“The Shimmering Stilt stands above the mire on rickety wooden stilts, its walls hung with strings of colorful beads and scales that glint in the ever-damp air. Inside, the pungent smell of swamp blossoms mingles with the sharp tang of metal polish. Gruba Mudgem, always dressed in a patchwork waistcoat and a riot of mismatched jewelry, greets customers with a conspiratorial grin. She has a knack for remembering every piece she’s ever sold, but her left ear twitches constantly—proof of a run-in with a rival jeweler and a swarm of angry mosquitoes. Local children believe the shop is guarded by her pet giant toad, Nimbus, who is never far from the counter and fiercely protective of the shinier stock.”