Dear Applicant,
I am pleased to offer you the role of Apprentice Thaumaturge at Strange Antiquities.
You show promise – a sharp mind and a strong stomach – exactly what this work demands. I need you to run the shop while I attend to other pressing matters. You will need a keen eye for detail as you provide the townsfolk of Undermere with occult objects for their arcane needs.
Undermere might seem unassuming at first – a serene little town on the edge of a grand lake. But it also sits at the edge of our world and the world beyond – and it falls on us to preserve reality’s frayed edge.
Permit me now to outline your duties – you’ll need to be up to speed from day one.
Every day, you will welcome new customers into the cosy, candle-lit interior of the shop. Their needs are unpredictable and often alarming, but never dull!
Study and Identify: Examine, identify and catalogue strange artefacts. Observation, deduction, and careful reference to our collection of illustrated tomes will serve you well. Mistakes can be… costly.
Help… Or Hinder: When dealing with powerful items, your choices matter. Will you help someone with their problem, or curse them with a horrid affliction? In a small town like this, people remember your misdeeds.
Explore and Discover: From time to time, you will have to leave the safety of the shop. Whether investigating rumours or retrieving artefacts, my well-loved hand-drawn maps will guide you to where you need to go.
Solve and Uncover: Your day-to-day might already feel like a puzzle, but this store holds many more. Few know how old this building is, and fewer still know what secrets lie within its walls.
Tending the Familiar: And, of course, Jupiter, the shop’s cat, demands daily affection. In return for his company, please oblige him with the occasional scratch behind the ears.
These ravens are an omen. There is a sickness in this town and I intend to investigate it.
Barton Potter told me that his bad eye has been aching again. That can’t be a good sign. And a creeping dark has set up in Jack Hungerford’s house. I have business in Ravenglass but I will consult with the occult scholar, Verona Green, before I leave.
There are always forces at play that would see our beloved Undermere unmade. We stand between them and the threshold. If events take a turn, you may be called upon to take a stand.
This shop is my life’s work. And, for the most part, it has been good to me. May it now offer you equal parts reward and mystery! But remember: some curiosities are best left untouched, and some visitors are not what they seem.
I look forward to your arrival.
Yours,
Eli White
Thaumaturge & Proprietor
Strange Antiquities, Undermere
Purveyors of the Arcane since 1683
