Shadow Market

You can get anything in the Shadow Market. Anything.

— Anonymous, An Anonymous Person

Overview

A market where dangerous and illegal items and services are exchanged in secret- beyond the eyes of legitimate authorities. As such, one can find almost any item that has been banned or is unobtainable through legal and/or ethical means. Because there is generally no oversight and little verifiability, one must exercise due caution when participating in this market. People engage with the Shadow Market across the Quassus Continent from small things to big things. Even some politically motivated movements have recently been making use of the market in order to obtain materials they could not obtain legally.
While all legitimate authorities have and continue to publicly denounce the activities of the Shadow Market, it is generally known that they make use of it from time to time.

Origin

The Shadow Market began within the Kingdom of Helia. It was so named as a play on the cultural significance of the sun within Helia.
As one can probably guess, it began in the Kingdom's capital of the Radiant City of Sol among the newly conquered people of the Principality of Draethlin. They sought to stage an uprising against the Helian elite by inciting a conflagration of emotion among Sol's lower class. The attempt saw some success in the form of widespread civil disobedience that forced Helia to focus its armies inward to quell the unrest. The disturbance lasted for two years growing in violence before the king imposed strict and violent martial law against Sol's inhabitants. Things finally settled when the purges happened, and the Draethlin people were almost entirely eradicated.
While the Draethlin uprising failed to destabilize the Kingdom of Helia, its network of anonymous dealers trading any and all items largely survived the purges. The merchants were so fearful of Helia's King that they secretly abandoned the city of Sol and established their operations elsewhere. From then on the Shadow Market grew into a phenomena spanning the Quassus Continent- the phrase "Shadow Market" became a byword for any kind of illegal market activity -where illicit goods and services were traded under the nose of authority. Of course, some trade networks are more robust than others, but one needs the right connections to access those with any success to say nothing of safely.
Some believe that there are elements within the shadow market that seek to avenge the Draethlin people, but are biding their time after the lessons learned from the previous attempt.

People don't realize how dangerous wild magic is until they or someone they love gets hurt. Try as one might to inform them, it is ultimately a thing that cannot be comprehended fully until it leaves a scar.

— Sanev Vensandoral, Master Mage

Fueling the Rise in Wild Magic

Many magic users wishing to explore the dangerous- and banned -nature of wild magic have started making extensive use of the Shadow Market to obtain materials and knowledge. As such, there has been a rise in incidents involving the unsanctioned and unsupervised manipulation of wild magic forces. The issue is increasing in priority in various countries most notably in the Queendom of Lunaria, a place that knows all too well the unpredictable and destructive nature of wild magic.
The Great Collapse was an event where wild magic was unleashed into the world with catastrophic results. Such magics continues to be a danger to the peoples of Awldor in the form of Magic Fields and especially Magic Storms. Sometimes the effect can be harmless, but other times it can end the lives of many. Hence why various people, especially in positions of authority (order is desired by the ruler), have been seeking to reduce wild magic activity by people.

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Illegal Artifact Trading

Most Ancient Order artifacts are seized by the legal authorities and are only traded in legal markets with written permission.
One does not need permission to pay for artifacts within the Shadow Market.
However, it may be impossible for one to determine the validity and quality of the item being offered.
Many have been swindled into thinking they obtained a rare piece of history only to found out that it was a worthless item of recent make.

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Note(s) from the Archivists:

Taenya, have you ever used this market to get some of the harder to get stuff for our archive? - Archivist Enna
Of course not. - Archivist Taenya
Right, I won't tell. - Archivist Enna