Author's Preface
Fools invest their money, while those of us with sense spend wisely on only the most suitable trinkets and treats to pair with our wants and needs in life. This brief guide should cover most needs on most islands, helping most everyone in most circumstance move from the latter category to the former in practical and applicable terms.
~ V.R.
Delight you now in the fruits of my travels and research:
The First Edition of a Codex I Would Rather Die Than Have Need to Update.
Amy's Baking Company
During the day, you get a pretty standard bake shop known for their donut bar, where patrons can eat some donuts and drink good beer. After hours, their donut bar becomes a lesbian nightclub. My wife and I aren't allowed back at the Amy's After Hours in Jyst. We know what we did, and we are proud to continue a shared life without any regrets.
Bad Dragon Discount Armorers
Basically a thrift store for adventurers. Their goods aren't terrible quality, even if they're usually never the best. Ranging from mishaps or quirks in production to used, worn, and eventually donated gear, you never know what you're going to find at Bad Dragon. Their prices are extremely fair, though, and it's usually worth it to pop in and take a solid look. Worst case, you don't find something you're all that interested in. However, a large number of adventurers have made short, sweet careers on piecemeal Bad Dragon kits. If you make it a habit to peruse their wares wherever you are, it's most likely going to happen to you, too.
Bailey's Bay Leaves
If they're not Bailey's, they're just bay leaves, or so says this brand's slogan. They also sell other assorted spices and sauces, but they're most known for their aggressive slogan and hip branding meant to appeal to humor and the masses. I'm not as young as I once was, but send my soul a-swimming to Badanplenty if I don't still fall for it. Whenever my wife happens to fish them from our cupboard in cooking supper, I love to say the slogan and do a little jig.
Bornie Treasures
A collection of sports clothing and memorabilia representing teams in the women's rugby league in Eylesborne. Most of their items feature the Bornies, the team that started the brand, but many sister teams including the Deadcats, Dread Waffles, Coral Dream Babies, and Rugby Rubies have been allied with the brand since year one. They also have a sports jewelry store in Firkanthot.
Camel Towing
When your boat's in a rut, they're probably going to be the ones you send for. Their twin-tug rescue mission plan was their claim to fame in their earliest days as a small shop in Fernsbarn, doing rescue where it mattered and partnering with many firms working in Cantank. Now, the twin-tug is an industry standard for those doing maritime assistance, following not long after the Beaumercy adopted the technique.
The Comfort Eagle
About the closest thing one can find to a large chain general store. While their shelves contain a wide variety of objects, goods, and trinkets meant for a variety of purposes, many people feel cursed to never find exactly what they're looking for at a Comfort Eagle. Most larger cities will have at least one in every district, though. If you're willing to make the jog from store to store, more than likely you will end up with something roughly suited to your needs. This storefront is also the subject of a rather popular chronicle published by TKP's chief rival Home & You!, who publish their bestselling Last Month in Comfort Eagle pamphlet each month, detailing the observations and anecdotes of celebrity Comfort Eagle shoppers Trin Eras, Lider Stal, and Uhlig Van Der Snoss. An aside about Van Der Snoss is that he is great at parties; he once attended my wife's birthday.
The Crust Trust
An elite dine-in experience. Very expensive. A highbrow sandwich shop with some real class and sandwiches designed by some of the finest minds in the culinary arts. Founded and owned as a subsidiary of a panilian culinary arts board and headquartered in Ghouley, many panilian cooking honors include a place to leave a mark on The Crust Trust's menu for lunchtime immemorial. Do try my signature sandwich, with radishes and beechwood smoked cheddar.
Crystalwynd Connections Dating Service
Over two hundred years old, yet remains a one-person operation and passion project of an elven druid by the name of Phaea Galicaea. She believes in the power of love and romantic connection to clear the mind of the trivialities of society and demand a return to something simple, natural, and perhaps a little carnal. She has devoted her life to using nature magic and a little bit of clever artificery to expand her reach in service of those principles. Anyone may use her services and enter a profile into a large magical database. Matches will be made automatically, and Phaea is there to be a hub for initial communications as her budding matches get to knowing one another. She is known for being extremely successful and wise in the name of matchmaking and love, and her services are widely celebrated.
