Phandalin Miner's Exchange
From the book 'Lost Mines of Phandelver ..
The Miner's Exchange is a trading post where local miners have their valuable finds weighed, measured, and paid out.
In the absence of any local lord or authority, the exchange also serves as an unofficial records office, registering claims to various streams and excavations around the area.
There isn't any real gold rush in Phandalin, but enough wealth is hidden in the nearby streams and valleys to support a good number of independent prospectors. The exchange is a great place to meet people who spend a lot of time out and about in the countryside surrounding Phandalin.
The guild master is an ambitious and calculating human woman named Halia Thornton. In her attempts to establish the Miner's Exchange as the closest thing the town has to a governing authority, she acts as more than a simple merchant. She is also an agent of Zhentarim, a powerful organization that seeks to exert secret control over the North through wealth and influence.
Halia is working slowly to bring Phandalin under her control and can become a valuable patron to the characters if they don't cross her. Halia doesn't know the location of Cragmaw Castle, but she has heard that The Redbrands have a goblin minion serving them.
She suggests the goblin might know the location. She leverages this information to try to persuade the characters into helping her deal with the Redbrands.
Quest: Halia'sJob Offer.
If approached by characters she believes she can control, Halia explains that the Redbrands are a problem.
She tells how the ruffians loiter around The Sleeping Giant tap house and have a base under Tresendar Manor, on the east edge of town. She then offers the characters 100 gp to eliminate the Redbrand leader, whom the outlaws call Glasstaff, and bring her any correspondence found in the leader's quarters.
Halia doesn't reveal that she wants to take over the Redbrand operation herself. A DC 15 Wisdom (Insight) check indicates she has ulterior motives for wanting the Redbrand leader dead.
Joining the Zhentarim If the party disposes of the Redbrands leader, Halia Thornton approaches certain members of the group to urge them to join the Zhentarim. She speaks with those who share the Zhentarim's pursuits, such as wealth and power. Even if the party does or does not wipe out the Redbrands gang, Halia might still extend the offer in an effort to gain friends (and spies) within the party. If a character agrees, Halia gives him the title of Fang.
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Homebrewed ...
Outside As you follow on the Miner's Trail that leads up Umbrage Hill, a few hundred yards past The Lionshed Coster, you notice what looks like another establishment open for business. This building is made entirely of stone and looks very sturdy. The main door opens onto the trail and as you approach you can read above it, painted in white, on a neat piece of board: Phandalin Miners' Exchange - Serving the Miners' Community Since 1481.
Inside You push the door and it opens onto a large light room, dominated by a huge pine counter. On the counter, you can see a few brass scales in evidence. The place is pretty bare except for a few hard benches around the room. Behind the low counter, you can see a large solid table where a map of the region has been drawn and several shelves where tightly bound leather folders stand. There are also a few reference books and the stationery you would expect in an office: reams of paper, ink, quills. What draws your attention though is a huge metal safe you can glimpse the sides of the room that opens up behind the counter.
Inspecting the map at one end of the table, and engrossed in her work as you enter is a dark-haired woman in her late twenties. Her hair is tied tight in a bun at the back of her head. She has fine features and brown eyes, almost girly in her appearance. She is dressed in a tight-fitting purple velvet dress, cinched at the waist, and as she stands up, you can see she is very tall, appears quite athletic, and only take a few quick strides to meet you at the counter.
First Meeting 'Hello, my name is Halia Thornton. Welcome to the Miners' Exchange. What can I do for you? Do you have a claim to register? We also accept gold and gems and give the best rates for miles around. Our exchange rates are on this leaflet if you would like to peruse them. I can assure you we do offer the best prices around.'
Miners' Exchange Floor Plan
Front Rooms
Off the main shopfloor to the right of the counter, a small wooden door leads to a small meeting room, this room is also very plain: a table surrounded by eight cushioned chairs in brown velvet and curtains of the same colour. A few, surprisingly good etchings done by a local artist hung on the wall. The room has another door leading to behind the counter and the shopfloor, another door leads to a basic guest bedroom with several beds.
The guest bedroom has three single beds and two bunk beds and has not been used for a while it seems. A copious layer of dust can be seen on the wooden bed frames and it smells a bit stale in here.
