Lightside Station/Cosmini Curios
Nestled on deck 1212, this odd shop has been a staple of the Spike for as long as anyone on station can remember. Currently propitiated by Mithgiln academic and explorer Worker Wexn Drbro, this shop holds all manner of secrets, lost artifacts, and knowledge for anyone willing to pay.
History
Five years after the station opened for operation, Professor P'Taav Cosmini, a rogue Romulan scientist, found himself on the Spike after...absconding with some valuable research and artifacts from before the split from Vulcan. Using the little money he had left from his defection, he negotiated the purchase of a storefront from management with the intention of hiding, both himself and his treasures. Amassing junk and secondhand weaponry, he started a fledgling business, but kept expecting the day that the Tal Shiar would find him and either liquidate him or drag him back to the Empire to pay for his crimes.
But that day never came and as he grew older so did his shop, expanding slightly to house his growing stock and adding three connected offices. Before the Professor died however, he granted the ownership of his beloved store to his best shopkeep, at that time a Bolian whom Cosmini took in after witnessing his attempted mugging. Under the condition that he would first return his stolen artifacts, but ONLY to Romulan colleges, and pass on ownership to someone else the Bolian deemed worthy once his own life was at it's end. The Bolian kept his word and since then the shop has passed from shopkeep to shopkeep in order to keep Cosmini's legacy and wishes alive.
Layout
The first thing customers usually notice is the shifting theatrical lighting radiating from it's holo-sign and expansive display windows flanking the open air doorway. Both the sign and the display lights run on a modulating color frequency both in order to attract business and highlight the various wares locked behind the display glass.
Upon entering, customers are greeted by a largish horseshoe shaped front counter running parallel to the walls of the store. The counter itself is also tempered theft proof glass, housing more items of note (usually more expensive fare). But the case isn't just a case, as each item is also framed by an intricate and well researched info-pane, displaying the items price, history, and short origin in an easy to digest readout for customers. The items housed in separate cases along the wall also have this info-pane in order to keep the prices and information about each item clearly displayed for the browsing buyer.
At both the left, right, and direct back of the store are three separate alcoves sectioned off from the main store by heavy wooden partitions that can only be opened by the bio-metric signature of the current owner (in order to deter thieves and unwanted exploration of these rooms). The room to the left is the appraisals office, where those with items to sell are escorted for the appraisal staff (at the moment a pair of Romulan twins, Se'Var and Ke'var who were once students of Cosmini) to inspect their items and provide the appropriate payouts.
To the right is the reading room, piled high with shelves all around the walls with a onyx reading table set in the middle with matching chairs. Ont top of the table is a wrought iron display shelf containing the most expensive volumes in the Cosmini collection. They are tethered to the shelf with a thin crisscrossed chain, locked by another bio-metric keying system that only the owner has the key for.
The back room is the back office which is off-limits to the public. No one but the owners and staff have ever seen into this room, making it the center of much speculation around the Spike.
Current Staff
- Worker Wexn Drbro (Owner)
- Se'Var and Ke'Var (Appraisals)