into trouble, but his eccentric behavior is excepted by the local lords because of his uncle. Typically Jerred is out on the road, a position he does love!

DM: Gnomes who wish to work for Zayle can either earn 2gp per week or 10gp per month. Alternatively Zayle offers to send 20gp worth of supplies to the Gnomish Village for a months worth of service, this is how most gnomes wish to be paid but PC gnomes will probably be different.

SCENARIO SUGGESTIONS

Scenario 1: A very expensive shipment must be delivered to a neighboring city and Zayle wishes to hire adventurers to escort Jerred there.

Scenario 2: Zayle has purchased a crystal ball he believes to be magical, thus he hides it in his hidden treasure room. In reality, this crystal ball is haunted, and the spirit is leaving it at night as wrecking havoc in the shop, scaring off gnomes, and terrifying Zayle and his family. He hires adventurers to investigate and find the source of this haunting, but will not tell them about the hidden chamber where the crystal ball is.

Scenario 3:A local lady claims that Zayle is the master of a thieves guild, and has stolen an important pendant from her family, and that is all they had. The lady hires the adventurers to break in and steal the pendant back. Of course, she is a local member of a Thieves Guild looking to rob Zayle’s without putting her own neck on the line. Perhaps this Pendant is a magical item, or it could just be worth a fortune.

Zayle’s Jewelry and Gems Shop was designed to be fill a hole in the design of the game and how money is handled. You can either have Zayle like the party or hate it, that is up to you . . . or them if you really think about it. However Zayle does offer a service that all adventurers can use, and may become just as important, if not more so, then equipment shops.