Browse the Bazaar

Your mind made up, you head back into the city and towards the merchants quarter.

By the time you arrive in the bazaar the sun is approaching its peak and the market is appropriately full. People shuffle through large crowds to get to various stalls where merchants are dealing their wares. The air is filled with claims of magical items and elixirs that will keep one young, as well as the scent of perfumes, fresh foods, and the musk of thousands of people of various races. You take a deep breath and soak in the atmosphere, you feel in your element here. With a spring in your step you head into the crowded square and begin browsing for interesting shops.

One of the first stalls you come across has a pair of shopkeepers flitting about inside as they show off gleaming necklaces and bracelets heavily laden in gemstones and rare metals. You can hear a deep male voice bragging about enchanted accessories from Durna and Bytelley, while a softer feminine voice espouses the valuable paintings and beautiful sculptures they have for sale. An enormous guard completely covered in cloth armor stands by the stall, their hand resting on a scimitar. Expecting all of their wares to be fake, you nonetheless check with your aura and are pleasantly surprised when you see several soft glows coming from that direction. Perhaps it would be worth checking out.

A bit further into the bazaar you stumble across a small blue tent with a queue of men and women a dozen deep waiting patiently by the entrance. As the tent lacks any kind of sign you approach a cunica woman towards the back of the queue and ask her what everyone is lining up for. "The lady inside is a seer!" The woman excitedly answers. "My sister came to her last week to ask how she could meet her true love and she told her to wear a pink rose in her hair. No sooner had she left the florists than the man she's had her eyes on called her beautiful and declared his undying love for her." The rabbit woman looks up at the sky wistfully. "They say the seer can answer any question and that she's always right, so I'm going to ask her to help me find love as well." You wish the woman good luck and step away. You don't really put any stock in fortune tellers, but surely it couldn't hurt to ask her a question, at the very least you should get a good laugh.

The next stall that catches your eye only does so for absolutely how ordinary it is. A small black tent with no markings save a placard reading 'Miss Eglandine's Elegant Corsetry, Fashionable Gowns, and Appropriate Accessories.' You briefly wonder why they thought such a long name was a good idea, but peek through the flap of the tent anyways. Inside, you can just barely make out a woman in a black dress sitting in the shade next to a chest. You can't see much more, but you get the feeling that the woman is smiling at you. A brief look around reveals that nobody else seems interested in the tent, in fact it's almost as if they can't see it. Curious.

The final shop that interests you is one that you're briefly startled to see in such a place. In the corner of the bazaar is an enormous stall with several curtained partitions and surrounded by over a dozen guards of various races. There's a stark contrast between the people at this shop, those who appear to be browsing are almost all wearing clothes signalling wealth, most appearing to be minor nobles or merchants. Those who aren't shopping don't display much wealth, which makes sense considering they're slaves.

You shake your head and remind yourself. No, these aren't slaves, the trade has been illegal in Hyrgin for hundred of years. These men and women are indentured servants with rights and protections... whose contracts happen to be purchasable for a period of years...

You step back and consider the options available to you. The midday sun now shining heavily upon you, you figure you have time to go to one stall before you're due back at the caravan.