Ah, you’ve got the look of an adventurer who needs something extraordinary! Lucky for you, I deal in the extraordinary. And, yes, before you ask, it costs extra.

— Zara Flintgear

Title: Merchant and Proprietor of "Flintgear’s Curiosities" in the Brass Bazaar

Age: 94

Race: Gnome

Appearance

Zara Flintgear is a vibrant and eccentric figure, a stark contrast to the disciplined and stoic dwarves of Ironhearth. She is small, even for a gnome, barely reaching four feet, but her commanding presence makes her seem much larger. Her fiery orange hair is a wild, frizzy halo, streaked with white and tied back with brass gears and frostglass clips that rattle as she moves.

Her pale, freckled skin is often smudged with soot or dust from handling strange wares, and her large, curious eyes—one a natural green and the other a magical sapphire hue due to a frostglass implant—sparkle with perpetual mischief. Zara’s round, wire-rimmed goggles, perched atop her head or dangling around her neck, are her constant companions, the lenses glinting with faint enchantments to help her inspect the magical properties of her goods.

Zara dresses in layers of mismatched, brightly colored fabrics—rich reds, oranges, and purples—accented with belts, pouches, and holsters crammed with tools, gadgets, and trinkets. Her heavy leather boots are reinforced with froststeel toe caps, and her fingers are adorned with an assortment of rings that click together when she gestures animatedly. A small, clockwork bird perches on her shoulder, chirping softly, a testament to her skill with mechanical constructs.

Personality

Zara Flintgear is energetic, talkative, and perpetually curious, often overwhelming those around her with rapid-fire questions and enthusiastic exclamations. She has a sharp mind and an even sharper tongue, capable of bargaining circles around even the most experienced merchants. Zara is a born tinkerer, fascinated by anything magical or mechanical, and she loves acquiring, trading, or outright haggling for unique items to add to her collection.

Despite her eccentric demeanor, Zara is highly perceptive and shrewd. She has an eye for detail and can spot a fake or assess an artifact’s worth with uncanny precision. Her shop in the Brass Bazaar is packed with exotic wares, ranging from frostglass trinkets and Abyss-touched curiosities to clockwork devices and enchanted weaponry. Zara thrives on the chaos of the marketplace and has built a reputation for being the go-to merchant for adventurers seeking rare and unusual items.

History

Born into a family of inventors in a gnomish enclave far from Ironhearth, Zara’s love of discovery led her to explore the wider world. She eventually settled in Ironhearth after hearing tales of the dwarves’ mastery of frostforged steel and enchanted engineering. Zara quickly made a name for herself in the Brass Bazaar, combining her knowledge of gnomish ingenuity with the resources of Ironhearth to become one of the city’s most successful and eccentric merchants.

Over the years, Zara has traveled extensively, scouring the tundra for rare relics and making contacts with merchants, adventurers, and scholars. Some of her acquisitions are legitimate treasures; others are questionably obtained, often through black-market dealings. Her deep connections with explorers and smugglers give her an edge in the cutthroat world of commerce, though they’ve also earned her enemies among less scrupulous factions.