Palimpsest & Sons, The Red Margin

Shop · kept by Ilyra Venn

Palimpsest & Sons, The Red Margin

Shop name suggestions include Palimpsest & Sons, The Red Margin, and House of Second Pages.

Stock

16 items · 39 gp

Other

9 items · 7 sp to 5 gp

Good Blank ParchmentFine rag paper treated with sizing, sold to scribes,…8 sp
Palimpsest Black InkA stoppered ceramic vial of dense black writing ink, made…1 gp
Red Margin Correction InkA rich vermilion ink used for annotations, corrections,…7 sp
Contractor's QuireDurable legal paper with a subtle watermark of an open…1 gp
Custody Receipt SealA modest receipt seal for merchants, archivists3 gp
Courier's Page TubeA discreet document tube favored by couriers who do not…9 sp
Rented Drawer KeyA duplicate key for a rented document drawer, issued…5 gp
Gentle Restoration WashA cautious cleaning solution for minor stains, sold with…1 gp
Manuscript Mending PacketA simple repair packet for damaged manuscripts, including…8 sp

Tools

3 items · 6 cp to 2 gp

Binder's Awl1d4 damage6 cp
Traveling Bookbinder's KitA compact restoration kit wrapped in oilcloth, suitable…2 gp
Archive Handling SetA beginner's document-handling set sold to apprentices…1 gp

Books

2 items · 3 gp to 12 gp

Second-Page LedgerThe paper is unusually smooth and takes correction ink cleanly.3 gp
The Surveyor's Missing FoundationPrizedA discreetly acquired text sold as antiquarian gossip12 gp

Maps

1 item · 2 gp

Candlelit Archive District MapA carefully copied district map, updated by couriers and…2 gp

Containers

1 item · 4 gp

Archivist's False-Bottom BoxA presentation box for valuable letters, seals, or…4 gp

About

Shop name suggestions include Palimpsest & Sons, The Red Margin, and House of Second Pages. The proprietor, Ilyra Venn, publicly condemns theft with theatrical disgust while privately purchasing pages removed from sealed archives. She is a meticulous, status-conscious bookseller who corrects customers' grammar, dusts her cuffs after touching tavern patrons, and insists that every sale be recorded even when the description is deliberately vague. Her signature product is the Second-Page Ledger, a handsome blank book with exceptionally smooth paper and an indexed rear section. The shop is directly across the lane from a busy tavern and occupies the lower floor of a leaning archive annex. It is cramped, candlelit, and fragrant with ink, paste, old leather, and dry dust. Shelves sag beneath blank books, copied maps, legal seals, restoration tools, and discreetly acquired texts. The back room is a maze of stacked folios, drying racks, broken cabinets, and one concealed dumbwaiter connecting to an upper archive room. The dumbwaiter is operated by a counterweight and groans whenever used. The tavern and shop maintain a tense alliance because both depend on scholars and couriers, but Ilyra blames the tavern for attracting thieves. Through their shared wall, tavern patrons can hear scraping quills late into the night. One connected NPC has brought in a damaged manuscript for repair, while another has offered an extravagant price for a missing page. Ilyra claims the page is merely a worthless scrap, though her refusal to discuss it suggests otherwise. The obvious false lead is a key stamped with a sinister-looking archive symbol. It appears to open the dangerous or stolen text's vault, but actually opens only a coal cupboard. The real evidence is hidden in the suspicious customer ledger and in the altered binding of a cracked legal codex. The shop's respectable front barely conceals an illicit archival trade, and its carefully maintained records could expose scholars, couriers, collectors, tavern regulars, and perhaps the archive officials themselves.

Stash

7 items to steal

The stash · GM only

The shop's real stash is divided between the cluttered back room and an upper archive room reached by a concealed hand-operated lift, an old dumbwaiter built into the leaning annex wall. Daily coin remains under the counter, while the most incriminating records and rare pages are hidden among respectable legal forms and damaged books. Through the shared wall, tavern patrons can hear scraping quills at night, especially when Ilyra is updating her ledger or preparing a discreet sale.

Security check: DC 13Dexterity using thieves' tools, or Intelligence using Investigation to identify the false shelves and alarm cords
If they fail: A failed theft attempt disturbs a string of brass bells attached to the private cabinet and hidden lift. The proprietor, Ilyra Venn, arrives with a cudgel and loudly accuses the party of attacking respectable commerce. If the alarm is not contained, the tavern across the lane hears the commotion, a courier bolts for the watch, and the shop's illicit records are moved through the dumbwaiter before authorities arrive. A second failure reveals that one of the tavern's regulars has been paid to watch the shop's rear door.
The whole haul: About 196 gp

Day's Receipts18 gp
Kept: Under the counter inside a false stack of unsold almanacs
A leather purse containing mixed coin from ordinary sales, restoration deposits, and small courier fees. The purse is kept beneath the counter because Ilyra refuses to trust a strongbox for daily business.
Value: 18 gp, 11 sp, and 24 cp
Ilyra's Spectacles Case7 gp
Kept: The proprietor's writing desk in the cluttered back room
A silver spectacles case engraved with Ilyra Venn's initials. It contains spare lenses, a tiny polishing cloth, and a folded note reminding her to collect a repaired manuscript from one of the named NPCs.
The Damaged Manuscript25 gp
Kept: Inside a linen-wrapped folio beneath the restoration table
A damaged manuscript brought in for repair by one of the two connected NPCs. Several pages are water-stained, but the intact sections contain names, dates, and references to a sealed archive collection.
Value: 25 gp to a scholar, more if returned to its owner
The Red Ledger40 gp
Kept: Behind a loose rear panel of the tall cabinet marked 'Municipal Forms'
A suspicious customer ledger listing scholars, couriers, collectors, and intermediaries who purchased or sold discreetly acquired texts. Several entries use initials, coded prices, and tavern table numbers.
Value: 40 gp to a rival bookseller, investigator, or blackmailer
The Missing Page75 gp
Kept: Stitched beneath the lining of a cracked legal codex on the upper archive-room shelf
A single missing page for which another NPC has offered an extravagant price. Ilyra has not sold it, but she has hidden it inside a discarded book cover while deciding whether to accept the offer.
Value: 75 gp to the interested NPC, 10 gp to an ordinary antiquarian
Ilyra's Archive Keys5 gp
Kept: On a chain tucked into the proprietor's waistcoat
A ring of keys including the front door, storage cabinets, the dumbwaiter lock, and the rented drawer system. One key is a false lead, stamped with a sinister symbol that suggests it opens the dangerous text's vault, though it actually opens only a coal cupboard.
Value: 5 gp as keys, considerably more as evidence of access
The Sleeping Fox Page Weight15 gp
Kept: On the proprietor's desk beside the red correction ink
A miniature ivory page weight carved as a sleeping fox. Its base contains a hollow compartment with a pawn ticket from a private collector. The curio is not magical, but it proves Ilyra has traded with someone who prefers anonymity.