“Halfgate Armory began as a sign reading 'Half-Closed Gate, Weapons and Harness,' referring to the old gatehouse beside which the business was founded. Locals shortened the name to Halfgate generations ago, though the gatehouse is now gone. The shop is a long, cool chamber of soot-dark stone, crowded with shield racks, hanging mail, stacked spear shafts, and armor forms wearing mismatched helmets. A forge burns behind a waist-high iron grate, filling the place with the smell of coal, hot oil, leather, and rain-damp wool. Every weapon is tagged with a little strip of blue cloth indicating whether it is new, repaired, or previously owned. The floorboards near the counter creak in a deliberate pattern, and one apparently decorative bell cord is actually connected to the rear door. Mair Gell is a broad-shouldered hill dwarf with a soft, rounded face, cropped iron-gray hair, and hands permanently darkened by soot. He speaks gently until someone mistreats a blade, at which point his quiet corrections become startlingly exact. He is a level 5 fighter and master armorer who favors a patched leather apron over plain clothes. Mair is patient with inexperienced adventurers, but charges an extra 5 sp for weapons returned with blood left in the grooves. He remembers every repair by the shape of the damage and keeps the best custom pieces behind the counter rather than displaying them.”