Canonfire! - The Rickety Nail

Many travelers report visiting a mysterious shop called " The Rickety Nail".It seem's to appear and disappear in random towns all over oerth.Now sit back and listen to this tale,For if you ever encounter this shop be wary!For, Your very persona will determine wether you are welcome with open arms or thrown to the edge of the world...And beyond!!!!

Author: Orion

The Rickety Nail
By Orion (prism21209@yahoo.com)

Almost like the wind, This small Shop called the Rickety Nail with it's ramshakle roof and old wooden walls covered in old chipping paint seems to appear and disappear in random places at random towns,Many who visit here talk of a mysteriouse old man with a dusty old thick red robe.This shop tends to be overlooked by those that live in the town it's visiting, only visitors to the town or city ever notice it. The Rickety Nail is an unremarkable building of old wood covered in gray chipping paint, with a roof of loose shingles and a stubborn door that seems to jam when ever the unwelcome try to enter.The one window into this shop is obscured by a thick layer of soot and dust, And the only way anyone even knows it's a shop is because of the words " The Rickety Nail" emblazoned above the door in a dull red paint job that's probably older than the gods.The inside of the shop has a calm and welcoming aura and the faint smell of rose petals and variouse herbs & spices lingers in the air. The shop has strange loads of junk piled from the dusty wooden floor to the dark ceiling that you can never really see. The shop is only dimly lit by a single candle that rests upon the the counter at the back end of the shop. Upon entering, the shop seems to be completely uninhabited, But a thin old man with a wiry frame and a grandfatherly smile in old red dusty robes seems to sneak up on visitors and scare them out of their wits by resting a withered old hand on their shoulder while they look thru the hordes of antique furniture and ancient arm's and armors hung among the richly decorated tapestries hung on the small patches of wall in beetween mounds of junk.The old man always jokingly identifies himself as an angel or an old man . He is always very kind and curteouse to his visitors and is obviously well educated by his etiquete manner.He is always glad to sell some old memorabelia or whatever else anyone can find, But he always asks the visitors for news or tidbits of gossip from the outside world, He may also ask visitors to run a few errands for him.If they do or in any other way get to his good side, He will show them to a hidden room behind one of the tapestries housing oodles and oodles of magical wealth ,All kinds of magic goods,Weapons,Spellbooks,Scrolls,And the like.He also sells them at a reasonable price, Sometimes even giving them away to good freinds.But when ever he is asked about himself, He always tends to change the subject, Though he can sometimes be caught solemly mumbling "Barbera ....i miss you" or "Almek,you would have liked this...".Infact he mentions almek and barbera often, Refering to them in the third person though never revealing anything about them. In truth, The old man is a ghost who remains corporeal while inside the shop.He can never leave the shop unless on one of the planes of the dead.He controls his shops every move and can transport it to almost any local or plane.The shop is holy ground and any who try to bring harm to the old man or the shop are randomly teleported to another plane.The old man's real name is "Tethyroth" and he was a reputable archmage centuries ago before his death. He keeps in contact with many celestials and sometimes inlistes the aid of trusted adventurers, Even transporting them places as a favor.He usualy doesn't let people into the back rooms of his shop wich are a mystery to all but Tethyroth's oldest and most trusted freinds.