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 floor of the common room. He can be found there whenever he is 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 now 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.

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Heaven's Mandate