Black Hollow Market
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The Black Hollow Market is the underground bazaar at the heart of Umbrafall where almost anything can be bought. Pale-light lanterns, glass vials, shackled figures, hissing fungus; venom-smoke and rot in the air. The market is run by The Broker, a masked figure with green-stained gloves and a bone ledger whose word is his bond. The party met him in session 4 and worked his contracts through to session 10. Beneath the market lies The Warrens, the lair of Maelis Dirn until her death in session 7.
Overview
The Black Hollow Market is the underground bazaar of Umbrafall. Reached via descents from the surface streets, lit by pale lanterns and bioluminescent fungi, the market is the city’s clearing-house: stolen goods, “fallen off a cart” magic items, poisons, contraband, contract work, sliver-of-information, and people. It is run informally by The Broker, whose stall (or rather, position) is identifiable by his bone ledger and green-stained gloves.
Below the market, accessed through a hatch the party tracked in session 4, lies The Warrens — the lair of Maelis Dirn and the site of her soul-binding experiments.
Geography and appearance
A vast underground space lit by pale lanterns. Glass vials line the stalls; shackled figures await transit; hissing fungus drips into shallow gutters. The air carries venom-smoke and rot. Transactions are whispered. The market is described in [4] with deliberately impressionistic language; specific stall locations are not mapped, but the Broker keeps a fixed booth.
Government / control
The Broker is the recognised authority and arbiter. He pays his contracts on completion, gifted Hugo the Greataxe of Frost +1 and a sending stone in session 7, and pointed the party at Silent Intake in Velkris for the Duskwatch shipping ledger. Beyond the Broker, the market is part of the deeper authority of The Hollow itself, whose Hollow Guardians staff the access tunnels into the Warrens.
Notable features
- The Broker’s stall — bone ledger, green-stained gloves, contract negotiation.
- The hatch into The Warrens — used by Maelis Dirn’s leather-masked collectors as their entrance and exit.
History in the campaign
- Session 4: Party meets The Broker. He contracts them against Maelis Dirn for free passage through the Hollow plus coin, poisons, and “something sharper than all of it.” The party trails Maelis’s collectors to the Warrens hatch.
- Sessions 5-7: The Warrens dungeon. Maelis dies in session 7.
- Session 7: Broker pays out: 50gp + 2 bio-gloom toxins + the Greataxe of Frost +1. He identifies the recovered ring as a Soulbinder’s Packed Ring, points the party at Silent Intake in Velkris near “the Talking Skulls” entrance for the forged Duskwatch ledger, and offers a follow-up: the Black Vein Quarry missing-miners job (100gp). Hugo accepts a sending stone for future contact.
- Session 10: Broker pays the mining quest (100gp); offers an Aurelian assassination contract (declined, two-week deadline); disclaims knowledge of the Dawn Mercy Clinic (“doesn’t move products, doesn’t move secrets, doesn’t move leverage”); points at The Rat as the major information broker who only contacts you when he wants to. Confirms the Aurelian Paladin’s plate is enchanted. Recommends Velkris (“the city of money”) for selling Aurelian-conspiracy intelligence.
Status as of session 16
Active. The party has not been back since session 10. The Broker remains a useful contact via the sending stone he gave Hugo.
See also
References
- ^ Session 4, line 1480-1510 — First meeting with the Broker; Maelis Dirn contract.
- ^ Session 7, line 713-746 — Broker pays out the Maelis contract; Greataxe of Frost; Silent Intake.
- ^ Session 10, line 446-498 — Mining quest payout; Broker disclaims Dawn Mercy knowledge; The Rat referenced.
- ^ Session 4, line 1490-1510 — Inline citation.