The Jumble

Welcome to the Jumble!

The Wynds is home to three main markets that offer a wide variety of goods and services to its residents. The Jumble is a sprawling market on the western edge of the Wynds, famous for its endless clutter of secondhand goods and household cast-offs. Vendors here will sell anything they can lay their hands on, from cracked pots to forgotten heirlooms, and every stall promises the possibility of an unexpected treasure.

The air is alive with noise as peddlers shout their wares, bargain-hunters haggle fiercely, and the smell of fried food drifts between the rows of patched canvas stalls. Goods are piled high in teetering heaps: dented armor, mismatched boots, broken toys, tarnished cutlery, chipped furniture, and more than a few items whose original purpose has long been forgotten.

For some, The Jumble is a place of frustration – a maze of junk where true value is buried deep. For others, it is a playground of opportunity, where a keen eye and quick hands can uncover relics worth far more than the asking price. Locals, adventurers, and traveling collectors alike flock here, all hoping to find that one rare item hidden among the worthless.
 

Stallholders and Trade

The Jumble attracts a mix of sellers: traveling hawkers pushing carts, crafty locals offloading surplus, and even the occasional merchant testing new markets. Some stalls are reliable fixtures, known for cookware, tools, or clothing. Others appear only once, vanishing as quickly as they came – often with buyers wondering if they’d been sold stolen goods or clever fakes.
 

Atmosphere

The Jumble is chaotic and noisy, a place where pickpockets thrive and deals are struck in hurried whispers. Adventurers frequent the market to find cheap gear, supplies, or curiosities, though the canniest sellers always keep something hidden under the table for buyers with deeper purses.
 

Hidden Treasures

Most of The Jumble is exactly what it appears to be: other people’s rubbish. Every so often, however, something genuinely valuable slips through. Roll d20 when an adventurer takes the time to search the stalls carefully…

1. A Silver Serving Spoon
   Buried among a bundle of tarnished pewter cutlery is a heavy spoon carrying an old Aranthaen silversmith’s mark. The seller assumes it is plated.
   Price Paid: 2 cp
   True Value: 8 gp
2. A Fine Wool Cloak
   A badly creased green cloak looks ordinary until cleaned. The cloth is exceptionally fine and the faded gold embroidery once belonged to a wealthy City Tier household.
   Price Paid: 3 sp
   True Value: 12 gp
3. An Antique Temple Medallion
   A blackened religious pendant is mistaken for cheap brass. Beneath the grime lies old silver bearing an early depiction of Lady Bune rarely seen today.
   Price Paid: 1 sp
   True Value: 25 gp
4. A Box of Excellent Tools
   A battered carpenter’s chest contains several ordinary implements and three beautifully made old chisels from a respected Aranthaen workshop.
   Price Paid: 4 sp
   True Value: 18 gp
5. A Forgotten Gold Earring
   One piece of apparently gaudy costume jewellery turns out to be solid gold set with a tiny green garnet.
   Price Paid: 5 cp
   True Value: 35 gp
6. A First Edition Travelogue
   A water-stained volume missing its outer cover is an early printing of a famous account of the southern kingdoms. Collectors care considerably less about the stains than expected.
   Price Paid: 2 sp
   True Value: 45 gp
7. A Merchant’s Signet
   Mixed into a tray of cheap rings is an old silver signet belonging to a merchant family that disappeared from Aranthaes generations ago.
   Price Paid: 1 sp
   True Value: 60 gp
8. A Genuine Elven Wine Cup
   The stallholder’s claim that it is ancient Elven work is, astonishingly, correct. Delicate silverwork is hidden beneath years of tarnish.
   Price Paid: 8 sp
   True Value: 75 gp
9. A Tiny Landscape Painting
   A grubby little panel depicts the Aranthaes waterfront before several modern districts existed. The unknown signature belongs to an artist now highly collected.
   Price Paid: 5 sp
   True Value: 90 gp
10. An Old Navigator’s Compass
    The brass casing is battered, but the instrument inside is exceptionally precise and bears the stamp of a famous Lantear instrument maker.
    Price Paid: 7 sp
    True Value: 110 gp
11. A Lady’s Hair Comb
    Sold as carved bone, this delicate comb is actually ivory inlaid with tiny pieces of mother-of-pearl and gold wire.
    Price Paid: 4 sp
    True Value: 140 gp
12. A Misidentified Gemstone
    A cloudy green stone mounted in an ugly brass brooch looks like cheap glass. Once removed and cleaned, it proves to be a surprisingly fine emerald.
    Price Paid: 6 sp
    True Value: 180 gp
13. A Noble’s Forgotten Letter Case
    A cracked leather document case contains nothing important, but its silver fittings and small family crest make it highly desirable to collectors of High Aranthaen memorabilia.
    Price Paid: 1 gp
    True Value: 225 gp
14. A Dwarven Measuring Instrument
    An incomprehensible brass device dismissed as broken nautical equipment is actually a precision surveyor’s instrument of dwarven manufacture, still perfectly functional.
    Price Paid: 1 gp 5 sp
    True Value: 300 gp
15. A Minor Enchanted Lantern
    The glass is cracked and the metal badly tarnished, but when repaired the lantern can produce a steady magical light without oil. The seller has never discovered the command word scratched beneath its base.
    Price Paid: 2 gp
    True Value: 400 gp
16. A Box of Old Merchant Tokens
    Most are worthless trade counters, but one is an extremely rare gold token issued by an early Aranthaen mercantile house and eagerly sought by collectors.
    Price Paid: 8 sp
    True Value: 550 gp
17. A Genuine Adventurer’s Blade
    A blunt shortsword beneath layers of rust proves to have a beautifully balanced ancient blade beneath the corrosion. The maker’s mark identifies it as the work of a celebrated weaponsmith.
    Price Paid: 5 sp
    True Value: 700 gp
18. A Small Enchanted Music Box
    The mechanism appears broken until wound while moonlight touches its lid. It then plays a flawless melody and creates tiny moving illusions above the open box.
    Price Paid: 5 gp
    True Value: 900 gp
19. An Early Map of Mon Arant
    Hidden inside the backing of a cheap framed print is a hand-drawn survey of the mountain made before large parts of modern Aranthaes were built. It shows several passages, foundations and sealed structures absent from current maps.
    Price Paid: 3 sp
    True Value: 1,500 gp, considerably more to the right buyer
20. The Unopened Mystery Trunk
    A battered locked chest has passed between Jumble traders for years because nobody has managed to open it without damaging the ornate old lock. Inside are several mundane possessions, a velvet jewellery case containing gold and gemstones, and one object whose significance the DM may determine.
    Price Paid: 5 gp
    Known Contents Value: 2,500 gp
    Possible True Value: Potentially priceless

