“The shop is called The White Basin, a spotless herbalist's storefront built inside a former public bathhouse. Every surface is scrubbed daily with citrus oil and powdered chalk, and customers are expected to rinse their hands in a shallow marble basin before browsing. Bundles of herbs hang in symmetrical rows beneath a ceiling painted like a pale morning sky. The air smells of mint, clean linen, and faint dragonfire. Aged dragonborn proprietor Vessarak Ashscale is a level 8 alchemist and retired caravan healer with translucent amber scales, a white beard braided with ceramic beads, and a voice like warm gravel. He is patient, exacting, and deeply suspicious of anyone who handles an unsealed vial. His apprentice, Mira Pell, is a level 3 human acolyte who keeps immaculate notes and insists that every purchase be wrapped in fresh paper. Vessarak's breath weapon is rarely used in the shop, but he can exhale a brief cloud of harmless warm air to dry herbs or sterilize metal tools. He refuses to sell lethal poisons, though he stocks antidotes for nearly every common toxin. Customers who haggle are offered a choice between a lower price and a day of unpaid cleaning. The shop's clean appearance is not merely aesthetic. Vessarak believes physical order helps the mind resist panic, infection, and magical corruption.”