The emporium is run by the shopkeeper, a trader who can be found in random locations throughout the dungeon. He stands in front of stalls filled with merchandise. The emporium will appear as a gold coin icon on the map and mini-map. There are two types of emporiums, a single stall and a double stall. The later has a wider range of items in stock, as well as an additional service.
Location[]
An emporium with two stalls.
The emporium on the mini-map indicated by a stack of gold coins.
Three different statuses of shops: Yellow is normal, green means the player has credit there, and red means the shop has been ransacked/shopkeeper is dead.
- Random. More than one shopkeeper with either one or two stalls may be present in the dungeon.
Services[]
Prices will vary based on the charisma stat and commerce skill:
- Buy - Buy merchandise from the shopkeeper. His default goods are usually amulets, potions, rings, scrolls, and wands;
- Sell - Sell items to the shopkeeper. He will usually buy everything except identified pieces of glass. The items he buys will be bought at slightly a lower price than other traders who specialize in certain items. He will however offer the best price for potions and wands. Creature remains will be bought at only 1 gold. Other food items, such as fruit and eggs, will be bought at a good price;
- Identify (45-100 gold) - This service is only available to shopkeeper who has two stalls. He can however, only identify potions and scrolls;
- Warning! Accidently attacking the shopkeeper and making peace will double the price of future services (prices will eventually normalize, though after a considerable amount of time has a passed).
Loot[]
- Ornate robe (always worn, uncursed +2 enchantment);
- Turban (always worn, uncursed +2 enchantment);
- Chance to wield a kris knife (uncursed +2 enchantment);
- Chance to wield a scimitar (uncursed +2 enchantment);
- Chance to wield a wand of death;
- Chance to wield a wand of magic missile;
- Chance to drop a bit of shopkeeper innards;
- All the gold coins the player has used for the shopkeeper's services so far;
- All the items from the emporium including a small chest.
Traits[]
Shopkeepers have been observed to have the following abilities or behaviours:
- Alignment: Neutral;
- Resistance: "Can resist the effects of some magic." In practice, high resistance towards magic;
- Magic: "Energizes quicker" (effect from ornate robe);
- Movement: Fast (effect from ornate robe).
Attacking[]
Flying and shooting the shopkeeper will keep his scimitar out of range. The wand of magic missile he's holding is still dangerous.
Out of arrows? Another method is to levitate and use a spear. The shopkeeper's scimitar range is too short. Unless he throws it...
The shopkeeper is an extremely dangerous opponent and should not be taken lightly under any circumstance. Attacking him, albeit dangerous, will reward the player with valuable items, most importantly his ornate robe, which has a speed bonus.
- The easiest way (luck depending) to defeat the shopkeeper is to polymorph him with a wand of polymorph or potion of polymorph (both preferably blessed). The only downside of this method is that there is still a likelihood that the polymorph will fail (due to the shopkeeper's high magic resistance) or the shopkeeper polymorphs into a small humanoid e.g. a kobold, which renders a size change of his robe from normal size to small size;
- One of the most effective ways to dispatch a shopkeeper is to wear a ring of levitation or levitation boots, a ring of invisibility, and a cloak of magic resistance or shield of reflection. Though from all these, only levitation is the mandatory while the rest are option. Levitation will inhibit him from engaging in melee combat, where he is near invincible and should be avoided at all costs. Invisibility while levitating, will inhibit the shopkeeper from using wands from a distance and force him to frequently go back to his shop. Magic resistance or reflection will decrease or negate the wand used by shopkeeper. The player may use a bow to attack him with a lot of arrows (at least 100 arrows) and finish him off in melee combat, or lacking arrows use a two-handed sword or spear, or use the easiest route and drop a few offensive magical gems on him while flying over his head and patiently wait for his demise. All the while trying to avoid wand attacks and throwing his +2 scimitar at the player;
- The safest method is to use the raise the dead spell. although it is much easier if the player has a large mana pool. Summon as many undead creatures and command them to attack (note: the shopkeeper will not be hostile to the player even when the pets i.e. summoned undead creatures attack him). If the attack fails, rest until mana is replenished and repeat process until the shopkeeper is killed;
- A shopkeeper can also be polymorphed if the player has a werewolf as a pet. The pet werewolf can be ordered to attack him, inflicted him with lycanthropy, after which he can be tamed with a scroll of taming or lute of charming. The player may also opt to slay him in his werewolf form, which is easier to deal with.
Stealing[]
- The player can steal from the shop by picking up the wares and teleporting away. This is most useful if the player has some method to control the teleport. Doing this however, will permanently make the shopkeeper angry/hostile;
- Alternatively, using a wand of teleportation on the shopkeeper (note: this is a hostile action) also works albeit a low chance (mind his high magic resistance). However, this gives the player only a narrow window to get all the items and run away before the angry shopkeeper returns;
- Certain pets (such as a tamed water nymph) can be directed to steal the shopkeeper's turban and robe. This will cause him to chase the pet away, leaving his shop unguarded so that the player can steal the inventory;
- An alternate and safer way to steal from any shop is to loot everything the shopkeeper has to sell by selecting the nothing option. Put everything stolen in a bag/chest in your inventory and hand it off to your pet. There will be no need to pay for anything from bakers or shopkeepers again!
- Player's with beast mastery can summon a (tame) water nymph from a nearby fountain and have her successfully steal the ornate robes from the shopkeeper rather than kill him.
Graffiti[]
Graffiti on walls related to the shopkeeper:
- "Do not poke your tongue out at a shopkeeper."
- "Shopkeepers are easily charmed."
Tips[]
- Be careful around shopkeepers: they will become angry if probed or hit/damaged by most weapon or spells. They can be paid with 100 gold (or 1,000 gold for double stalls) to make them peaceful after the first offense. Subsequent attacks will result in hostility, they can only be neutralized by using a scroll of taming (however cannot become tame). Stealing items from a shop will also result in a fine, probably dependent on the value of items stolen;
- "Try before you buy"! Although they won't advertise it, shopkeepers allow the sampling their wares. This is particularly useful to identify their rings on offer: stand by the shop, pick unidentified rings from the shelves, and try them on (don't go anywhere or it will be considered shoplifting). Rings that modify status or stats will get identified (levitation, invisibility, regeneration, strength, adornment, constitution, etc.). Then just return/sell back the (stolen) items and walk away with more knowledge, or buy the ones really needed. With a wand of probing, amulets can also be identified this way.
- Selling smelly or rotten food at an Emporium will make them available to buy with a 'Fresh' status on them.
Shopkeeper Names[]
A rare shopkeeper family photo.
List of all names the shopkeeper has (because why not?):
- Abdul-Hamid;
- Abdul-Khaliq;
- Abdul-Mughni;
- Darwish;
- Dirar;
- Faris;
- Kadeer;
- Khoury;
- Halim;
- Hamdan;
- Hilmi;
- Hisham;
- Hudhaifah;
- Jabalah;
- Jasim;
- Miqdad;
- Munahid;
- Nayif;
- Qasim;
- Ratib;
- Sadid;
- Shakib;
- Sharif;
- Sufyan;
- Sumrah;
- Tawfiq;
- Wahid;
- Waqar;
- Yasar;
- Zakwan;
- Zuhai.