After a few hours of travel, the city wall of New Roanoke came into Gwen's view. The wall was just as impressive as it was the last time Gwen had visited.
Passing through the gate, the companions headed first to find a stable for their horses and an inn for themselves.
"After we find lodgings, we should head to the merchant district," Gabriel said. "We can talk to an information broker there."
Fifteen minutes later, the adventurers were walking through the merchant district. It was just as lively as Gwen remembered it. Shoppers were rushing around buying and haggling. The merchant stalls which lined the streets were filled with many different kinds of wares. One stall in particular caught Gwen's attention. This stall had bundles of cloves of garlic hanging from the top of the stall. Another stall had a burly woman calling out to potential customers. Her stall sold cheeses and butter. Gwen could smell the rich aroma of baking bread as they walked past a bakery.
"Gwen, please keep up. We cannot afford to be separated," Gabriel said, snapping Gwen out of her sightseeing.
Gabriel and Tristan lead the group through the merchant district. After some time, the companions arrived at a larger building than those surrounding it. The building was still only two stories, but it was much wider than the buildings on either side of it. Two armed guards stood outside of the building.
"This is the Lawrencia Trading Company's main building," Gabriel told them.
"The merchant we were working with when we first met Gwen works for this company. It is a good company. The entire company has an internal ban on the slave trade as well as a ban on the use of slaves," Tristan elaborated. "They have also helped us out substantially since we were first disinherited."
As the companions walked into the store, they were immediately greeted by a receptionist. The receptionist was a woman in her mid-twenties with auburn hair and hazel eyes. She was wearing an off-white blouse and a long brown skirt with a grey apron covering both.
"Is there anything I can help you with today?" the receptionist asked the adventurers.
Looking around the store Gwen noticed that it was an open floor plan with barrels and shelves of products dividing the store into aisles. There were jars of pickled vegetables, some Gwen were familiar and others that were completely foreign. Gwen also saw salt being sold by the barrel as well as in smaller quantities. The items out for sale seemed to be geared toward travelers as there were also bedrolls and flint strikers being sold. There were also salespeople walking around and assisting the customers.
"We would like to meet with an information broker," Gabriel told the receptionist.
"Of course, right this way," the receptionist told them, leading them towards a door at the back of the store.
The group passed through the door and were greeted with an administrative area. They were in a hallway with branching side rooms. They were taken into one of these rooms. In the room sat a woman who appeared to be in her mid-sixties. The chair on which she sat was wooden and rustic, but noticeably well crafted. There was also a table between woman and the party. The table was also wooden and simplistic in design, seeming to favor function and longevity over unnecessary intricate designs. On Gwen's side of the table there was a wooden bench with a comfortable-looking cushion for customers to sit. This couch followed the same design principles as the chair and table.
"So, what is your inquiry?" the woman asked. "Your payment will depend on the value of the information you request."
"We would like to inquire about the location of any unexplored or newly discovered ruins from the Age of Dragons," Gabriel asked the information broker.
"That is a difficult request. I apologize; I do not know of any unexplored ruins from the Age of Dragons," the information broker told them. "I am truly sorry for not being able to assist you today."
The party started to walk out disheartened.
"However, I do have some information you may find useful. I have heard from someone who conducts business with the elves that there is something strange happening around the Elven Woods," the merchant told them, "though I would not recommend travelling through that area, the elves are known to be secretive and dislike outsiders trespassing in their territory."
"Thank you for the information, we will keep it in mind," Gabriel replied.
"As I was unable to help you with your primary request, your payment for the information will only be ten copper coins," the elderly information broker told the adventurers.
Gabriel placed ten copper coins on the table.
"Thank you for choosing to do business with us at the Lawrencia Trading Company," the woman said.
The companions then left the store slightly disappointed at the lack of information.
"There are other trade guilds with information brokers that we can visit," Gabriel stated.
"I would have preferred it if the Lawrencia Company was the only guild we needed to visit. The others are not as upright as the Lawrencia Company," Tristan added.
"Follow me, we will head to another commerce guild, and we will see if they have any different information," Gabriel told the party.
Gabriel led the companions down another street. There they found another large storefront. Unlike the rustic and simplistic elegance of the Lawrencia Trading Company's storefront, this storefront was gaudy with colorful and eye-catching designs covering the exterior. Even the store guards were equipped with shiny armor and weapons.
As they entered the store, Gwen observed that the interior was no less flashy. The interior was illuminated by the large glass windows on the front of the store. Contradicting the brightness of the store's decorations was its main inventory. The majority of the floorspace was filled with large cages. These cages were not filled with animals, but people. The main product being sold in this store was slaves.
Gwen was horrified; this gaudy establishment was essentially a fancy slave market. She looked at her companions to see their reactions. The brothers had likely known the main "product" of this merchant guild as they did not look surprised. The brothers were, however, still visibly uneasy. Gabriel had a resigned look in his eyes while Tristan appeared to be trying to hide his disgust. Looking to her other side, Maximus just had a sour expression.
It was truly appalling. People of varying ages and ethnicities were being held in the cages. The cages even seemed to be divided based on the type of occupants. There were cages specifically for children, cages for adult men, and cages for adult women. All of them had shackles on their wrists. All of the slaves also had the vacant look in their eyes caused by the drug used to pacify slaves.
As the party walked into the store, Gwen noticed that the workers were wearing fancy clothing. Even some of the slaves were dressed in fine garments.
The party had to wait a few minutes before someone came to assist them. It was not that the workers were busy, they likely saw the adventurers' equipment, realized that they would not be high paying customers, and decided to simply ignore them.
The employee that came to help them was a man in his late twenties, he was dressed gaudily, the same as every other worker.
"May I ask what business you have with our esteemed establishment?" the man asked, looking the party up and down.
"Yes, we would like to meet with an information broker," Gabriel told the man.
"Of course, follow me," the man stated, leading the party to the back of the store.
The man led them up a stairway in the back of the store, down a hallway, and into a room. The room was spacious and well decorated. There was a red couch on one wall and a fancy chair on the other. The walls were covered in wallpaper with repeating images of flowers. There was even a painting of a unicorn hanging on one wall.
"Please wait here for the information broker," the young man told them before exiting the room.
Once the man had left the room, Gwen quietly asked her question, "What is this place?"
"This is the flagship store of the Rolland Trade Association. They are the largest commerce guild in the country. This company has the backing of multiple noble houses, so we must be careful not to cause any scenes," Gabriel said, looking at Gwen as he talked.
"If it is the flagship store, where are the rest of the items that they sell? They cannot sell only slaves, right?" Gwen responded.
"They do have other stores; however, this location caters to the wealthy and aristocrats looking to purchase slaves," Gabriel whispered. "This location is also where the best information brokers are located. If they do not have the information for which we are searching here, there is little reason to go anywhere else."
The door opened and a portly, middle-aged man walked into the room. The man was wearing a fancy suit and had multiple jewel-encrusted gold rings on his fingers.
"How can I be of service to you?" the man asked with an overly performative tone.
"We would like to know if you have any information about unexplored or poorly explored dragon age ruins," Gabriel asked the man.
"Payment first, then I will answer your question," the rotund man said. "It will be two silver coins."
Gabriel handed the man two silver coins. The man grinned as he took the money.
"Unfortunately, I am unaware of any dragon-age ruins that are nearby," the man said with a smirk. "That will be all. Thank you for your patronage."
The rotund man stood up to leave, smirk still plastered on his face. Tristan went to try and stop the man from leaving, but Gabriel grabbed his and pulled him back. The man sauntered out the door.
Their mission complete, the companions headed back to their inn, in a sour mood.