Location Nazim's Folly

[Cantrip]

Nazim’s Folly Rising from bare, rocky scrub, this trading post is regularly sought out by caravans and shepherds seeking a brief respite from the unforgiving desert. There isn’t much in the vicinity, just a few squat, mud-brick huts that are mostly deserted, and a vaguely muddy cistern where water is dredged up from the depths of bedrock. There are rags flying from stakes in the sand, dyes fading, and motley chunks of timber, of graying bones that clack in the gusts. The borders are edged by low trenches, once intended for irrigation, that remain desolately uncompleted. The Folly has been around longer than anybody can remember, and lingers as a reminder of the futility of trying to cultivate the desert. There’s a self-effacing ritual of the trader lending his or her monicker to the trading post. Nazim is a tough, yet elderly man, usually found under an awning of poles and bleached burlap nodding off on a mound of cushions, or puffing on a pewter water pipe as he scratches his mangy dog, Uran, under the chin. Anka, Trongar, and Sul are the only regulars, a cluster of outlanders that wander the desert for various purposes, infrequently gathering back at the Folly to spin yarns. The infrequent, slowly rumbling caravans regularly bide there to resupply, leaving a sprawl of tents, carts, and perhaps a scrawny cluster of goats in a corral of baked clay, kept safe from jackals. There’s also a long, low hut that’s bulging with debris. There are sacks of wheat, urns of oil and wine, bales of leather, cloth, and other trade goods, not to disregard scraps of armor, used clothing, rusty weapons, clay pots, tiny bags of tea, packets of spices, patched tents, sealed jars of honey, cart wheels, carpentry tools, plows, planks, bird cages, spools of cotton thread, various junk, even fine bolts of silk. Many of these are shrewdly bartered for, though he morbidly gleans a sprawling portion of the goods from rag pickers. * The Folly is located about 15 days east of Yahebah NPC - Nazim : Name: Nazim, of the Tents of Eleazar Race: Benshira Description: This irascible, yet wily trader is plainly of the sons of Malech. He’s a frugal man, once a shepherd and later a trader, who has roved to all corners of the desert, leading a pair of camels laden with bales of goods. He took over from the previous trader twelve years ago. Nazim is often found lying by his hut. High-shouldered and lanky, there are piercing hazel eyes set back in his angular face, and he’s usually clad in a white robe, badly faded and with the hem slowly fraying. His skin is burned nut-brown, framed by spiky gray hair and partly covered by unkempt whiskers. Though he’s a shrewd trader, he barely cares for wearing satin and silver. Nazim enjoys good stories, a willing ear to fill with his incessant griping, and making deals that add to his already prodigious variety. These invariably occur under the scrutiny of the regulars. He’s also known to brew a malted liquor, nazha, that is frequently used to thin paint. Skills: Cooking: 29 Herbalism: 18 Negotiation: 67 Brewing: 35 Animal Husbandry: 22