Pollo's Potions
Pollo's Potions ("Alchemy While You Wait")
Pollo's Potions is a bustling apothecary, herbalist emporium, and alchemical laboratory in the commercial quarter of the capital, owned and operated by the Half-Elf Eloquence Bard Marco Pollo under the motto "Alchemy While You Wait."
Staff & Operations
Marco Pollo's enterprise operates through a seamless division of labor between its in-house staff, field acquisition specialist, and two non-magical shop animals:
- Marco Pollo (Half-Elf Bard 5, College of Eloquence) — Proprietor, chief negotiator, and political broker.
- Alabaster Clay (Half-Orc Cleric 5, Trickery Domain) — Shop security, healer, and manager. Blunt, protective of Cherry and Juniper, and holder of the shop keys and ledger.
- Cherry Blossom (Half-Elf Druid 5, Circle of the Land — Forest) — Shop operations, customer relations, and ingredient management. Uses her botanical expertise and Detect Poison and Disease / Detect Magic to vet incoming stock.
- Juniper Blossom (Half-Elf Druid 8, Circle of the Moon) — Travelling courier, rare-materials buyer, and scout. Uses aerial Wild Shape forms (Eagle, Owl) and a Bag of Holding to move high-value ingredients without needing a guarded wagon.
Shop Animals & Security Protocol
Neither shop animal is a magical familiar — both are ordinary, mundane animals whose natural instincts integrate with the druids' Speak with Animals spells:
🐱 The Cat: Meowzart
An ordinary domestic cat that lounges across the shop counters and windowsills, watching customers and noticing subtle movements or noises. Cherry Blossom and Juniper Blossom cast Speak with Animals to ask what Meowzart observed (filtered through the perspective of a normal cat).
🐶 The Dog: Beethoven
A trained mastiff stationed near the shop entrance as an early-warning sentry and visible deterrent. With Keen Hearing and Smell (advantage on Wisdom [Perception] checks relying on hearing or smell), Beethoven detects unfamiliar scents, alerts the staff to disturbances, and tracks intruders by scent. Although Cherry and Juniper can speak with him magically, Beethoven inexplicably loves Alabaster Clay best.
| Member | Security Responsibility |
|---|---|
| Meowzart (Cat) | Quiet observation from counters and windowsills |
| Beethoven (Dog) | Early warning, scent tracking, and entrance deterrence |
| Alabaster Clay | Direct threat response, healing, and physical protection of the shop |
| Cherry Blossom | Monitors the animals, vets ingredients, and investigates unusual activity |
| Juniper Blossom | Uses intelligence gathered by the animals when planning supply runs |
Neighborhood Hub & The Thorn Standoff
The shop's backroom serves as the nexus for the City Cohort:
- House Ebonhawk Logistics: Malakor Viridian audits and commissions military burn-salves and coagulants here for Ebonhawk supply wagons bound for M.A.S.H. in the Stormhorns.
- Royal Confidant Haven: Shifty the Court Jester uses the shop as a sanctuary from court chores under his Fool's License.
- Swamp Reagents: Bogg of the Coralheart Tribe trades rare marsh reagents here while investigating the vanished Coralheart Matriarch.
Pollo's Potions became the epicenter of a high-noon standoff when Thorn arrived with a House Foxmantle Letter of Credit, drawing Queen Raedra's fixer Drakkhen Crowman and a street ambush that culminated in the party defending the Ebonhawk supply wagon and smuggling Thorn north inside a shielded metal casing.
See also: Marco Pollo, Alabaster Clay, Cherry Blossom, Juniper Blossom, Malakor Viridian, Shifty, Bogg, Thorn, Drakkhen Crowman, M.A.S.H.