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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 440866" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chinese Take-outChapter 9, "Life in the big city", September 15, 1018, 1:00 P.M.: As they enter the city they see that they see the city walls are now on all sides of them at the far end of the major streets, which are set in a grid pattern, the walls create a rectangle one-mile by three-quarters-of-a-mile in size.   In the midst of the east-west wall three-quarters of a mile south of them is another gate identical to the one they just entered, behind which appears to be even more of the city.  Hiroshi tells them to continue forward; that beyond the far gate another city district lies, where they are heading.    They notice that, unlike outside of the city, the buildings here are all well made, of either stone or hardwood.   Most buildings are three or four stories tall, although there are others both larger and smaller.  The main boulevards are sixty-feet across, with thousands of people walking on either side of the road, and the center of the roads bustling with wagon, cart and rickshaw traffic.  As with the outer city, there are tens of thousands of people of various races, and nobody is paying much attention to the party.   They notice that the city is extremely clean, but the awful stench still remains.   Hiroshi says that the smell is the city’s one drawback, as the freshwater aquifer below the city is close to the surface, so sewers and outhouses can’t be dug for fear of contamination, with waste having to be removed overland.   He gestures to a narrow alleyway running behind the next city block, containing dozens of orange-painted carts pulled by donkeys and ponies, with workers emptying barrels of waste into the back of the carts.  He says, “If you see a caravan of those carts approaching it is best to give them a great deal of distance.”  He then adds “After a few days you get used to the smell, although I might add that it is well worth the added expense at hotels to pay for chamber-maid service, to empty the chamber pots and keep the scented candles and incense in the rooms continually lit.”They approach the center of this particular district, where a huge multi-story building standing nearly a hundred feet high dominates the next three city blocks.   Hiroshi tells them that this is the government and financial section of this district.   They see several lines of troops marching down the street, to the sound of drummers and trumpeters, and Mark comments about whether this is some sort of parade in progress.  Hiroshi tells them no, that this is just a city patrol, that all police in the city travel in battalions of eighty-one, comprised of a lieutenant, four sergeants and seventy-six patrolmen.  This arrangement allows the battalion to be split into four quadroons of twenty; each led by a sergeant.  Each district is divided into twelve segments, and each segment has several of these patrols.    He says that there approximately sixty-thousand police inside of the walled city, and a fifteen-thousand strong army to guard the river, port and roads.  Shosun is not a place to not run counter to the law.   Mojo gives his thief cousin Lono a stern look, and says "Got that?"  Lono replies "Sure, be careful not to get caught." As they are at the business district Hiroshi stops to check on this district’s Auction House, looking for a reference to slave auctions.    He tells the parties that no slaves have been sold here recently, but that each district has an auction house, so they need to just keep checking until they find the right one.   They eventually reach the next district, traveling through the gate, and on to the auction house, which also has no reference to slaves.   They proceed southward, to a point a quarter-mile away from the next gateway ahead of them, then change direction, now traveling east on another main boulevard, towards another gate half-a-mile ahead of them.  Hiroshi says, “The district that we will be staying in tonight is a few districts that way.”   “Hold on,” says Narg, “Exactly how many of these districts are there in this city?”  “Currently twelve,” answers Hiroshi, “The city is currently set up as a three-mile square grid, with three mile-wide districts running east-west and four three-quarter-mile deep districts running north-south.  We entered the city walking through the planned thirteenth district, the walls of which won’t be completed for another six or seven years.”  The next district looks visually different, with all structures made of stone, and narrower boulevards, each only about forty feet across.  The buildings themselves have more elaborate décor, and many have manned carriages or rickshaws waiting on the streets before them.  Hiroshi explains that they are now in the oldest district, built nearly a millennia before.   He says that this district, and the one immediately south of it, are considered the safest as they are the only two districts that do not have exterior wall.  The oldest and wealthiest families of the city live here.    As with the last two districts, this auction house has no slave auctions listed.   While near this building Hiroshi speaks to a dwarven boy, and writes him out a note.  “What was that about?” asks Mojo.  “Just letting some friends know that I am in town,” he answers. They continue east, into the next district, which is comprised almost entirely of wooden houses.  This part of the city is a sharp contrast to the look of antiquity of the previous district.  Hiroshi explains that this district, along with the one north of it and two south of it, were each built within the past sixty years, which was when the dwarves were first hired as construction crews.  Prior to that, it took centuries to build the walls for each new district.   Hiroshi says that during the past century most dwarven clans on the continent fell upon hard times, having tapped out most of the ore from their mines.  In order to survive, several clans began to hire themselves out as either foreign mercenaries or offering their skills as laborers.  Four different clans got together, and proposed to the Shosun leaders a plan to rapidly expand the city, proposing a timetable where the walls of each new district could be built in a period of only fifteen to twenty years.   What made the proposal feasible was that with fixed completion dates the land within each new district could be sold in advance at market prices.  This would provide a steady cash flow to fund the ongoing construction and increase the city coffers.    The city and the dwarves have all benefited greatly from this arrangement.  This district’s auction house also has no listing for slaves.   They then turn southward again, traveling into the next district.   The party immediately notices and comments about the fact that approximately one out of every ten people they see in this district is Caucasian rather than Oriental.  “Which is why this is the district we will be staying in,” Hiroshi answers, “Let’s check the auction house and then go get lodgings,” he answers.    As before, this auction house shows no reference to slaves.They proceed to a six-story wooden building, one hundred feet wide along the main street, and stretching back for three hundred feet, taking up an entire city block,.  It is located on a major boulevard about a quarter-mile west of the exterior wall.   A large sign above the doorway has writings in six languages, one of which is common, and reads “Common House”.</blockquote>

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