The NPCs only sell items that can be purchased with the event currency, Ancient Platinum Coins.
Some items are books with lore, some are "plushies" that look like miniature monsters (MOBs) one fights in battle, but most of the items are paintings.
The paintings hail the game's historic connection to the original Everquest (EQ) game and, as such, have a look that mimics the graphics of the older game in most cases.