Good Ole Tom's Buy And Sell
A popular pawn-thrift hybrid destination, if a little run down and lowbrow. Many larger cities don't have them, and they aren't very popular in ancestral Verdantia or Crystalis. But a select few settlements myself and my wife have visited seem to have them everywhere. This includes New Newashenfire, Stromme, Blanchehold, Dahmaphan, Ghouley, and my wife reports tales of at least fifteen shops within an eight mile circle of her accommodations in that blasted Skaldigsberg. As far as myself or my wife are aware, there is no real Good Ole Tom, though the signs for the business I must admit still do appeal to my and perhaps influence my delightful taste in hats. That's another thing of note about this peculiar shopper's destination. Their hat racks. Are to die for.
Knockvault Public and Private Treasury
The only panilian bank, and the original inventors of the knock as a means to replace lock and key mechanisms for their doors and vaults. Their story started in Year Restriction Prior 111 in Prismere, not long after three enthusiastic mages perfected a lockless, permanent knocking door and hoped to make money on their idea. They bought out the worse performer of the two banks in Prismere at the time in Year Restriction Prior 109, and the security their knocks provided allowed them to quickly grow to dominance in their founding city and throughout Crystalis. Decades before Lucius Octavius Lyndrake or the Avaloch Accords, they had managed to establish business on four islands not under primary Crystalis influence, these being Gailecroght of Seraphora and Lumpen, Dalas, and Tyne of Ebonreach. For their knock vault security and R&D keeping them steadily ahead of the competition, many local banks new and old struggle to maintain the popularity the world's only chain bank has had for centuries. I do not hold a Knockvault account nor do I bank elsewhere. I fear what may come of my anonymity. Instead, my wife collects on my writings straight from the publisher, and I have been instructed not to write what she does with the coin after that.
Persi's Place
A hairstylist that has yet to expand beyond the five mainlands, Pelray's Ban (a shop in Ironklad), and Gwilvenne (two shops in Juliadull, one at the Astronomy school and one much further south). They are reasonably priced for the fantastic work they do, and they have very high standards for hair and horn stylists in their employ. Many government officials will only trust someone with Persi on their resume to do their hair and makeup for press events.
Pinanko's Twist
This casual daytime dance club is probably worth skipping. It can be fun if you have nothing else to do, but a well-traveled individual such as myself must warn that Ilia Khah always has something better to do. So, reader, I declare this message with urgency. We live in a wonderful world. Do not let Pinanko's Twist bring you down. Their music is seldom good, and the atmosphere leaves much to be desired. Worse, there is no food. It's just casual dancing to subpar music.
Skunky Tom's Boats
Named for an exploring, nomadic figure called Skunky Tom, who used to build his own boats to crash into shore and recycle for a small shack before converting most of it back into a boat again. They merged with the Linus Innovation Nautica Company (LINC) at Immerlabs in Year Restriction 402, and are currently the world's largest boatseller, with modest prices and an incredible history of reliability and performance.
Snail in the Coffin Desserts
I remember the opening day of the first Snail in the Coffin. It's actually where I met my wife, a story only she can tell well. They serve a truly unique dessert experience that has inspired their name. Really, their flavors blew me away from day one. As they grew and expanded, their original quality has dropped some. But they are still a delightful experience, and I drop by at least monthly for some of their signature tastes. They also have private backrooms, a sort of VIP experience. They come with a special menu and are always so beautiful and clean. Well worth waiting for a reservation if you're going to try Snail in the Coffin for the first time.
