The New Merchant District Sneak Peek: The Arcane Plaza

[Actinate]

Hey all! I apologize for the delay in my updates! Real life happens sometimes! Today we are going to be focusing on the Arcane Plaza, home to all of our Mage items.

Before we begin, I feel it's important to inform you all that there will be two Arcane Plazas. The one we are discussing will be implemented at the time the NMD goes into effect. The second one, Arcane Plaza East, will not be included with the NMD, but it will arrive sometime later (with additional shops).

Speaking of shops, let's see what shops we have in the Arcane Plaza:

1. Muddling Mixtures - A potion store that sells roughly 35-40 USEFUL and AFFORDABLE potions at a time. More will be added as time goes on and new abilities/effects are added. It is owned by Bunson, an insane alchemist. Due to his crazy antics, he is forced to do business just outside of the gate to the Arcane Plaza.

2. The House of Honestus Rising - A store operated by members of an ancient organization that worships Honestus. They deal specifically in ice-related and Honestus faction items. They are going to be a major player in some of the city's new quests that are being developed. They rose to success after an event where pirates robbed and sunk a trade ship carrying ice-based goods. What no one knows, yet, is that they aren't the only magic occult in town that's decided to start selling goods and services.

3. The Magic Emporium - A collection of stores owned by the Arcane Order. It contains the following shops: Shards and Catalysts, Sacred Gems, Age Old Knowledge, Erius's Potpourri, Perfumes, and Beyond, Delicious Incantations, and two other secret shops that you'll have to locate.

4. Tralisia's Library (name holder) - A library of collected local and global works funded by the Arcane Order. I am really hoping to have this completed by the time the NMD launches; it will be very cool with its own unique features and a place for players to purchase books.

Let's talk differences!

Sacred Gems and Age Old Knowledge contains the same types of items as it did previously, but with a major cosmetic overhaul. Age Old Knowledge also contains some new items. Shards and Catalysts went from selling 10 items to 25, and all the items are very different than what were being sold previously. Some are utility shards, some are elemental shards, some are basic shards, and some are staffs... that's right, staffs. The other stores all contain new, never before seen items (this includes Shards and Catalysts).

Let's discuss Shard Construction! I really wanted the shards and staffs for sale to be memorable and interesting. I tried to give them each their own little personalities and specialized abilities that are very different from the shards you find today, but there was a problem... If you can just buy and upgrade the best gear in the store, then what's the point of Shard Construction? Well, in order to keep Shard Construction relevant and, in some ways, better than store bought shards, we changed a few things:

1. All store shards/staffs come with a bonus and a penalty. If it comes with only bonuses, it is very close to a basic shard that you can create.
2. Most store shards and some staffs can be upgraded with gems. The most powerful ones that will always outclass player-made shards, are not able to be upgraded.
3. The addition of utility shards creates an entirely new type of shard that doesn't need to be upgraded and cannot be crafted.
4. Most store shards contain bonuses that cannot be currently obtained through Shard Construction. Most of these new bonuses and penalties are situational. Most of these situational shards can be upgraded at the same power level as constructed shards.
5. Since players cannot make staffs, if the staff is not fusible, then it is pre-constructed to be BETTER than crafted shards, with some downsides. Overtime, constructed or fused shards will overpower these non-fusible staffs, and new, more powerful staffs will need to be sought.
6. Some shards and staffs contain hidden secrets or may be of some importance.

Let's talk Bunson burners!

Bunson, the city's insane alchemist, may display erratic behavior that is on par with Barrin's, but no one can deny that he's an absolute genius when it comes to whipping up strange liquids for you to drink! Aside from the classic healing potions, Bunson also offers potions that provide temporary abilities, attacks, damage upgrades, stat upgrades, badger piss, potions that effect your entire group, defense upgrades, cures for various poisons (like Duck Water), sells some poisons, and a very special potion that is: a pear-shaped bottle of clear liquid sealed with a decorative gold stopper shaped like a phoenix rising from the ashes. Drink it, and the next time you die... you might just self-revive!

Erius's dream...

Did you know that Erius's biggest dream was to own ATS's version of bed, bath, and beyond? Neither did I until I wrote it while taking sleep aids for my chronic insomnia. He sells various Essences and other things that one might enjoy taking a whiff of...

A place to dine!

Delicious Incantations is a diner operated by the Arcane Order. You can find the Archmage himself dining there almost every night!

I hope you enjoyed that little preview. I'm working overtime to get all of this done, but I am also taking care to test and ensure the quality of these items. Next time, we'll discuss a very secret... AAAAAGENT MAN!