[Location]Phoma's
Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2020 10:44 am
Phoma's
Few who visit Kalzasi have never heard the name 'Phoma's'. It is a curious little pawnshop located on the south side of the Plaza of Jeweled Arches. It has been around for quite some time, and is owned and operated Phoma herself. What makes this pawn shop different from the traditional is the exact nature of its wares. The inventory seems to change daily, and while one might expect to find some items such as used clothing, old furniture, or the odd statue or two for sale, from time to time an item of a truly unique nature simply... pops up on the shelves. Phoma claims she simply manages the normal flow of goods through the shop, buying and selling traditional inventory and holding loans for those who simply wish to pawn their goods to later purchase them back. As for the other items Phoma says her shop provides a home for those items that seek a place to belong.
The shop itself is two stories with a basement. The ground floor is the main shopping area, and where customers can browse goods. There is no particular order to the shelves on this floor, and items with no relation can end up side by side. There are also no price tags anywhere in the shop, with Phoma providing the exact pricing when one brings the item to the counter. The second story is a storage area in which customers are also free to browse. It is also unorganized, with goods stacked in piles in corners and on top of tall shelves. Typically it is here that the items of the most unusual nature can be found. The basement is Phoma's personal residence and lab area. She keeps the door to this area locked at all times with a key stowed beneath the counter.
As Phoma claims she simply buys and sells goods as most merchants in Kalzasi do. Other items that make their way into her inventory seem to do so of their own accord. In the past, people have found old lost family heirlooms from decades past, a dress that fits a customer exactly in every way with the exact pattern and cut she had always wanted, and there are event rumors that magical artifacts have been discovered simply stuffed beneath piles of old books on a dusty shelf in the back. Items of this nature are priced accordingly by Phoma, and it is rare for one of these items to actually show up. It has happened to enough people, however, for rumors of the shop to spread and cause an influx of customers simply for the possibility of finding such an oddity.
NPC
Phoma is the owner and operator of Phoma's, the pawnshop of renown in the city of Kalzasi. Her full name is Phoma Mitzuri, a Kozoku under House Veyl. Though it is not common knowledge Phoma is a distant relative of Tizan Veyl himself, on her mother's side. She does not use this for her own advantage, however, and what she has built with her shop is purely her own. The Mitzuri have not involved themselves in the politics of the Great Houses directly in nearly 50 years, and that is precisely the way Phoma prefers it.
From a young age, Phoma was groomed to be a merchant. She excelled as a traveling trader for many years before finding love and settling down in Kalzasi properly. She opened the shop when her daughter, May, was born and has been running it ever since. Old and crafty, she is considered one of the hardest negotiators in all of Kalzasi, able to talk to her customers out of every last copper. Despite this, she is well-liked by those who know her and shows a grandmotherly affection to most of the people she meets.
Her husband died nearly 15 years ago, and from time to time she still feels lost. He was originally from a vessel of House Briathos who specialized in works of artificing, and taught both Phoma and their daughter the art. May has gone on to live her own life, while Phoma now contents herself with owning her little shop. She still utilizes the skill she has in artificing to work on small projects for the Circle of Spells in her husband's absence. With all of the revenue from both of her businesses, Phoma lives a comfortable life.
If asked directly she will always deny any involvement with the seemingly random items that just appear in her shop. She bought the building decades ago from a man who once was a well-known follower of the occult like practices. Perhaps he left something in the building that leads to the odd occurrences, but Phoma herself does not mind. She also finds random items she needed stuffed in her shoes and under her pillow, so she had not seen a reason to make it stop.