While the old folks were busy chatting away at the newly erected dinner table – the older one made it
‘from the ground up’ – Haja had already reached Jarabesa’s outer walls and was currently in the middle
of sightseeing and inspecting a particularly lonesome beautiful flower-painting that was surrounded by
what seemed to be green and brown locusts, a strange sight that is for certain.
Judging by the different style of depicting flower petals and colors this painting must have been created
by an independent artist in contrast to most of Jarabesa-Wall.
Coupled with the picture’s main theme there were scarlet accents from above and below almost acting
like a veil cloaking the locusts. Haja might not have been a critic in the art of literature and abstract
artistry but even he saw a certain story behind the picture, silently standing at the edge of Jarabesa’s
walls. But he would quickly find out...
Entry into the city was going very smoothly:
After being talked to by the soonest available guard and showing his certifications as Raylon
Company’s apprentice, the young man was quickly allowed inside but only after getting a smug smile
and a pat on the shoulder from the middle-aged guard inspecting his credentials.
Immediately upon entering the inner perimeters of Jarabesa, Haja was guided into a labyrinth-like
structure and placed in front of a forked road.
If you were to look at it from a bird’s-eye-view, then you could see the following sight:
The dozens of meter-long walls that seem gigantic and majestic from the outside are openly supported
by wooden planks and the entire construction is crude at best.
Any and all construction areas are separated from the rest with large curtains, that are hung on sturdy
ropes towering over the village.
The main residential area is build like a complex of cells with a main area in the central part of
Jarabesa.
Any of the cells are partitioned with curtains of Sulfuric-Yellow, Royal-Blue and Scarlet-Red.
Directly behind most of these partitions you will find a small area of incensing fires used to smoke the
curtains and despell any lasting odors from their materials and coloring process.
Behind those there typically is a compound house for many people to live in; this is the workers’
residential area.
These areas have all the things necessary for a smooth discharge of people into the central:
Laundry areas, small kitchen areas, basic hygiene and clothing areas as well as a couple of empty spots
to relax and take a breather at.
At most a total of 5 to 10 workers could live inside one of these huts.
After zooming further away from the central area, you will find a circle with very loosely partitioned
areas, which functions as the main civilians’ area. This place is made for the workers’ families and their
well-being.
It is separated both by a solid inner and outer fence as well as ‘an equivalent to air conditioning’, that
helps in keeping potential illnesses from spreading to this area.
Houses here are mostly built to house single families instead of prioritizing space-efficiency.
There are also some animals and shops in this space for the local residents to use. Needless to say, the
pricing here is a lot lower than the tourists’ trading-prices.
Aside from a stable fence for security, this place – as well as any other areas including the central one –
is bordered by curtains of various colors keeping it hidden from the tourists entering Jarabesa-Village.
Zooming back into the center of the village colored in red, there is the central district, which controls
and dictates Jarabesa’s economy, tourism and communication to the outside.
Included in this space are shops and stalls for the poorer demographics, painters and other artists for the
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average wealthy man and a main brothel district for Jarabesa’s main group of customers.
As a side note, shops and stalls selling food are relatively rare and Jarabesa is infamous for its dry taste,
which is disliked by the many and liked by the few.
Reason being the flora and fauna being unsuitable for meat-heavy diets and revolving around
vegetarianism. There is also a perceived problem with the water siphoned around Jarabesa having a
strange herbal taste.
Incidentally people would later find out about the healthy effects of this water on the people and call
this type of water ‘Jara-Water’ or ‘Red-Water’ for its red, blood-like look and viscosity.
But for now it would only ever be considered drinkable and energizing with a uniquely dry taste to it
for the locals of this area.
It is because of this reason that roads and pathways between areas of Jarabesa have been constructed to,
if you were unfamiliar with the place, all lead to the brothel-district as an economical trap for
wandering visitors.
One such helpless soul is nobody less than Haja Altwald, a barely pubescent boy, who probably has
only recently started getting interested in the opposite sex.
His knowledge in that area is not even worth speaking about due to the low population of Chansa
village and him being an only-child as well as his social seclusion inside of his own demographic.
In other words: Raylon Hawkinson thought it would be a good idea to take an inexperience teenager
Haja into the city of brothels and let him explore the area without any supervision.
