Maldin and Elenderi's
by Denis Tetreault
Version 1.2
Situated in the Artisan's Quarter of the City of Greyhawk, east of the
bustling Low Market, this ominous, windowless, two-story building has
no sign proclaiming its name or wares, yet the locals all know what it
is nonetheless. Built of blackest basalt blocks, merely walking past
this "shop of the arcane" engenders an uneasy feeling in most citizens.
The mysterious owners are believed by most to be very powerful mages
(both N hm Wiz, levels unknown).
They are seldom seen in public, and seem to have no interest in
meddling with city affairs.
The shop serves as an alternative source for spell components and minor
elixirs for individuals who cannot or prefer not to deal with the Guild
of Wizardry. Maldin's also offers specially treated scroll
parchment, blank spellbooks, and other day-to-day supplies for wizards,
sorcerers, alchemists, and other scholars of the arcane. These more
mundane items account for most of the store¹s business, however
items of a more interesting nature periodically become available.
Rumors do circulate in certain circles that for the right price, Maldin
and Elenderi can fill special orders.
There is a price to be paid for not spending your money at the Guild,
however. By agreement with the Guild of Wizardry, all materials are 20%
higher than Guild prices. The shop also will purchase arcane materials
which in turn are sometimes re-sold to the public, much to the ire of
the Guild. For sufficient "research fees," the shop can be a source of
hard-to-find information. Business has never been particularly brisk,
but the owners don't seem to care. Whatever their purpose in keeping
the shop open, it is merely one of the countless mysteries and rumors
that swarm around them. Maldin's offers no discounts on any goods,
ever. They will pay handsomely for any unique books on arcane or planar
subjects, however, and have been known to hire adventurers for special
missions to recover such materials.
In 590 CY, the shop was closed for a month after a night of terror, the
sounds of an incredible battle echoing through the empty streets of the
very early morning. A City Watch contingent was dispatched at dawn to
investigate, but was turned at the door with assurances that all was
well. An experienced paladin accompanying the group did recognize two
distinctive odors with which he was all too familiar - the unmistakable
odor of undeath, and the acrid stench of dead demons. A year later
there was another incident where a lone dark, cloaked figure wielding a
white ceramic wand (with apparent difficulty) destroyed the adjacent
wood-constructed stables (after failing to effect the shop's enchanted
basalt walls) with a strange pale fire that burned the structure to the
ground. The building has since been rebuilt.
The heavy bronze front doors swing open with a touch from dawn to dusk,
and reveal a very ornate protective circle inlaid into the entryway's
floor with incredibly rare materials, and prevents entry by all
extraplanar creatures, including special familiars. Powerful magic
prevents any form of scrying or dimensional travel into the shop. The
shop's front counter is manned by the elderly Elbrak [N hm Wiz10], a
seemingly doddering old fool at first glance. He is, however, an
infallible appraiser, incredibly sharp, and cunning as a fox when it
comes to negotiating prices. There are always highly experienced (and
very well equiped) guards present. A glance at the floorplan for the
shop shows how the shop's wares are distributed under and behind the
main counter, spell components and alchemical supplies filling the back
shelves, as well as the location of the writing rooms where patrons can
copy scrolls or study tomes without interruption.
What lies beyond the front room can only be guessed at. Some
believe
there are portals to the planes guarded by wondrous beasts, through
which the mysterious mages obtain their wares. Others believe that the
two absentee shop owners are a figment of senile old Elbrak's
imagination, or serve as his illusionary scarecrows to frighten away
potential
thieves.
DM's Notes: When the shop first opened, Maldin and Elenderi were
met
with much resistance from the Directing Oligarchy and the Guild of
Wizardry, who ordered the place closed by the City Watch. The shop
opened a few weeks later, reportedly after the two mages had come to
some sort of special agreement with the Lord Mayor and the Society of
Magi. The exact conditions of this agreement are known only to a select
few. Maldin and Elenderi actually spend most of their time away from
the city, exploring the reaches of the Multiverse.
The pair own four adjacent buildings. One houses the shop itself on its
ground floor. Beyond the scholar behind the counter (usually Elbrak)
there is always at least one highly visible, and very well equipped
guard. Also within the room there is always at least one very
invisible, and equally well equipped guard. More guards occupy a front
guardroom (next to the main entrance), as well as elsewhere in the
complex. Adjacent to the basalt-built shop is the stables, a small
warehouse, and a
rear building that serves as offices. The main alchemical lab is
actually in a dungeon level far below the sewers (see the City of
Greyhawk Undercity map). A room next to the lab is home to
their "pet",
a Greater Basilisk, whose petrifying gaze can see into the Astral and
Ethereal, protecting the shop from any approach via those paths.
Besides an unusually large number of experienced henchmen, the pair of
mages have many other-planar guardians. Amlos [N hm F9], an intelligent
and charismatic man-of-action who once captained a warship, is the
complex's Captain of the Guard, and his Lieutenant of the Guard is the
rather overly serious Crackdot [N hm F7]. Both of these highly
professional warriors are equiped with the best that two well-travelled
archmages can find. Elbrak is likewise equiped well beyond what could
be expected of a character of his level. Should PCs harm the elderly
Elbrak, or somehow attempt to infiltrate the shop and get away... there
would be no place in all the planes where they could hide from the pair
of very real, and very powerful archmages.
Maldin and Elenderi's shop of the arcane was first published in the
Living Greyhawk Journal Issue#2, and made a return appearance in Dragon
Magazine Issue#337.
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This page last modified on April 10, 2009
