God Crossing
The aftermath of the Battle of Breaking Iron, many of the Marukani who had come to fight were so enamored of the Solar leaders and so elated with their wild success that they chose to stay rather than return home. Some were lone young men and women, looking to build lives for themselves, but others had family in distant range towns that they called to settle in the newly-verdant valley. In the days and weeks that followed, survivors from Shouting With Iron's army came down from the hills to join them. With this immigration came industry, and the people began to build their homes at the center of the valley, the grand intersection of the road network called the Eye of Hiparkes. In honor of the many spirits who walked through the newly-built town to visit its nearby Solar protectors, the people called the place God Crossing.
To help the people as they built, to support growth in trade, and to house the town's namesake spirits, Rivers Between Us decided to establish a hostel there. He built the Grand Lodge, an inn and tavern on a massive scale. It is built on the south side of the plaza where the many roads of the Eye meet. Fully three stories tall, the Lodge has fifty rooms for visitors and stables for twice as many horses. All kinds of visitors can be found in the lodge, going or coming or just listening in. Guild merchants and their guards enjoy the unusually accomodating setting. Range riders and farmers from the surrounding hills make a point of stopping at the tavern when they have the silver to spare. The tribes that dwell in the Plum Blossom Retreat to the north are also frequent visitors; the peaceful atmosphere of the manse is entirely too quiet for some.
Not everyone comes for service, however. Secret Avalanche, Rivers' jokun spy, has a table reserved in the balcony overlooking the common room, where he can be found whenever not on a mission for his master. Likewise, it is not uncommon to see soldiers from Lookshy or Celeren in the crowd, as well as the occasional shadowy "merchant" from Thorns. Indeed, the Lodge is the hub of a town quickly growing into a city.
And it's a city the like of which has never been seen in Marukani lands. Owing to a confluence of Wood and Solar essence from the nearby manses, the valley is unusually lush. Though the Marukani have no stomach for the rigid labors of large-scale agriculture, the grass grows swift enough to support herds larger than the acreage would suggest and the soil responds readily to gardening and orcharding. Meanwhile, Rivers grew tired of importing inferior alcohol from Lookshy and Celeren, and ordered his borrowed mercury ants to construct a brewery in God Crossing after they'd completed the Pagoda of Infinite Strategy. Though many of the ingredients are imported, God Crossing now makes several local brews with a unique flavor. Happy for a stop on the long road from Celeren to Varsi, Guild caravans come through the town regularly, selling their wares in the city in exchange for the superior crops from the Plum Blossom Retreat.
The town has its own elder council for day-to-day affairs, but for larger works or contact with other courts, they bring their problems to their patron Solars. Storm of Amber, at least, smiles as he hands out his judgements. God Crossing is becomming the model of what he's long envisioned for his people; a place that's Marukani in spirit, but with infrastructure approaching what he had seen in Lookshy. If things continue, another few years will see God Crossing rivalling Celeren in size. Indeed, the recent Spring Market saw many Marukani from east of the hills stop at the new town for their celebration, rather than make the trip all the way to Celeren. Rumor has it that this has angered Mayhiros Tesos to no end.
Rivers' Day Off[edit]
Mite Xu and Berren entered the Great Hall and were quickly escorted up to the private balcony by the armored Pai. He was seated in his light gray civil robes, bent over a stack of letters and reports, with a low cup of tea at his elbow. Marta was seated on the railing looking over the crowd of workmen below, jostling for a cold mug of beer after their shift on the new council chamber. Rivers Between Us looked up at them with a troubled look in his eyes, then quickly smiled and gestured for them to sit across from him.
Berren put up his boots in a chair. “What kind of Marukan drinks tea in beer house, oh great sorcerer?”
Rivers' smile broadened, and he said curtly, “I’m being friendly, but I’m incredibly busy. I understood that you had logistical questions?”
Marta gave her brother a look of disappointment, rolling her eyes at him silently, and he averted his eyes. Xu spoke up. “Well, we have finished the basic infrastructure for the water and sewage system you requested... I’ll be working on the treatment plant and pump station for the next couple of months, but...”
Berren broke in, “It’s the essence lighting. We can’t tap ambient essence in God Crossing; there’s no demesne or manse to fuel it. We could try, but the essence flows might collapse, and...”
“Right, right, I follow you.” He drew a blank sheet of parchment from a pile at his right elbow and took a quick drink from his tea. Marta quickly ran over and refilled his cup, but did not offer any to his guests. “What we do is... we... put in a work order to the genesis engine. What we need is some kind of luminescent fungus... I’ve heard of them in the far east. Only this should be a mushroom with... an indefinite lifespan... reproduces by cuttings... and grows on... what do we have a lot of around here?”
Xu offered, “Manure?”
Berren posited, “Children?”
“Freedom?”
“Dirt?”
Rivers raised a finger. “Beer!” He jotted down the notes under his picture of a rather ordinary looking mushroom. “We’ll grow them in translucent pots. Don’t like the light? throw a cloth over it. Feed it a cup of beer once a month. There. Pei?”
The warrior strode over to his table an saluted. “Pei, take this work order to the Infinite City and see that it gets directly to Lyssa. I want a twenty of these in three months. Thank you gentleman.”
Mite Xu stood and bowed. Berren said, “What, already?” as Marta slowly began tugging on his chair, forcing him to rise.
Rivers Between Us stood as well. “Let’s walk and talk, Berren.” As they moved to the stairs, the sorcerer watched their feet and said, “You know, I had a dream last night where the entire city of God Crossing looked like a field of grass, full of wild flowers, benches, streams... a garden really.”
“Well, that would be difficult, with all the houses and roads and...”
“Hear me out. The roofs. All of our houses here have flat or terraced roofs, right? Except for the major civic buildings, that’s been our design all along. I want grass, wildflowers, shrubs, fountains, all of these automatically irrigated by various levels of treated sewage water, some fit for fertilizer, some fit for fountains and brooks. Tell me what you think.”
“That would be incredibly difficult; the level of treatment necessary to completely remove all odor and salts would...”
“I can see that you’re already thinking about it. Perhaps a salt marsh as an intermediary? Talk with Xu and send me a proposal. I’ll get you the men you need.” He patted his school friend on the shoulder then gently nudged him to take the first step down the stairs.
Berren stepped blearily past Pai as she saluted him, almost running into the next pair of supplicants. He heard Rivers call out behind him, “Ah yes, the road crew. Now tell me about this demesne you’ve found and explain to me why you ever let a single fatality happen on your watch. You have three minutes.”
Mite Xu was grinning at his side. “I love watching him work,” he confided.
“Hmm... but don’t you ever feel like you’re being left behind?”
Xu stopped in his tracks, and grabbed Berren by the shoulders of his robe. “Do you really want to be in his position? I heard from Lyssa when she was in town that today was supposed to be his day off.”
“Yeah.” He looked up to the balcony to see Marta worrying over his tea again.
