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Orien? Who's Orien?
Grand Market This is the center of commerce in Esharra, and in all of Castana. Colorful tents and carts of all shapes and sizes are erected here, each merchant hoping the garish colors or size of their shop will draw customers. Traders from far and wide come here on a regular basis to set up a temporary stall to sell goods from all over the known world. If something can be bought or sold, it can usually be found here. Food products are the most commonly sold goods in this market, but merchants and traders of all items can be found hawking their wares.
The market is never exactly the same every day. Merchants here have no permanent claims to a single area of the square and so the pathways seem to shift each day as tents are erected and carts dragged in and dropped wherever the owner feels will be the most profitable location. The market is never quiet, not when there are merchants eager to catch the attention of a potential customer.
The market is not without its marks of beauty, as is customary in Esharra. The square is surrounded by a low wall behind which grow trees and tall shrubs, acting as a natural barrier between this busy marketplaces and the residential district to the northwest. There are also a few large fountains scattered through the marketplace with ledges wide enough for sitting.
----------------------- IC Time and Weather in Castana ------------------------
Time of Day : Afternoon
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The rainy season has apparently hit Esharra, as a thin veil of moisture falls from the sky. It certainly has not dampened the enthusiasm of marketgoers, though the awnings that normally shield visitors from the sun now serve another purpose. The market bustles with the afternoon crowd, though it is for the most part a polite sort of bustle -- patrons give one another their own space and receive it in return. Still, one man more than others seems to gain a wider berth. He is attired in all black, a cap atop his head. The only bit of color are three thin red stripes on his right shoulder. He has stopped at a fruitseller's cart and bargains for an orange in a pleasant baritone. The man behind the cart seems a bit flustered, out of character for the normally forward vendors of the market. The rain could be much worse...but Lidee isn't used to being out in it unprotected. Darting from one awning to another, she seems to be searching for someone...but among the rain-sodden crowd, features often become blurry. Trying to shake some of the water from her emerald kubar, she heaves a sigh and pulls her veil from her face...such sheer fabric isn't meant to be out in weather like this. Thinking to try another awning, she darts out...but it would seem another shopper had much the same idea. The two nearly collide...but don't. The stone on the ground, however, aren't as forgiving...as they seem to be slick with this misty rain. So, right by the fruit-vendor, in plain view of the marketplace, Lidee loses her footing and slips, unable to stop a squeal of surprise from leaving her lips. "Ah, but the man two streets over has better..." says the black-clad man, stopped short by the squeal. He turns around, and for a moment cannot locate the source of the noise. A look of amiable confusion crosses his face, before he glances downward, and the confusion turns to surprise. He tsks softly and crouches enough to extend his hands to help the woman rise. "By the God's light, are you all right, Senora?" he asks, using the Castanan form of address for a noblewoman. She fell! She slipped on rock and fell! Lidee is stunned for a moment before she actually sees the hand in front of her. Senora. Right. That's her. Lifting a hand of her own to take his, she scrambles to get to her feet and straighten her kubar...but the robe may be ruined. "Ohhh..." she sighs in dismay before looking to the man who helped her, "I...Yes, thank you...eh, Senor..." is that right? Edgardo smiles, albeit thinly, showing the tips of his teeth. "The stones become treacherous in the rain, as though reminding us that Orien's favor is hidden for the time being." He releases the woman's hand and studies her clinically a moment. "You are well, though? Nothing harmed, save perhaps pride?" His head tilts to one side with the question. Lidee arches a brow over her veil...that sticks to her mouth when she tries to talk. Orien? Ohhh...is this one of the ones Mistress Rosalita was telling her about? Glancing about at the other shoppers, she flicks back a lock of dark hair, tucking it under her veil before asking pertly, "Orien? I don't believe I've heard that name before." Edgardo's eyebrows lift, slowly, but the smile does not fade. "The God is known by many names. Some call him Enzu. You must be one of these, Senora?" He puts a hand beneath Lidee's elbow and escorts her farther under the awning as the rain begins to fall harder. Lidee 's brows crease as she is guided under one of the awnings, her slippers making a soft smack against the stone, "I am Kuredin." Is that enough of an answer for him? "And what I choose to call my gods is my own business, don't you think?" Oh, she's been told that she'll be lectured at about this faith...no doubt she is merely baiting this man who speaks about that particular god. Edgardo's hand retracts. He waves it through the air slightly, dismissing the protest. "Perhaps it is, perhaps it is not. What is more important than what names the God is how one honors him." He gestures to the fruitseller. "This fine gentleman, for example, unmans the God by placing the Goddess on high next to him. He still calls the God Orien." The vendor is given a smile, patient and measured, as though an unruly child that is to be loved in spite of transgressions. Lidee tilts her head up slightly, "Maybe that -is- the way the fruitseller honors his gods. Each person thinks differently, Senor...and I won't tell you how to honor your...god...if you don't tell me how to honor mine." She starts to smile, but the damp veil sticks to her face again. This is why she never went out in the rain. Edgardo spreads his hands in a gesture of reconciliation. "Why, Senora," he says, a dry chuckle in his tone, "have I instructed you, or our friend with the shriveled oranges, on how to honor the God?" He shakes his head slightly. "I have stated my feelings, but I have not suggested that you or he should follow them. Is that not what your people have given to us? The equality of faith, and the freedom to discuss our differences?" "As long as we aren't punished for our differences," Lidee counters. That dark lock of hair is tucked into her head-veil once more as she continues, "I have been told that architecture...that places of beauty have been destroyed because they were not created by those who pray to your god. When I hear that, am I to believe that there is equality?" She hasn't yet said who she is to offer such an argument...but no doubt she wouldn't be allowed to say such things where she is from. "All people have been the victims of zealotry, Senora. Mine, yours, the Hoinari," replies Edgardo smoothly. "Have I persecuted your people? Have I destroyed architectural wonders? As I said, your people have brought a new age to my homeland. Perhaps events of the past will not repeat themselves." Lidee pulls the veil from her face once more...at least it's starting to dry out a little, "I don't know who you are. You could be some marauding zealot who helps women who have fallen on slippery stones on your day off..." but she is smiling, apparently attempting to tease a bit. Edgardo laughs pleasantly enough, inclining his head. "This is indeed a possibility," he says, and executes a smooth half-bow. "I am Edgardo de Martinez, Senora, and I have not marauded, zealously or otherwise, in many years." "Good," is Lidee's pert reply. She watches the bow for a moment before deciding to offer her own name, "Lidee bint Khalid..." and no bow, curtsey, or salaam is given...as if she never even considering doing so. "But I am glad you don't support the destruction of beauty, Senor Martinez..." did she say that right? "...no matter what faith it was built upon." "It seems short-sighted to destroy beauty," answers Edgardo. "All the God's works are worthy of awe. I will not pretend to hide my disappointment that so many have been created as emblems contrary to my faith. If the God is merciful, however, those that have chosen other paths for themselves will see his divine light and come to it in their own way. If I can assist in that journey, more's the better." "Well, I'm certainly glad to meet one who doesn't wish to obliterate something because it is different...and one who is willing to help another...who is." A nod is given before Lidee turns to look out at the Marketplace...no doubt that spash of color is who she is seeking out, "Thank you again, Senor..." A smile is given beneath the damp veil before she darts back out into the rain, albeit more careful of her footing.
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