This dilapidated frame building is well
known in the village as the place to go for all
sorts of herbs, medicines, and possibly even
special draughts of one sort or another.
Mother Screng is old and bent, with
scraggly gray locks sticking out from
beneath the aged shawl she wears all year
'round. Her daughter appears quite old herself,
so Mother Screng must be venerable.
This daughter, Hruda by name, is quite
ugly, and it is no wonder that she is an old
maid, for her personality matches her looks
and her tongue is sharp.

Inside the shop are counters and shelves
filled with jars, flasks, bottles, boxes, and
small drawers. These are stuffed with herbs
and like stuff, and various infusions and
decoctions made from such. Bunches of vegetation
of various sorts hang from the rafters or
are tossed onto counter tops to dry. The shop
has almost every known herb and spice, and
even 3 jars of Keoghtom's ointment which
Mother Screng sells to any adventurers of
Good alignment who are in real need of the
magic salve, after having proved themselves
in expeditions to the Temple.

Mother Screng: An herbmonger (also Canoness
Y'dey—Level 6 Cleric, XP 3978);
AC 9 (no armor) or better (see below);
hp 37; AL NG; XP 1072
S 13 I 12 W 17 D 15 Co 16 Ch 13
<barbaric. friendly, morose dreamer, forgiving aesthetic, liar, impious, interest: athletics>
Carried: club (under the counter), purse
with 4 cp, 7 sp, 5 ep, 11 gp. Typical
spells:

First level: bless, command, cure light
wounds, detect evil, protection from evil
Second level: augury, detect charm, hold person,
know alignment, speak with animals
Third level: dispel magic, prayer, remove
curse

Hruda: Mother Screng's daughter (a. k. a.
Murfles, Otis' fellow-adventurer and
follower, an elven warrior-footpad,
Level 2/2 Fighter/Thief), AC 6 (no
armor) or better (see below); hp 12; AL
NG; XP 156
S 15 I 9 W 11 D 18 Co 15 Ch 14
<fanatical. blustering extrovert, proud ponderer, jealous, avaricious, energetic, mean, aesthetic, irreligious, interest: community service>
Thief abilities: PP 40; OL 49; F/RT 30; MS
36; HS 35; HN 15; CW 86. Carried:
shortsword (under robe), purse with 9
sp, 5 gp, and 2 pp.

Y'dey is the chief cleric of the church of
St. Cuthbert in Hommlet, away on this 'sabbatical'.
She has a suit of plate mail +1,
shield + 1, mace + 1, ring of fire resistance, <medium shield>, <horseman's mace>
potion of flying, a scroll of 3 cleric spells.
(silence 15' radius, neutralize poison, raise
dead) and adventuring gear, all kept in her <pack C>
chambers. The potion, scroll, and equipment
are in a wardrobe, along with a small
locked iron box which holds 50 gems
(mostly pearls and a few red spinels, each
worth 100 gp) and 10 silver ingots worth 10
gp each.

Murfles has a suit of leather armor,
adventuring gear, a dagger, longsword, <pack A>
longbow, and quiver with 11 silver-tipped
arrows in her chambers. She will lend the
arrows to deserving adventurers as needed.
A sack with 290 gp lies under a loose floor <large sack>
board. Murfles assists Y'dey and reports to
Otis about everything of possible interest.

Neither Y'dey nor Murfles goes on any
expedition (to the Temple or elsewhere)
unless Otis personally asks them to do so,
and has a sound reason for it as they are
likewise serving Furyondy, Veluna, and the
cause of Good by keeping watch on Evil
activity at Nulb and the Temple. Both, however,
assist parties of Good alignment and
intent. Quiet exploration of the Temple, to
discover the state of its forces and their current
intentions, is of great importance to
both of these 'old hags'.

A small coop is in the rear of the shop. It
holds 6 homing pigeons, which Y'dey uses
for communicating with the Archcleric of
Veluna. This same information is sent to
Furyondy (and then to Veluna and Verbobonc)
by way of Otis' regular reports; the
pigeons are a back-up system.

>> 4.