Mukhtar's Provisions is located in the West Markets of Autumn's Reach, and is one of many store where adventurers could stock up on their provisions. Mukhtar's Provisions is typical of most businesses owned by the middle class in Autumn's Reach. It is a two-storey building, where the first floor is the store and the second level the residents of the store owner and his family.
Mukhtar Sajhanni (AC 4, hm F6, HP 48, THACO 15, AL LN, S16, I13, W10, D11, C13, CH15, Sv F6) is the owner of Mukhtar's Provisions. He is a large and powerfully built man in his mid forties, who spent most of his life living on the road working as a Sell Sword, a Travelling Merchant and eventually as a Caravan Master before finding his way to Autumn's Reach. Mukhtar has a thick black beard, a dark skin tone and wears his hair in a turban.
Mukhtar came to Autumn's Reach nearly 10 years ago as a Caravan Master who lost most of his supplies and two thirds of his crew as a result of an ambush by Hill Giants. Lacking the resources to rebuild his caravan, Mukhtar made the decision to settle in Autumn's Reach. Since this time, Mukhtar has built up his business, married and has started a family.
Mukhtar is a good business person and strives to build positive relations with his customers. Mukhtar will be polite and helpful to the players.
As a result of the hardships he faced as a Caravan Master and a Travelling Merchant, Mukhtar has developed a healthy level of caution, whereby he is always prepared to defend himself if the situation should arise. Hidden underneath his robes he wears elven chain +1 (AC 4). Concealed within the folds of his robes he has two daggers: one is a silver dagger, while the other is a magical dagger +1. Behind the counter of the front desk Mukhtar has a loaded hand crossbow and a scimitar.
A young halfling by the name of Hobias (AC 8, Lv 0, HP 3, AL NG, Sv F0) works at Mukhtar's Provisions, and has been employed by Mukhtar for the past 6 years. The townsfolk have affectionately refer to Hobias as "Mukhtar's Sidekick" as the two are close friends.
Due to Hobias' small size and the massive amount of items in the store, the players will likely not notice Hobias at first. The players may be startled when Hobias first greets them as they will hear his voice before spotting him.
Hobias is a good natured and inquisitive halfling who has never handled a weapon is his life. If the situation for violence should arise, Hobias will run for cover while Mukhtar will protect him.
Mukhtar's Provisions sells most of the equipment and gear found in the Player's Handbook. As well, Mukhtar does have a limited selection of weapons and armour, which he has acquired through trade with adventurers. At any given time, Mukhtar will have between 15 to 30 individual weapons and 5 to 10 pieces of armour for sale (players will find a greater selection of weapons and armour from the weapon's smiths and armourer shops).
The prices for most of the merchandise are consistent with the prices found in the Player's Handbook, with the exception of exotic items which costs 2 to 3 times as much. Mukhtar is able to keep his prices reasonable due to his strong base of regular customers and the high volume of sales from his store.
The players will come across paintings, sculptures, statues and other pieces of art in the store. These items are of a low quality, and the artists who made these works are unknown. The value of each of these items will range from 1 to 8 gold pieces each, with individual items never exceeding 15 gold pieces.
On the shelves behind the counter are glass jars containing pipe-weed and a selection of smoking pipes. The smoking pipes are of an average quality and costs 6 to 8 silver pieces each.
*A scoop is roughly equivalent to one cup, and will contain enough pipe-weed for 10 uses.
Mukhtar also sells pipe-weed pouches, which will hold up to 2 scoops of pipe-weed. The pouches cost 8 copper pieces each.
There are some interesting items that the players will come across if they spend enough time searching through the merchandise in the store. These items include:
Players could either sell or barter items acquired from adventuring to Mukhtar. If adventurers wish to sell items to Mukhtar he will typically give them 50% of the value of the item. However, due to the limited amount of gold Mukhtar has at any given time (most of his assets are in his merchandise), Mukhtar will be only able to buy up to 100 gold pieces worth of items from a Party of Adventurers at a time.
Another option that the Players have is that they could barter with Mukhtar (in fact most of Mukhtar's customers use bartering as a means of obtaining their merchandise). Mukhtar will typically offer the Players 75% of the value of the items for trade. For instance, if a Player has an item worth 100 gold pieces, Mukhtar will give the Player 75 gold pieces credit towards whatever merchandise they purchase from his store.
Bartering does have its limits. Mukhtar will not allow Players to barter individual items worth more than 150 gold pieces and will not be able to accept more than a combined total of 500 gold pieces in items bartered at one visit. As well, Mukhtar may not accept suits of armour made for smaller and larger sized creatures (i.e. amour made for a goblin) as the resale of these items would be difficult. Alternatively, the players could sell non-standard sized armour to the forges (chain mail, plate mail, etc.) for raw materials (the players would receive 5-10% of the value of the armour if they were to sell it for raw materials).
Mukhtar is married to Sarah (AC 10, hf Lv 0, HP 6, AL NG, Sv F0), and they have two beautiful daughters: Rhaea (age 4) and Lunarea (age 1). Sarah is an attractive human woman in her early thirties, who has a tall and slender build and long chestnut brown hair. Sarah occasionally spends time in the store helping Mukhtar, but most of her time is spent with her daughters.
Mukhtar's Provisions is located in the West Markets, and is facing west towards the Market Square and the West Town Wall. The building is a 40 feet wide, 50 feet long, and 2 storeys tall. The main floor of the building comprises of the store, while the second floor comprises the residents for Mukhtar and his family.
The Ground Floor is the store itself, and is where Mukhtar conducts his business. There is a set of stairs leading to the second floor (residents) and another set of stairs leading to the cellar.
The second floor contains Mukhtar and his family's residents.
The Cellar is where Mukhtar keeps his excess merchandise.