Kingsmarket

Built atop a gentle rise overlooking the Old Quarter and Greydove Quay, Kingsmarket is a vibrant commercial district and showcase of Orthay's prosperity. Its broad avenues teem with merchants, nobles and commoners alike in a sea of colour and ceaseless movement.

At the centre of the district stands the King's Harvest Hall, a grand pavilion packed with rows of canvas-topped stalls. Farmers from as far afield as Oakhurst offer fresh fruits, vegetables, cheeses and fish. By midday, the market becomes a swirl of languages, haggling and festival-like bustle—one of the most iconic sights of daily life in Orthay.

Running along the market’s western edge is Market Street, the busiest thoroughfare in Kingsmarket. Here, hawkers advertise every manner of mundane item someone might desire, along with a selection of the arcane, too. Many street performers choose set up along the street’s handful of squares, adding melody and colour to Kingsmarket’s already dynamic flavour.

In sharp contrast is the Wizard’s Road, a quieter, more refined area to the east. This is the magick spine of Kingsmarket, home to dusky vanilla-scented bookshops, potion emporiums and antiquarians specialising in enchanted curiosities.

Fine boutiques line the northern promenades, selling embroidered silks, fine jewelery and exotic goods from distant lands. Local nobles stroll the streets under parasols, often accompanied by servants carrying carefully wrapped purchases.

The monolithic Grand Cathedral of Pelor dominates the skyline to the south of the market. Its great bronze bell, Solaris, tolls every dawn and dusk, signaling the beginning and end of each day’s trading.

Though Kingsmarket may appear orderly, beneath its polished exterior lies a complex ecosystem of guilds and merchants vying for influence. Rumours persist of the existence of The Harpy’s Passage, an informal web of pathways across the rooftops, frequented by those who wish to avoid the City Watch.