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Originally Posted by Leif Yeah, I used to struggle with that same idea. I mean, would that mean that you only have three-fourths of a city?? But then, I changed the definition of "quarter" that I was mentally using, and began to think of a "Quarter" in the sense of "living space" instead of a finite fraction of a whole city. [ See, Webster's definition #8a: [a quarter is] "a division or district of a town or city."] On Star Trek, when someone is "confined to quarters", does that mean that they must immediately separate into four pieces of equal size? hehe  |
LOL! In that case, the northwest is the Imperial Quarter, the central marketplace is the Mercantile Quarter and the southeast part is the Old Quarter as this was founded first by the Sahasrans fleeing the sorcerors of Kadar. I also need to name the two city gates - these could be named after heroes of the city.
Some other thoughts:
- the inhabitants of each quarter of the city support their own chariot-racing team: the Blues, Greens & Whites. This is a bit like Celtic & Rangers in Glasgow or AS Roma & Lazio in Rome - each team's supporters share religious, political and/or cultural affiliations.
- street food includes kebabs on skewers, squab-on-a-stick, cheese pastres, thick hunks of bread smeared with tomato paste and olive oil and stuffed vine leaves
- the south-east gate is a chaotic jumble of camels, bullock-drawn carts, crippled beggars, snake charmers and eunuch/transvestite hustlers. By contrast, the north-west gate is much more peaceful and organised. What few beggars (mostly kids) are chased away by the guards whenever a noble is carried past on her palanquin.
- outside the coffee shops, old men sit grumbling about business, smoking sheeshah and playing backgammon.
- one of the most popular spots in the Old Quarter with both visitors and resident young lovers is the white marble Garden Mausoleum of Hulieman -- a beautiful domed building set in tree-lined grounds which survived several attacks on the city and now serves as a public park.
More later.
Cheers
Richard
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