Outlands (Tradegate) -- Just last week I was sent out to Tradegate to investigate some fiends that had recently been selling "Parts". In this case the "parts" came from intelligent beings. Little did I know that investigating almost got me sold for parts. I had intended to take the investigation slow...Spy on the various participants for a bit... But I got word that some local religious types were going to stage a raid on it in just a few days and I didn't want to take a chance that my story was going to get hacked to bits before I had a chance to investigate. I was getting paid double after all!
In any case after staking the place out for a day I hadn't spotted any incoming "Shipments" of parts. I could only figure that they were being sneaked in somehow... Perhaps through a portal or an underground tunnel of some sorts...Certainly some of the customers came in with bags of some sort, perhaps bags large enough to hold a few pieces. But when they did they usually left with the same bag full of... something. In any case I had not seen anyone other than fiends go into, or out of, the building. I assumed that the owners might not take kindly to a human entering their establishment
One illusion spell and several hours later, I entered the store, appropriately named "Bits n' Pieces". I managed to have a short conversation with the owner and I picked up a few things about how he runs his business. Apparently, there are two ways you can get Pieces from the fellow, you can buy them, or you can trade. Of course it takes a lot of money, or a lot of parts, to trade for something unusual, and even if you are looking for something more common the Fiend won't accept trades for double or nothing... He rarely has to order things himself and when he does he doesn't have to order much.
After finding this out, I heard an odd noise behind me... Apparently one of the "Customers" had entered the store and seen through my illusion. One lightning bolt spell and one decimated wall later, I managed to escape... Ironically enough I managed to do more damage to the store than those clueless Paladins that attacked it the next day. Go figure.
--Thomas Wittledinghy
Reporter at Large
A Closer Look: Tradegate
