The Old Monster Shop

This ugly poorly built warehouse is littered with dust and rubble. It smells of animal dung and damp.

The upper floors are largely empty, but visitors entering by the door are immediately confronted by a hungrily interested gargoyle perched on the swinging gate of a service counter.

Behind the counter sits Feldyn, who’s usually examining a map or a worn copy of a crude monthly illustrated chapbook. He always appears calm, even bored. An adventurer who once saw him threatened with a cockatrice said he didn’t even blink, but merely yawned and told the cockatrice-holder to state his business.

Shops where one can buy live monsters are rare anywhere in Faerun. A surprisingly large number of folk make their ways as unobtrusively as possible to Feldyn'’s doors. His clientele include jaded nobles looking for exotic things to hunt, eat, or play with; those who want to create a sensation at parties or with traveling shows, or just acquire a wall trophy they can boast about; adventurers in need of practice; breeders and wizards needing live material for their researches, and so on.

In pools, cages, and a variety of imprisoning containers in his cellars, Feldyn keeps an everchanging roster of monsters to sell to them. He also has a room of jugged, jarred, or coffered remnants, from horns and bottled gore to pelts and scales.

These valuables are guarded by a loyal (trained or magically controlled) staff of guardian monsters: four watchspiders, two gargoyles (Feldyn controls them with a ring of gargoyles), two mimics (a killer mimic that poses as a bar on the inside of the cart doors, and a space mimic that pretends to be the door at the bottom of the cellar stairs most of the time), and a female-looking stone golem known as Ouldra. In case of attack, Feldyn will flee to the cellars, trusting to his ring of spell turning to keep him safe as his monsters spring to the attack.

The owner of the Old Monster Shop, Feldyn, is evil, coldly calm, and unscrupulous. He gets even, but he does not hate. He uses his unremarkable appearance to adopt whatever disguises he deems necessary when following foes through Waterdeep. Whenever outside his shop, Feldyn is armed with a pair of golden lion figurines of wondrous power.

Feldyn will purchase monsters, including eggs and young. He does not like to handle magically transformed or petrified monsters (to minimize his personal danger). Badly wounded or dead beasts fetch very little from him.

He sometimes hires adventurers who have brought him lots of monsters to get specific monsters to order or to slay or kidnap folk who have become his foes. Among residents of Waterdeep, his recent contacts have included the Company of the Bloody Banner, a fellowship of a dozen evil female half-elves, and the Weird Company; an evil adventuring band dominated by six wizards.

Feldyn buys cheap and sells expensive. Most beasts go for at least 1000 sp. Prices increase with a creature’s danger and rarity. Monster parts are much cheaper—-usually 40 sp to 250 sp, depending on what they are.

Whenever authorities look into his shop, Feldyn claims to be in business largely to serve the kitchens of Waterdeep, with a few noble patrons who love hunting as special patrons. He shows his selection of monster parts, keeps his guardian monsters (except for the golem) out of view and gives out free copies of two of his most famous recipes: dragon soup and roasted cockatrice. Not being a member of the city guard, I had to pay 1 sp per recipe-—but I’ve since been able to try them both, and the results were delicious!

Some who live near the Old Monster Shop claim they’'ve seen folk go inside it and never come out again—and also seen folk (and worse!) come out that they swear never went in.

Members of the Watchful Order who have too much drink say more. Some claim Feldyn has some sort of monster in the depths of his cellars that gives birth to other creatures. Others claim that he has several gates that link him to faraway places in the Realms.