The first thing anyone notices when they enter Vial & Vine is the smell, or rather, smells. To the untrained nose, it is hard to discern one smell from another, and the experience is almost overbearing. Indeed, some might be inclined to excuse themselves and hurry out the door for a gasp of fresh air. Yet the experienced potioneer will immediately pick out the dusty musk of dried boomslang skin, the sulfuric notes of powdered dragon claw, the earthy rot of mandrake root and the vinegar tang of sopophorous beans. Vial & Vine is not a new establishment, it recently passed down from grandfather to grandson and is now ran by Timotheus Strubbins, a lanky and thin youth barely into his twenties wearing an apron who will enthusiastically show you around if you let him. A little further back into the crammed shop, past a curtain of dried herbs hanging from the ceiling, is a small preparation room where Gregorius Strubbins, the former owner, can sometimes be found smoking a pipe or reading the papers from his rocking chair. When a customer inquires about some particularly rare or exotic ingredient, Timotheus will defer them to Gregorius. While Gregorius is almost certain to have an answer for you, customers should be aware that he will almost always be able to guess what you're planning to brew.