God Crossing
At the center of the Eye of Hiparkes is the tiny town of God Crossing. It was not always there. Only recently, when the roads were constructed and the crossroads built, Rivers Between Us decided to help establish a hostel there. To this end he built the Grand Lodge.
The Grand Lodge is 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. It is now the hub of a growing city.
All kinds of visitors can be found in the lodge, going or coming or just listening in. Guild caravans pass regularly through the town; the merchants and their guards enjoy 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, the jokun spy for Rivers, 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.
Industry and trade were soon to follow the building of the hostel. Rivers grew tired of importing inferior alcohol from Lookshy and Celeren, and ordered the construction of a brewery by the mercury ants after they completed work in the Vitreous Fulcrum. Guild merchants are happy to sell their wares in the city and trade for the superior crops from the Plum Blossom Retreat. They've established and stocked a general store to this end.
The town has recently been expanded by the inclusion of deserters from Shouting With Iron's army. It is not uncommon to see a beastman farming in the surrounding fields, or a hill-tribesman arguing over the price of flax with the guild. At present there are almost five hundred inhabitants of God Crossing.
