The Market at Gobilei (Goblin Market Part I)

Hundreds of tightly crowded tents, stitched from countless patches of dyed cloth and leather, pile atop one another in stacked mounds covering a once rocky vale.

Offers of goods, services and oddities strike your ears to the tune of bizarre instruments and voices. The smoke filled air is filled with perfumes, spiced fruits and exotic meats.

Venture further, step down into the tents my friend. Welcome to the market, where every dream has a buyer, every color a connoisseur and even memory a price.

Background

Who’s to say why the faerie will set up market, they aren’t frequently in moods to tell. Unless, perhaps, you’d be interested in selling a lock of hair? The color of your eyes, maybe? The memory of your first kiss?

Regardless of why, nearly a hundred years ago a faerie called the Constable worked great magic on the Gobilei Vale. Using ancient rituals he summoned a white Obelisk from within the earth and struck his tent about it.

Soon enough it was discovered that in the vale, strange bargains were made real. The magic of the Obelisk made it a perfect home for faeries, pixies, goblins, hobs, redcaps and every sort of creature that ever hungered for dreams. These days the Market fills the vale to bursting.  Every tent or wagon is open and every dream imaginable put up for sale.

The Market Laws

The Market Laws were created by the Constable as a means of preserving order. The laws, coupled with the Constable’s sons who enforce them, effectively serves as the local government for the market’s tennents. No one seems to mind though, as most of them are too busy buying and selling the dreams of others.

The Market Laws are:

1. There are no gifts in the market. All things are exchange. Any gift will be reclaimed by the market and its giver punished.
2. Theft is returned with a year and a day of indentured servitude, or a cost negotiated by the victim and the Constable.
3. Damage of property is the same as theft, unless the wares are paid for.
4. What you enter with is your property, what you purchase in the market is your property. Nothing else. You may only trade with your property.
5. The carrying of, or possession of Cold Iron within the Market is illegal.

Magic in the Market

Magic is stuffed in every corner, every hay-bale, every cup, box or scabbard in the Market. The land itself is infused with it, allowing unearthly bargains to be struck so long as the Obelisk remains standing.

There are two kinds of magic common in the market; Glamer (An arcane background detailed in Goblin Market Part II) and the magic of Bargain.

Bargain

Bargain is an effect of the Obelisk that affects everyone and everything within a distance of one mile. It allows parties  to trade what would otherwise be impossible. The Obelisk’s limited range effectively limits the size of the market.

Bargains are subject to the following restrictions.

• Time, memories, trait dice, Hindrances, Edges and physical parts of your character may be traded by one or both parties involved in a Bargain. Each is attached to a token of some kind, usually something inconspicuous such as a small button or coin.
• No parties involved in a Bargain may have animal intelligence
• Both parties in a Bargain must be understand the conditions of the bargain, but not necessarily the connotations.
• Both parties must agree to the Bargain of their own free will, without coercion by Magic. Attempts to charm, coerce, intimidate, or frighten any particpant involved in a trade through the use of Magic simply fail…

Making Bargains

Making a Bargain in the Market is relatively simple, both parties turn to face the obelisk and grasp hands. They then perform a formal, verbal exchange of property that ritually follows this general script:

“I offer…”

“I offer…”

“The deal is good, the bargain’s done. Beneath the obelisk,  moon and sun.”

The Going Price

Though each Bargain is made on an individual basis, the Market has a going price on even the most unorthodox of currency.

*It’s worth noting that these are the prices for someone trading in. The price for characters purchasing such may be drastically different, or not available at all. Especially for trait die.

Finding Things in the Market

Finding any venue two days running, or any person, more than once requires working familiarity with the market (a Knowledge roll) or time spent gossiping and following leads (a Streetwise roll).

Finding specific items in the market is difficult, and takes time. As a rule of thumb, it takes approximately ten minutes for every $100 in the price and extra hour for every $1000 unless characters have prior knowledge of a person or vendor who has access to the item. In that case the search takes as long as necessary to find the vendor.

Once out of sight, a person is exceedingly hard to find and may receives a +2 on Stealth rolls.

Using the Market

The Market can be a staging ground, a setting or simply a market. It can act as a home-base or a means to an end. It is all those things to different people. But more than anything, it is changeable.

Here are a few ideas for using the Market at Gobilei for your adventures:

* The characters are contracted by the Constable to pursue a burgeoning “thieves-guild” within the Market. They are authorized to bring Cold Iron.

* While walking through the market, a trader slips one of his wares into a Character’s pocket and cries “Thief!” The character now has a day to prove his innocence before the Constable declares him guilty, and sentences him to a year and a day of indentured servitude.

* The character’s are hired to track a specific item, and they’ve tracked it to the market. They now learn it is being hosted at a special auction in a week’s time. When speaking to its current owner they learn he will sell the item to them but only for a favor. A theft in the Market.

In Part II: The Constable and Glamerie

Edited by Cassey Toi