<div align="center">(http://i.imgur.com/ffoSUnp.jpg)      (http://i.imgur.com/iIm9txi.jpg)     (http://i.imgur.com/ShxSjU7.jpg)</div><br/><span class="bbc_u"><strong>The Bazaar</strong></span><br/>The Bazaar occupies its own little pocket dimension.  It is a place where people come when they want something -- and often they don't really know how they got there, or how to get back to where they came from, even if they wanted to return.   There are many ways in, and many ways out, but those ways aren't easy to nail down, and maps are obsolete before the ink even dries.  Some, blessed by magic, keen senses and/or luck can come and go as they please.  Others are locked into being able to use only the exit they came in through, and still others may never find an exit again, except through chance – and where they end up might not be someplace anyone sane would want to go.<br/><br/>It is a quasi-Middle Eastern setting, but there are bits of many cultures scattered about.    If it's been built, or sufficiently desired, it can probably be found at least occasionally at the Bazaar, lurking behind a door, beyond a tent flap, beneath some rusty grate or over a high wall.  It might even be found suspended and invisible, where a magician's rope trick ends in the sky.  The Bazaar is just that kind of place, and it is HUGE, a giant oasis setting with a river running through its center, crossed by bridges, ropes, ferries, and the occasional intrepid swimmer.  Boats go in, and boats go out, mostly laden with cargo incoming or outgoing, and occasionally passengers, but it is rumored that taking passage on one of these ships is an uncertain venture in itself, though many make a fortune in the import/export trade.<br/><br/><hr/><hr/><br/><br/><div align="center">(http://i.imgur.com/UcEuxya.jpg)      (http://i.imgur.com/hBhg6dm.jpg)      (http://i.imgur.com/kVdu7gs.jpg)</div>It isn't the first sight of the Bazaar that's overwhelming to the newcomer.  It's the smells.<br/><br/>Oh, the smells.  The scents.  The overwhelming cacophony of fragrances that assault the nostrils -- spices, perfumes, flowers, the luscious fruity smells of baking bread, cakes, pastries with vanilla and cardamon, cinnamon and mint, the savory stews and fragrant sear of meat roasted upon skewers ...<br/><br/>Newcomers, depending upon the sensitivity of their nostrils, are often reduced to quivering piles of insensate flesh for a few hours, just from the scents.<br/><br/>The visuals are impressive as well, particularly for those who come from more mundane settings.  The Bazaar is huge, with tall buildings and wandering streets.  There is design to the architecture and decoration, but it is one that takes a very large vision to see.<br/><br/>And the pedestrians, the city dwellers, the visitors ... it is not always easy to tell which is which, and nor is it much easier to tell who is powerful and who is not.  The vacant-stared old man dressed in ragged robes and hobbling along with aid of a cane might be a powerful magic user, or he might just be a crazy old beggar, or some prophet who survives his long-forgotten diety.  The beautiful woman with an angel's smile might hide a heart blacker than night and harder than diamond, while the mangy mongrel slinking along in the gutters could easily be a shapeshifter whose true form is beauteous enough to rob those who see it of both their sight and their hearts.<br/><br/>It is a place where one does well to exercise caution, unless one has an inordinately constant relationship with Dame Fortune, closer than the one to whom she gave her prized innocence.<br/><br/><div align="center">(http://i.imgur.com/EZQZI9i.jpg)      (http://i.imgur.com/sox2gYQ.jpg)</div>