TS: The Beren Tasurdur Marketplace
Jul 7, 2014 15:22:08 GMT
Post by ArnoldY on Jul 7, 2014 15:22:08 GMT
The Beren Tasurdur (Black Marketplace)
"I once tried to convince the Lord-Magistrate that the Beren Tasurdur was a blemish upon our Sanctuary City. Better emptied or let fallen to the sea, I must say. But after scarcely five minutes of my finest rhetoric, he refused. When I asked him why, he stomped his feet, firing a thin knife from the toe which stuck on the Govani bear-head totem, and said to me 'Jan, I admire your civic enthusiasm, but there aren't better boots to be found anywhere else.' "
Among the features of the Waterworks, of special note is the Beren Tasurdur Marketplace, located beneath the conflux between Canal Street and the Deadman's Knot. Entry is made possible through the basements of several disreputable taverns and businesses in the area, connected to hidden sewer routes; or through the original entrance via an engineering building technically forbidden to the public. The marketplace is cramped, bustling, and the closest venue to a storefront would be stalls with a painted sign. The vast majority hawk wares from rugs, and boisterous arguments break out every sunfall over the limited spots.
Officially, the Beren Tasurdur is designated as Reservoir #5, a section of the sewers mostly sealed from the water system after confirmation of "a dire infestation". (The report doesn't specify -what- is in there, but the common man takes it to mean rats…) Since then, the central rotunda and its tributaries have become the site of a colourful bazaar, crowded in commerce and lit up with lanterns like shining jewels on a snake. There are rumours abound that a few of the lanterns conceal some hidden meaning, but that is likely hearsay… (See Beneficium Lucarnae under Languages)
In the rotunda, one can easily spot one- or two-room alcoves carved into the reservoir walls. These are supposedly the makeshift homes and workshops of direly impoverished merchants, though there is no doubt they can secretly serve as smuggler caches. Scaffolding is arrayed along the reservoir walls to connect the alcoves to a central stairwell, with periodic bridges to platforms suspended over the centre by steel chains.
The Beren Tasurdur would be another market in a city of markets if it weren't for the considerable criminal influence. Being situated on a nexus of sewer routes, and at the fringe of Tel Vinraen jurisdiction, the merchants of the Beren Tasurdur make minimal effort to hide their black market connection. There are no Watchmen here--in fact, most citizens of Tel Vinrae do not even know of the market's existence--but the people do not take the law into their own hands, as Thieves' Guild enforcers keep a handy beating stick ready for troublemakers.
In many ways, the Beren Tasurdur is the last bastion of civilization before the nightmarish sewerscape of Tel Vinrae known as "The Maze" (See Here). What exactly resides within is the stuff of urban legend; the commerce it generates, is not. A cottage industry surrounds the canals that lead into the deep sewers. Among weapons and armour, one finds a wealth of cheap colognes, water-proofed boots, heatless torches, "accurate" treasure maps. The list can go on. Despite the frequency of horrible deaths and missing persons, sewer adventurism continues to be fueled by the rare survivors who find success, and subtle negligence by the authorities, who see its effectiveness in culling the secrets only they know of.
"I once tried to convince the Lord-Magistrate that the Beren Tasurdur was a blemish upon our Sanctuary City. Better emptied or let fallen to the sea, I must say. But after scarcely five minutes of my finest rhetoric, he refused. When I asked him why, he stomped his feet, firing a thin knife from the toe which stuck on the Govani bear-head totem, and said to me 'Jan, I admire your civic enthusiasm, but there aren't better boots to be found anywhere else.' "
- Lord Janos Gevennes, a noble and official of Tel Vinrae
Among the features of the Waterworks, of special note is the Beren Tasurdur Marketplace, located beneath the conflux between Canal Street and the Deadman's Knot. Entry is made possible through the basements of several disreputable taverns and businesses in the area, connected to hidden sewer routes; or through the original entrance via an engineering building technically forbidden to the public. The marketplace is cramped, bustling, and the closest venue to a storefront would be stalls with a painted sign. The vast majority hawk wares from rugs, and boisterous arguments break out every sunfall over the limited spots.
Officially, the Beren Tasurdur is designated as Reservoir #5, a section of the sewers mostly sealed from the water system after confirmation of "a dire infestation". (The report doesn't specify -what- is in there, but the common man takes it to mean rats…) Since then, the central rotunda and its tributaries have become the site of a colourful bazaar, crowded in commerce and lit up with lanterns like shining jewels on a snake. There are rumours abound that a few of the lanterns conceal some hidden meaning, but that is likely hearsay… (See Beneficium Lucarnae under Languages)
In the rotunda, one can easily spot one- or two-room alcoves carved into the reservoir walls. These are supposedly the makeshift homes and workshops of direly impoverished merchants, though there is no doubt they can secretly serve as smuggler caches. Scaffolding is arrayed along the reservoir walls to connect the alcoves to a central stairwell, with periodic bridges to platforms suspended over the centre by steel chains.
The Beren Tasurdur would be another market in a city of markets if it weren't for the considerable criminal influence. Being situated on a nexus of sewer routes, and at the fringe of Tel Vinraen jurisdiction, the merchants of the Beren Tasurdur make minimal effort to hide their black market connection. There are no Watchmen here--in fact, most citizens of Tel Vinrae do not even know of the market's existence--but the people do not take the law into their own hands, as Thieves' Guild enforcers keep a handy beating stick ready for troublemakers.
In many ways, the Beren Tasurdur is the last bastion of civilization before the nightmarish sewerscape of Tel Vinrae known as "The Maze" (See Here). What exactly resides within is the stuff of urban legend; the commerce it generates, is not. A cottage industry surrounds the canals that lead into the deep sewers. Among weapons and armour, one finds a wealth of cheap colognes, water-proofed boots, heatless torches, "accurate" treasure maps. The list can go on. Despite the frequency of horrible deaths and missing persons, sewer adventurism continues to be fueled by the rare survivors who find success, and subtle negligence by the authorities, who see its effectiveness in culling the secrets only they know of.