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</div>The two fresh faced strangers, fast becoming friends, step inside the gates and into Gankysou's Main street. It was the fanciest thing the two of them had ever seen. Cobbled stone lined the dusty street, and even now in the early hours of light, it bustled with busy women about their tasks for the day. On heright side of the streets are some clearly labelled wooden longhouses seperated by a small dark alleyway. The first building  has a wooden swinging sign above it..<br/>Gilda's Convoys and messenger services.. We offer safe travel for your goods and person to Zarful.<br/>(Disclaimer: Gilda's Convyos is not responsible for loss of life, limb or goods due to Creature attack, or bandit ambushes) Behind it you can hear the horses softly whinnying in the stable out the back... Luth's big barbarin nose can tell that yes, Jasmine was right, Ora's smell definitely compares to the stables at the moment.<br/><br/>Beyond the alleyway is what appears to be a schoolyard with kids playing in the street in front of it.<br/>A sign in a Mantrap Acid bleached stretched canvas of Hellhound leather reads:<br/>Mistress Rodriguez's Institute for the Enrichment of the Minds of Young Warrior Girls.<br/>The building itself is half on stilts, as it crosses the waterway and just reaches the other side of the glittering crystal clear blue river that bisects the town.<br/><br/>On the left side of the paved road is a collection of domiciles that dominate the skyline. Three staggered multi story blocks of mass female housing stretch the length of the street. Each one back is one level higher than the one in front. (Presumably so the tenants on the higher floors have a good view over the Execution arena at the end of the street.) There are no signs of proclamaion that say that it is housing, but the loincloths drying on the balconies, and the fact that each door is numbered visibly with wooden typography is a dead giveaway, even to strangers like Luth and Ora.<br/><br/>and of course, the Village's center of entertainment lies over a small wooden arch bridge on the other side of the river: The town square Execution Arena... towering over it is a white stone Cenotaph, easily the most expensive thing that the village has ever attempted to construct. The arena itself is a dusty circle of well trodden and compacted ground surrounding a central stage that is rigged in all manners of ways, from strong looking glass boxes, to an impressive count of gallows and stocks. The heavy treated wooden scaffolding turns to a darker red colour as it approaches the ground; stained by hundreds of years of continual usage, although you are sure that the arena has probably preceded that - maybe even back to the founding of Genkysou.<br/><br/><br/><br/>The street you are on bustles with women of all shapes, sizes and races going about their business. Smokes and smells and spices permeate the atmosphere. Some are haggling with roadside stall merchants for tiny trinkets and trophies, others are guiding large broods of children away from whatever mischief they are up to.<br/><br/>One of the prettier woman in the street appears to be teasing another with strips of what appears to be Swampsac Jerky, a luxury favoured by those in the Imperial Capital.<br/>"Come on, I got some more in my room... we can make it a party.... and.." Her eyes catch sight of Luth, and a wicked grin covers her face... she turns to recognise Ora, and her face drops as engages in some serious planning.<br/><br/>Another girl walks down the street back to the Female housing blocks, her morning purchase in a hook in her hand. The sharp end of the hook ends in the mouth of the top half a fresh woman's corpse: everything below her ribcage severed roughly by what looks to have been a cleaver. Her breasts sway erratically as her happy new owner swings the body to a more comfortable holding position. Her face was pretty enough, and the curls of her dark hair fell down around a glassy eyed stare locked in a now permanent scream. The happy owner takes her prize into one of the lower floors of the housing, disappearing  inside, presumably to begin her daily breakfast cooking.<br/><br/>At the execution arena, there is a flurry of activity. You can barely hear the announcements being made, but it sounds like they might be holding an activity of some sort soon.<br/>"And.... we..... the.... execution...... the ....... people..... .... bring.........condemned......"<br/><br/>This is the hustle and bustle of a real Village, Ora, being a mercenary, is familiar with the sight of a merchant town, but Luth must be overwhelmed by the assault on his senses, all the new ideas and expectations that he must be having. He's never seen anything like it in his life.<br/><br/>Picture attached here:m<a class="postlink" href="https://aryion.com/g4/view/434691">https://aryion.com/g4/view/434691</a>m