_“Power trades in coin. Secrets trade in blood.”_
**Overview:**
The Blood Market is a semi-legal underground exchange hub in [[Hexa Landing]] where vampires, mortal agents, and information brokers barter in secrets, favors, and magical commodities. Operated with quiet approval by the Night Guild and tolerated by the [[Ebonclaw Conclave]], the Market is one of the few places where status can be bought—or ruined—with a whisper.
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### **Location:**
Beneath the **Daggerbone Vaults** in the Outer Wards. Accessed only through enchanted doorways hidden in grave markers, tax offices, or failing blood dens. A moving entrance rotates weekly—known only to those invited.
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### **Atmosphere:**
- Shadow-lit archways with silver-chained booths
- Private vault rooms for high-stakes dealings
- Runed braziers that burn secrets into ash once trades are struck
- Silence is enforced magically; speaking names aloud can trigger memory wipes or worse
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### **Currency Types:**
1. **Memory Glasses** – Crystallized memories offered for trade. Can be viewed once via ritual, then shatter.
2. **Blood Tallies** – Tokens of vitae owed from named individuals (used like IOUs).
3. **Vein Favors** – Enchanted slips that promise action from a faction official. Rare and dangerous.
4. **Unmarked Relics** – Magic items with no declared lineage. Often stolen, cursed, or politically sensitive.
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### **Notable Vendors & Brokers:**
- **Silvra the Split-Tongue** – A masked broker who deals only in blackmail. Can extract the truth from any written lie.
- **Father Bransk** – A defrocked priest who sells stolen divine scrolls, often in exchange for mortal memories.
- **The Archivist's Teeth** – A silent stall run by undead scribes offering flawed but ancient ritual blueprints.
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### **Player Mechanics:**
**Gaining Access:**
- Requires a **Bloodpass** (granted by a faction like the Night Guild or Whisper Court), or
- Completing a **Favor for the Market** (e.g., silencing a loose-lipped noble, delivering a cursed item, etc.)
**Available Services (Examples):**
|Service|Cost|Effect|
|---|---|---|
|Purchase a noble’s sealed bloodline history|1 Memory Glass|Grants leverage in social scenes (Advantage to Persuasion/Intimidation for 24 hours)|
|Trade a memory of your first kill|Gain 1 Vein Favor|The memory is permanently lost|
|Commission a rumor against a rival|1 Blood Tally|Reputation -1 for target unless they act quickly|
|Obtain restricted spell|1 Vein Favor + gold|Choose from custom ritual list|
### **Dangers of the Market:**
- **Double-Dealing:** Many stalls are fronts for factions or rogue agents. You may be watched.
- **Cursed Goods:** Buying without knowing the item's origin can lead to madness, binding, or divine wrath.
- **Market Justice:** Thieves, spies, or oath-breakers are erased by the **Whispering Gavel**, a floating judge-face that appears without warning and deals instant psychic punishment.
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### **Player Hooks:**
- A contact asks the party to retrieve a memory glass before it is sold to a rival faction.
- The party is blackmailed with a forged blood tally unless they prove its falsehood in time.
- A cursed Vein Favor changes hands, binding the players to an act they never agreed to.
- A high-value relic connected to one PC’s past appears for auction.