Pedr Silvershears, Barber (Petrichor 365)

Personal hygiene and looking good are important and a skilled barber can help with both!  Venturers may not care how they look heading into the wilderness, but some do, however, they almost all want to look their best once they have made a big score.

For those who want to look their best, there are worse people to go to than Pedr Silvershears who works in the grand market, where he has a stall which has a banner with a painted set of silver scissors outside.  He is open from just before dawn to mid-afternoon and several merchants like to start their day with a shave and a trim, if needed, from Pedr.  The interior of the stall has carpets, a brazier to heat water (and the stall on cold days), and a table for fresh tea and snacks.  Several comfortable chairs and a padded bench are provided for customers waiting.  It has a very comfortable atmosphere and customers will often just stay and chat.

To December, November ends

The first of December is the meteorological start of Winter and it certainly seems that way here, the last few days have been quite chill.  December was, unsurprisingly, the tenth month of the Roman calendar and it is a month filled with holidays for us moderns.

So, the theme for this month on the Sea of Stars design journal will be Winter, festivals, and gifts: cursed gifts, divine gifts, magical gifts or whatever else we can think up.

If there is a particular idea that any of those themes inspire, let me know and I will try to realize it.

Looking back over November 2023, we saw the following posts, mostly Petrichor 365 but a few more as well, here:

Au’ra, Sorceress and Improver (Petrichor 365)

Many people come to Petrichor seeking new things, sometimes these are physical items, other times it is lost knowledge, and rarely, it is something spiritual.

Au’ra is just a sorceress and a venturer but she is always happy to learn new knowledge, and, well acquire new things.  She is very attuned to magic, even for a sorcerer, magic just flows naturally for her and she likes being able to use it, it is not an addiction but perhaps close to it.  While, like many who use magic, she is capable of causing great amounts of damage, Au’ra‘s favorite use of magic is to leave places better off than when she found them.  When she stays at an inn, the room she leaves behind is clean, the tears in the sheets and curtains have been repaired, and it is just brighter than when she went in.  She has truly mastered the ability to use small magics to make the world a better place in a small way and she does so at every opportunity.

Late ’23 Shadowrun Campaign News and a new Seattle Scream Prop (#92)

It is still November, just. as the year draws to a close.  The next live game at Tyche’s Games will be on the 2nd of December; we usually play every first Saturday and if you are in the area come and join in, new players are welcome.

October/November was an above-average month for Shadowrun play, with me CHing the live game at Tyche’s, a couple of online games including a Halloween one-shot, where the players played high school students trapped in the barrens, and got to play in two NorCal sessions (with another scheduled for tomorrow).  So, relatively active overall.  December, hover, is likely to be quiet after the live game because holidays.

Now for the latest news from the Seattle Metroplex and beyond in the Seattle Scream (#92)!   The article involving California Dreaming Productivity ties in with several adventures that went down at the Metroplex Marketplace Meetup earlier in the year.

Photo of Detroit found on a Public Domain image search.

Sesi, Street Performer (Petrichor 365)

There are many ways to make a living in Port Imperial, entertaining the people who pass through is one of them, but not the easiest one.  But for all of that, there never seems to be any lack of performers.

Sesi is one such performer, dancing, juggling, performing sleight of hand, and other minor legerdemain.  She often works with other performers, especially musicians, to craft a more complete act.  But most days she can be found in one of the markets, entertaining those who pass by hoping for some small generosity from those who watch her act.  She especially enjoys performing for children, she loves to inspire wonder and happiness among them, even if they rarely have much to give.

Sesi is slender and perhaps, just a shade under the average height, with black hair and laughing blue eyes.  She is graceful and acrobatic, surprisingly quick of hand.  She dresses simply and sometimes paints or powders her face white for effect.  Sesi is exceptionally good with stage magic and sleight of hand, so much so that it is unclear if she actually has some minor magic of her own.  Depending on the audience and who she is working with, she can either be completely silent while performing or keep up a chain of amusing banter, as needed.

While she is interested in seeing the wonder of Petrichor, she knows she is no venturer but will happily listen to stories from those who have seen miraculous and bizarre things in the wilderness.

She shares a room with two other women in one of the boarding houses.

