Roderick (gnome)

Roderick was a thin gnome with a sparse goatee who ran a small pawnshop in Novigrad during the 1260s. He was known for always wearing dusty and stained clothes and had a reputation of a crook.

Biography
An altogether poor reputation of the pawnshop discouraged wealthy and respected citizens and so only poor journeymen, servants, widows or petty artisans loaning small sums of money and using their own belongings as collaterals formed Roderick's clientele. The gnome usually lent at 30% of the value and for short time of two weeks and so the majority of his clients never got the collateral back. It also often happened that Roderick didn't wait for the loan to expire and sold collaterals to the first merchant who offered more.

Roderick spent most of his time in a street in front of the pawnshop, waiting for clients, and whenever he saw someone passing by his pawnshop he began to accost them, telling them about his amazing wares. The waiting and friendly tone had the desired effect at times, and the potential customer descended the narrow, steep stairs leading to the basement's smelly cellar where the pawnshop was located. The window under the ceiling gave even less light than cheap candles but the owner used a magic lamp and to get place brighter after entering. Roderick had a wide range of goods to offer and it was said that one could buy anything inside his pawnshop.