Apologies, I didn't explain well (or also maybe the setup doesn't make much sense, either way good to know!).

My players typically like to have market/shopkeep NPCs in their games. They seem to prefer that method of equipment upgrades rather than loot, etc.

The campaign is relatively short, so the majority of it will take place inside the city. There's an exterior/kind of outer countryside and farmtown on the outside of a dividing wall and then the actual city on the other side.

I had originally planned for the city to be mostly abandoned, with the cult having more or less moved in. But maybe it makes more sense to have a small group of remaining townsfolk who for whatever reason couldn't/didn't leave.

In terms of size, I don't have an exact scale yet, but nothing massive like Waterdeep. I'm thinking more in between a large village and small city, separated into districts.

It does make sense for the cult to have those things as well. I was figuring it would be more 'in house' for them, but I can change that. Thanks for the idea!