Notes: Someone who could make good use of today’s magic item.

Petrichor 365.  Previous entry: Goshin the Master of Puzzles Next Entry: Au’ra, Sorceress

Image from pikist and is in the Public Domain.

Tuesday Magic Item – Candy Coins

Gollaon and Voddick watched the street performer.  Voddick tore off a piece of sausage roll and chewed as the act moved on.

Gollaon watched the sleight of hand with an expert’s eye, judging their skill with the eye of someone who has mastered the same skills.

As the performance ended, the performer gave each of the pair a shiny coin, which on closer inspection was just a cleverly decorated piece of candy.  But the coins that Gollaon gave in return, were good silver.

Candy Coins

These coins are made of candy, as the name implies when spun around and manipulated they seem to be made of precious metals or even become gems for just a moment.

Goshin the Master of Puzzles (Petrichor 365)

Some of the challenges in the ruins of Petrichor are not monsterss but traps and puzzles left behind by ancient civilizations.  Those venturers that can avoid or solve such without suffering too much in the process are likely to be able to advance further and achieve more.

Naturally, this has attracted specialists in puzzles, mechanical devices, and traps to Petrichor, both to advise people and to learn from the works of masters long dead.  Some rely on reports from agents and venturers to learn about traps and craft advice from the safety of Port Imperial, others actually accompany venturing groups to see and advise   A member of the latter camp is Goshin the Master of Puzzles.  Having heard about some of the unusual places and things being discovered, he knew he had to see them firsthand.  Puzzles, traps, and more, all predating the Sundering what greater treasure is one likely to find?

Osinlok’s Boarding House (Petrichor 365)

With a primarily transient population, short-term lodgings are a requirement, and good business, in Port Imperial.  Of course, some of the planned short-term lodgers become increasingly long-term as circumstances shift.

One, of many, boarding houses is the one owned by Madame Osinlok, some say she was a baroness back in the Carnaki Prinicipalities, whatever the case may be, she arrived at Port Imperial with a decent amount of money, a pair of servants, and some furniture.  Madame Osinlok saw the market and decided to build a boarding house, it has proved to be an excellent investment.

The boarding house is a square building, three stories tall, made of wood and plaster on a stone base.  The ground floor has a kitchen, dining room, and a small study which also serves as Madame Osinlok‘s office.  It is also where Madame Osinlok’s private rooms are.  Her two servants live there as well.  There is only one room for rent on the ground floor and it is small.

Zamotain Rosit, Producer of Scrolls (Petrichor 365)

Resources for venturers are in great demand in Petrichor, everything from potions to swords, medical supplies to scrolls.  Of course, people need to produce these resources, so a cottage industry has emerged providing such unusual supplies in Port Imperial.

One provider of scrolls and paper charms is Zamotain Rosit who runs a shop on the main road out of Port Imperial.  It is deliberately distinctive built like a ziggurat with a garden filling the areas that are not built up, though it is only three floors in total, almost everyone can direct someone to Rosit’s Scrolls and Charms.  The building is also unusual in being stone, at least on the ground floor, the upper levels are in fact wood that is painted to look like stone.  Zamotain used magic to construct the ground floor but it was much as he could afford, so the upper levels had to be built in a more conventional fashion, but between the gardens and a clever paint job, it looks very impressive.  The ground floor has the sale room and, in the back, most of the living quarters, the upper floor is the workshop where Zamotain and his apprentices produce scrolls and charms, while the top floor is storage, a drying room for paper, and a small observatory.

Bastron Blake, Expert Trapper (Petrichor 365)

Hunting and trapping animals and monsters is a source of prestige, money, and food for those working out of Port Imperial.  Petrichor is the source of many interesting animals providing pelts, meat, and other resources that can make successful hunters and trappers a tidy sum of money.

One of the more successful trappers is Bastron Blake who has spent three years learning the ways of the creatures of Petrichor and how quickly hunting grounds and prey can change in this land.  He is used to setting 0ut into the wilderness and spending a month or two gathering hides and other resources to be traded and sold in Port Imperial.  He works with other hunters and trappers and is willing to teach those who are willing to put in the work and suffer the hardships of life as a trapper.