Salt and Herb Shoppe

The end point of many a caravan, The Salt & Herb Shoppe is a purveyor of fine salts, spices, and herbs from many lands. The loads may be relatively small, but they are worth more than their weight in gold. The proprietor Samius Keeprian of Shandazar is a stingy man who worries and watches over every aspect of his business. He carefully watches his loads. He measures everything. He is squinting at everything that goes on, including the dust that floats in his shop. Keeprian sells medicinal, magical, and culinary products.

The shop is an L shaped building that "cuddles" the shop next to it. (Keeprian charges a good rent for this small shop.) The front of the shop is fairly standard. The roof and the awning of the building is a deep green. Entering the shop one is assaulted by smells. The walls are lined with drawers of various sizes. They are all a dark stained lacquered wood. The dark walls add to a gloom that is not helped by the three tiny lamps that attempt to light the place. Each drawer has a plain white tag written in an odd code known only to the employees (to prevent theft of course, so you must be assisted by one of them. They shift the drawers around frequently). Some are loose, some are kept in tins, some are kept in wax balls, it depends on the item.

There are two or three "island" fixtures that serve as both desks and storage of spice in tiny drawers. Each island has measuring devices of such precision that many alchemists and jewelers are jealous. They also have several scholarly tomes available that catalogs every spice, herb, and salt in the known world.

The shop also carries feathers, incenses, a few chemicals, small branches of special woods, and pure alcohols. They are mixed in with the herbs and spices.

In the back of the building is a huge warehouse where goods are stored in wax sealed urns. The odd code is continued here. One needs to be intimately familiar with their system to find anything here. The back section has Keeperian's office. Here he keeps two sets of books (one real, one for the tax man). He also has a secret safe under his desk where secret gold and treasure are kept.

Just inside this warehouse there is a number of shelves, This is where they keep items that are in larger glass jars of common nature.

Keeperian never cheats a customers, he gives them EXACTLY what they PAY for, never more, never less. If he does not have it, which he never believes is true, he swears by all that is holy he will have it again soon (and usually does). He keeps such careful records that he actually knows what the shop does and does not have, and the schedule for when the next shipment arrives. The three employees of the shop are all scared of the old man. (He hires them timid and scared.) He watches them like a hawk. He drives them like dogs on a sled, except sled dogs occasionally rest while in the harness.