Behind the counter is another door on the left, that leads to another small library room, this room is much cosier: a large table seats four large cushioned armchair in red velvet. The walls are covered with top to bottom glass-covered shelves of books and bindings. A rather expensive carpet in muted brown and red colours with traditional pattern covers most of the floor.
The last two doors behind the counter leads to a corridor and another three backrooms, and Halia's main office where the huge metal safe is. A desk with three cosy armchairs in dark red velvet has been positioned on the right-hand side of the room as you come in. Another large table with maps sits underneath a series of brightly lit lamps. More shelves with books and binding on the wall. You assume this is where Halia brings in her more valuable clients.
Back rooms
Three backrooms come off two intersecting corridors:a spare office and archive room
a storeroom
a whare house
The Miner's Exchange is a trading post where local miners have their valuable finds weighed, measured, and paid out.
In the absence of any local lord or authority, the exchange also serves as an unofficial records office, registering claims to various streams and excavations around the area.
There isn't any real gold rush in Phandalin, but enough wealth is hidden in the nearby streams and valleys to support a good number of independent prospectors. The exchange is a great place to meet people who spend a lot of time out and about in the countryside surrounding Phandalin.
The guild master is an ambitious and calculating human woman named Halia Thornton. In her attempts to establish the Miner's Exchange as the closest thing the town has to a governing authority, she acts as more than a simple merchant. She is also an agent of Zhentarim, a powerful organization that seeks to exert secret control over the North through wealth and influence.
Halia is working slowly to bring Phandalin under her control and can become a valuable patron to the characters if they don't cross her. Halia doesn't know the location of Cragmaw Castle, but she has heard that The Redbrands have a goblin minion serving them.
She suggests the goblin might know the location. She leverages this information to try to persuade the characters into helping her deal with the Redbrands.
Quest: Halia'sJob Offer.
If approached by characters she believes she can control, Halia explains that the Redbrands are a problem.
She tells how the ruffians loiter around The Sleeping Giant tap house and have a base under Tresendar Manor, on the east edge of town. She then offers the characters 100 gp to eliminate the Redbrand leader, whom the outlaws call Glasstaff, and bring her any correspondence found in the leader's quarters.
Halia doesn't reveal that she wants to take over the Redbrand operation herself. A DC 15 Wisdom (Insight) check indicates she has ulterior motives for wanting the Redbrand leader dead.
Joining the Zhentarim If the party disposes of the Redbrands leader, Halia Thornton approaches certain members of the group to urge them to join the Zhentarim. She speaks with those who share the Zhentarim's pursuits, such as wealth and power. Even if the party does or does not wipe out the Redbrands gang, Halia might still extend the offer in an effort to gain friends (and spies) within the party. If a character agrees, Halia gives him the title of Fang.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Homebrewed ...
Outside As you follow on the Miner's Trail that leads up Umbrage Hill, a few hundred yards past The Lionshed Coster, you notice what looks like another establishment open for business. This building is made entirely of stone and looks very sturdy. The main door opens onto the trail and as you approach you can read above it, painted in white, on a neat piece of board: Phandalin Miners' Exchange - Serving the Miners' Community Since 1481.
Inside You push the door and it opens onto a large light room, dominated by a huge pine counter. On the counter, you can see a few brass scales in evidence. The place is pretty bare except for a few hard benches around the room. Behind the low counter, you can see a large solid table where a map of the region has been drawn and several shelves where tightly bound leather folders stand. There are also a few reference books and the stationery you would expect in an office: reams of paper, ink, quills. What draws your attention though is a huge metal safe you can glimpse the sides of the room that opens up behind the counter.
Inspecting the map at one end of the table, and engrossed in her work as you enter is a dark-haired woman in her late twenties. Her hair is tied tight in a bun at the back of her head. She has fine features and brown eyes, almost girly in her appearance. She is dressed in a tight-fitting purple velvet dress, cinched at the waist, and as she stands up, you can see she is very tall, appears quite athletic, and only take a few quick strides to meet you at the counter.
First Meeting 'Hello, my name is Halia Thornton. Welcome to the Miners' Exchange. What can I do for you? Do you have a claim to register? We also accept gold and gems and give the best rates for miles around. Our exchange rates are on this leaflet if you would like to peruse them. I can assure you we do offer the best prices around.'
Miners' Exchange Floor Plan
Front Rooms
Back rooms
Three backrooms come off two intersecting corridors:
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