Encounters

From bargains to brawls, The Jumble is never dull. Roll d10 for possible encounters…

1. A stallholder loudly insists their dented breastplate once belonged to a famous knight. The truth is dubious, but the crowd is intrigued.
   Merchant: AC 11, HP 9, dagger (1d4), leather vest.
2. A pickpocket makes a clumsy attempt to lift a coin purse from an adventurer’s belt.
   Thief: AC 12, HP 8, rusty dagger (1d4), rags.
3. A merchant is caught selling counterfeit healing potions that are nothing more than colored water. Tempers flare.
   Charlatan: AC 11, HP 10, club (1d6), shabby cloak.
4. A pile of junk collapses with a crash, revealing a half-buried chest stamped with strange sigils.
   Hazard: DC 13 Arcana check to identify, contents determined by DM.
5. A group of 1d4 collectors argue bitterly over the authenticity of a rare-looking amulet, drawing a curious crowd.
   Collectors: AC 11, HP 7 each, daggers (1d4), travel cloaks.
6. A traveling entertainer juggles knives to amuse a crowd, but loses control of one blade dangerously close to the adventurers.
   Performer: AC 12, HP 9, knife (1d4), flamboyant clothes.
7. A desperate vendor tries to sell a “cursed” object for next to nothing. Rumors of bad luck cling to it.
   Vendor: AC 11, HP 8, improvised club (1d4), patched tunic.
8. A sudden shouting match erupts as two rival stallholders accuse each other of theft, threatening to spill into violence.
   Hawkers (2): AC 11, HP 10, clubs (1d6), common clothes.
9. A ragged child tries to trade a cracked, glowing stone for food, swearing it is magical.
   Child: AC 10, HP 4, dagger (1d4); Stone may have faint magic.
10. A fight breaks out in the crowd, scattering stalls and sending goods flying – the adventurers may be pulled in or trampled.
    Mob (2d6 commoners): AC 10, HP 6, improvised weapons (1d4).