AOP:Milling About Smartly

## 7 Bells is in about three hours...

PCs have just enough time to get themselves into trouble, or come to their senses and back out.

**Westgate** has about 55,000 residents on average, but there's an 18-hour surge where the population climbs by almost a fifth to about 65,000 with all the travelers, merchants and so on. Late afternoon is solidly in the middle of that surge, making the city a dense environment.

* Just as the first meeting concludes, the party hears a massive gonging bell from someplace fairly close in the city. There are four rings and the party now has a pretty good sense of what "the bells" are.
* Team One and Team Two have already left the city.
* Team Three is out there, and there's a DC 10 (perception) chance the party would recognize them if they saw them (they were the team being interviewed when the party first came in).
* The city, however, is packed. There's a very low chance (DC 20, Perception) they'll actually see them in the next three hours.
* At peak traffic, 8am to 6pm, it takes an hour to walk end-to-end in the city. In the middle of the night, it takes about 25 minutes to walk the same distance, not accounting for attempted muggings or murders.

It's likely that the party will wander this commercialized war zone and gear up for their pending four-city expedition. One thing is certain: *anything stock in the PHB is available in the city for a competitive discount*. A second thing is almost certain: *90% of the uncommon items are available at list price over-the-counter*. This city has the best connections and selection outside of Baldur's Gate.

The Primal Magic Campaign has a suggested availability and pricing list **here**. These are the default specialized shops of Westgate's Forgotten Realms lore, or feel free to invent your own.

## Trust Me

There's an infobox very similar to this one on the Westgate retail page explaining the "trusted" concept: while there's a massive over-the-counter selection of magic in Westgate, the potent, military-grade materiel requires purchasers to be licensed (400 gp) – essentially a background check to verify they haven't taken action against the city. The city guard has been known to arrest wanted individuals on their return...

The two-week background check precludes licensed purchase by PC's before embarking on their Stonehearth mission. A determined player, with a background that you've allowed to have more than the usual starting gold, may elect to shop the black market, mostly commonly accessed at "The Blind Eye" tavern.

Black market prices for TRUST-rated magical items runs 20% and up over list price. The rarer or more dangerous an item is, the higher "the commission" for the purchase. Likewise, many non-trust items are available, with pricing that runs under list (but are usually stolen goods). Nearly anything the players can imagine can be purchased here, though we'll leave DM/GMs to fill in the blanks on less savory items.

Note that while there is a great deal available over-the-counter, the banner magic and weapons shops utilize the "trusted" concept. A good way of thinking about it: *a mostly wooden city is not going to let anyone buy a wand of fireballs*.

* **Aurora's Emporium:** semi-famous franchise of curio shoppes
* **Gondeth's Mageries:** magic shop
* **House of Silks:** fine textiles shop
* **Chalaratha's Fragrances:** perfume shop and factory
* **Dawn's Dress Shop:** far more than "Clothes, Travelers," this sports styles from Faerûn
* **Imryth Tower:** potion shop and alleged Harper safehouse
* **Myrkeer House:** merchant house of Shalush Myrkeer

Don't forget: some of the local temples have their own merch as well, such as healing potions and so on, though... *this is just a courier run, right? What's the worst that could happen?*

### Sampling the Local Culture

Feel free to throw grit in the PC's eyes, offend their sensibilities and otherwise tailor the experience as appropriate to the sensitivities and expectations of the players. While this mini-campaign defaults to a T (Teen) rating, the enterprising (and honest) DM/GM can swing M (Mature) in the some of the postcard-worthy places in the shadows and back alleys.

In this campaign, there are at least 3 different locations that would be rated-M on entry, much less looking at the menu. A "festhall" is D&D-speak for a brothel, and there are at least three in this city, in canon Forgotten Realms lore no less. In this case, we're throwing in the Blind Eye tavern as a kind of hashish/hookah den where other "activities" in the back booths are more incidental.

* **Black Eye Tavern:** a festhall with bad food and good company.
* **Blind Eye Tavern:** hookah den with shady connections and a strong menu.
* **Lilda's:** a festhall in the Shore Ward. Clientele leans toward sailors.
* **Purple Lady Festhall:** the interior was shrouded by purple banners and the staff wore see-through purple robes. Exotic dancing is a specialty, though it's not so much imported eastern flavors as it is flaunting more prurient purple themes and motifs of Cormyr. For better or worse, the ladies themselves aren't actually purple.

Seems a little crazy to visit one of these places during the three-hour window, but facing an uncertain future can bring out all kinds of behaviors (especially if one isn't sure they'll live long to have this chance again).

### The A-HA moments

In the process of carousing (or just surviving) the city, the PC will likely make a few observations. As the conversation wanders close to the topics below, throw these in and help it along with some official skill/knowledge checks...

**Point:** *the party wanders the short way back to the Westgate Bulletin board*.
 Find visual here:

**Point: *actually examining the artwork of the crate on the poster.***
 Notes

**Point:** *what's the difference between House Stonehearth and Stonehearth Mercantile?*

**Point:** *observation made the teams are being threading the needle between Cormyr and Sembia*.

### Scuttlebutt

This is a port town, so there may be more scuttlebutt than dry rumor. Either way, if the characters make the time to do a little carousing during their Westgate Three-Hour-Tour, they'll no doubt be listening for the latest gossip, rumors and leads.

For some more A-HA moments, check the official **Westgate Rumor Mill** page. As noted on that page, even if the PCs don't frequent the pubs and taverns, there's plenty of industry talk – in whatever industry the shop happens to be. If the PCs wander into a magic shop, temple, or an arms dealer, and stop to listen for a bit, there's a chance they can hear some of the appropriate-area rumors listed on the Rumor Mill page...

## Where To From Here?

* I need to glance at the overview.
* I need to glance at the first interface with Ollie.
* The Meeting at Seven...