Or do what another server I played on did; Give the player a guidebook item when they create a new character. It works just like the other books/manuals but it had a menu too that you could pick what you wanted to look up from.
PS: Pretty sure the no vending on monster maps is to prevent people from leeching characters that way and so the map can reset
I don't use @main. Do not ask for me there
~Characters~
"Lady" Linnea: 99/69 Spirit
Champion
Aslinn: 9x/6x High Wizard
Jocelinn: Low-level dagger stalker
Lemon Poring: 9x/50 Brewer
Alchemist