Magic Touch Cleaners

This tiny, single-story storefront faces the Lift on Undercampus Way (Level 9). A simple sign declares "Magic Touch Cleaners" in faded black block letters against a sparkling white background. A large restaurant catering to the lunch crowd seems to push this tiny shop into the worked stone cliff at the back of the level from the right.

Behind the windowed wooden door flanked with windows lies a counter stretching from wall to wall that clearly defines the customer and employee areas of the shop. Decades-old painted signs in faded colors cover the counter and walls, advertising the shop's services: Clean Clothes Using Only Magical Means! Same-Day Alterations And Repairs! Non-Human Clothing Is Our Specialty! Satisfaction Guaranteed!

Behind the counter to the left stands a large table with seats for six, covered in piles of tagged laundry on hangers. A closed door blocks access to a back room behind the table. A long wooden wardrobe dominates the right half of the shop behind the counter, its doors partially blocking the whistling sound of a stiff wind. When the doors open for the staff to retrieve clothes, the wind dies down, only to resume speed when the door shuts again. A bored-looking College student sits behind the counter, thankful for the distraction from the piles of laundry on the work table.

Magic Touch specializes in cleaning clothes through magical means. Every employee has access to the prestidigitation cantrip and uses it hundreds of times per day to remove stains. Most employees also have mending to handle minor repairs and make literally undetectable alterations, but that costs extra. Every job generates a paper work order signed by the customer, and every item gets tagged with a paper slip keyed to the job number. Cleaning costs 1 silver per item, and alterations or repairs start at 1 silver, though nobody remembers charging more than 5 silver for any repair, even Ashley Macmillan's shredded cloak a few years back.

Most students at the College spend some time working for Max Silverfoot, the owner, though it's more a rite of passage than a steady job, and employee turnover remains quite high. Max pays well, but cleaning and repairing clothes numbs the mind of these wizards in training, doubly so while casting the same cantrip over and over during a shift. Most employees spend breaks in the secluded alley out the back door of the tiny office, chugging alcohol as fast as they can, making out with each other, or smoking something mind-altering. Max doesn't seem to care what happens on breaks, as long as the work keeps getting done on time to keep customers satisfied.

Given the boredom-relieving hobbies of the young staff members, Magic Touch has earned a reputation as an easy place to find and procure illicit substances. Over the years, the Fellport Watch have traced several experimental drugs (and poisons) to the alley behind Magic Touch, including at least one case involving an accidental death. The creative alchemical student involved in that particular incident has served their time and left the city years ago. Max has never been implicated, and he doesn't seem to mind the controversy.

Max interviews all workers, but he only visits the shop first thing in the morning to take care of business and spot-check that his regulars will have their clothes back when promised. After mid-morning, he leaves the shop to wander the city, leaving the shop in the capable hands of his second-in-command Lauren Taylor, who looks forward to taking over the shop from Max one of these days. The business runs itself at this point. Everyone from Diplomat's Row and the Council House uses Magic Touch, so as long as nothing gets damaged or discolored, the money keeps rolling in.

The Wind Closet installed by Elemental Solutions gives every article of clothing the fresh scent of a summer's breeze over blooming clover while waiting for pickup. All the regulars love this tiny touch of class. It would take a series of serious mistakes to shake any regular customer's loyalty to Max and Magic Touch.

Part of T.W.Wombat's Lore 24 project, detailing the world around Fellport.
For all city posts, see the Fellport Index. For posts about the wider world, see the Beneterra Index.