Solelyfans
A spite brothel that works a little differently. They skirt many restrictive laws with a clever mechanism that subverts panilian policy in two major ways. First, they are on a much tighter rotation per island of who appears at what location when. Often, their entertainers can only manage a week of work at a time due to the intense travel schedules. As such, the disjointed payments of members are easy enough to distance from any one entertainer's performance for their safety. Second, the establishment advertises membership only but will allow anyone in who simply wants to buy a drink. Membership is still required to access the private suites, simply locked behind the concept of 'upstairs,' from the main floor and bar counters. Membership is simply for access to a space with a more chill and intimate vibe and a wider drink menu, and they pay for that exclusivity and discretion as well as entertainers' time and companionship. What members and entertainers on the upper floor choose to do with their time as adults is on them and completely off record as far as actual membership policy and entertainers' employment terms can actually specify. Due to its secretive practices, membership is vetted very tightly, often taking months of interviews by the entertainers themselves. Hence, the name, as only the fans who personally get to know the entertainers and are willing to pay up unlock the true experience.
Steak ~n~ Strip
A steakhouse and strip club, exactly as the name suggests. Very pricey. You'll usually get better steak somewhere else, too. My wife took me once. Never again.
Tea by Zillayafaun
Zillayafaun's tea shop offers a boutique tea experience. Peruse their cold brew teas on tap or ask them to steep something hot for you. Their tea menu is large, but their flavor palette is truly incomprehensible in size thanks to an (extremely well-kept secret) menu of syrups, sugars, salts, spices, and other magical and nonmagical enhancers. It is estimated that there is a tea order on their menu for every grain of sand on Ilia Khah's beaches, and a very large credit can be given to their ever-growing collection of sugars. They have long since claimed to be able to turn any food or flavor into a sugar for your tea, and make good on their continuing promise with a fifty-two-hour-per-tablespoon guarantee. Relative to sugars meant to go in someone's tea, that is quite an impressive feat. Some commissioned flavors have earned their place on a permanent menu of more than 900 sugars, each now made in Stromme and shipped to the individual locations from the basement of the company's headquarters. These include steak sugar, golden monk fruit sugar, lime sugar, burnt sugar, vampire slayer sugar (strawberry and pomegranate), nutella sugar, wasabi sugar, and so many more.
Transgender Elf Spit
A sparkling wine brand that has only a single shop in Prismere. Their process is a deep, dark secret and rumor has it that dozens of politicians have been assassinated over keeping their practices unchanged and totally secure. They are available only for three days each year, and I am always sure to bring my wife to camp outside the shop until they open their doors. Theirs is the only wine we drink.
Vathta's Guild
Vathta Zerkh was a struggling artificer who eventually made it big being hired for a contract to redesign the Vadd Post headquarters with some experimental chromatelegraphy standards. Their success enabled them to start an artisan shop employing local skilled people who do commission work but are sort of given union powers and a community to fall back on and support one another. While there is still just the one Vathta building in Crusher's Reprieve, it is now several stories taller than it began. Plus, residents of other places may still hold membership by post, ship their work to be displayed in a rotating gallery at the true building, and put signage on their own shops and garages advertising themselves as Vathta artisans, a name in quality that nobody could turn down. Membership is highly competitive, and only sixteen applicants out of thousands each year are accepted.
Violentburger
Surly orcish women (and, of course, others, but the original concept was started by an orc drag family) armed with maces serve delightful food and don't take shit from customers. Entertainment is usually a blend of local musicians and the servers themselves, who will smash pumpkins and crush glasses while patrons watch. It's not an easy gig maintaining the Violentburger appearance, but the relatively cheap menu and high thrill eating experience bring lots of attention to the job, and it famously pays exceptionally well.
The Well-Dressed Bird
An undergarment store. Their lingerie collections are beautiful and pricey, and they also carry a number of styles of padded undies for adventurers caught with their pants down that are just as pricey. They are set up only in major cities and can be exceptionally hard to find at times.
Yellow Brick Coffee
A fairly standard seeming coffee shop. They've grown to about half of the islands in Ilia Khah, and they are known for having a unique local section to their menu at every location, incorporating local artistry and flavor traditions into their brews. The Yellow Brick Bake Shoppe's menu is the only food chain allowed to set up shop on Cooklet Isley for this reason, and Yellow Brick Cooklet even had to reduce their menu to only include their local selection in order to be allowed their lease.