Of course it also needs to be mentioned that Haja left most of his money back on the carriage and
currently carried around the necessary amount to buy a piece of KasaKasa, a meatlike elastic plant
pasted onto a stick (Prices vary around 15 Yar paid in Estican Rabiras*)
_________
30 Yar around 15 Rabiras
30 Yan around 15 Ramsos
Estican and Ayrilian currencies are both based on rare minerals embroidered with a specific set of
minute runes etched onto their surface. The types of runes determine their credentials and their weight
determines the currency’s value.
Yar are based on the so called Yara-Yara stone, which can easily be cut into evenly shaped pieces of
money while Yan is literally a compressed version of this stone using a chemical solution.
Rabiras and Ramsos on the other hand are made out of different materials and their actual material
value in proportion to Yar and Yan is actually higher than this but due to political reasons it has been
reduced by over half its original value (A great recess after the war)
Yan and Yar are different tones of Silver-Grey, while Rabiras and Ramsos are colored emerald-green
and platinum respectively.
_________
Needless to say, Raylon might have had his fair share of bright moments but in the end intelligence is
not all that makes a merchant.
Currently, Haja is mostly dragged along the currents of Jarabesa’s visitors as his sensory functions are
overloaded by the sheer amount of information trickling in.
Various strong smells, strong heat, loud noises, vivid colors, aggressive shouting; rinse and repeat.
The heavily sensitive Haja was completely overwhelmed by these sensations and his nervous system
was dangerously close to shutting down from overheat.
Haja was on the verge of hyperventilating as he simultaneously experienced an increasing feeling of
nausea and vertigo. The Black edges of his side became more and more vivid before...
The young boy had some luck on his side because one of the local residents singled him out from the
crowd and dragged him out to a calmer area before things took a critical turn.
The two of them slipped beneath the nearest curtain and landed inside of a secluded intermediary
space, which the local workers mostly used for traversal.
The air was a lot less charged with heat and emotion of dozens of aggressive men as Haja sat down on
the side of this area and took a couple of breathers to calm himself down.
< hard to handle. Just steady your breathing and let time do its thing. >> Her motherly voice as clear as a chiming bell helped Haja calm down a bit faster as he for an inexplicable reason is reminded of his own mother. <> After getting back to his feet these are Haja’s first words to the friendly woman, who helped him in that atmosphere. On a closer look she is quite a beauty to behold. A voluptuous body dressed in a soft pink and white shoes with heels made her look like a noblewoman. The only difference to Haja’s sense of beauty was the patch of orange-blonde hair that seemed to grow only out of her neck’s right side and reached up underneath the woman’s cheekbone. Other than that her blue eyes and fair skin as well as the braided hair on top of her head were all beautifully crafted together. The beautiful woman made the boy slightly uncomfortable as he started slightly fidgeting from side to side. This experienced lady of course noticed that and let out another happy laugh with an undertone that seemed to be saying ‘How cute!’ in his face making Haja even more embarrassed. < A question that simultaneously teased him and characterized him as a great person. It was the type of question to lead up into providing certain services in exchange for money. A very business-like attitude as to be expected from a professional worker. Due to his young age the impressionable Haja immediately jumped onto her verbal questioning and told her all about why he was here the woman was quickly able to draw a mental picture of Haja’s situation. < of the Old Merchant Sir Raylon Hawkinson.>> < < wanted to do here?>> < and was happily speaking with his mouth full. He was sitting on top of the nice lady’s lap. Once again needless to say, due to his life in a lightly populated village, where everyone behaved like a big family to everyone else, this kid had no intrinsic defense mechanism for situations like this one. This made the motherly lady feel sad that she tried to exploit such a sweet child for its money. < guards and somehow ended up inside of the village.>> < < < <<*Sigh* You shouldn’t swallow this. If you do you might get stomach-aches later on.>> <> For all his childish behavior Haja was extraordinarily polite for his age. The unknown lady almost regretted fishing the boy out of the crowd but immediately berated herself. just accept things as they are and move on.> Margarret let out another small sigh and answered Haja. < Margarret. For now let’s go back to the entrance of Jarabesa. Then we can look for your teacher from there.>> Her plan sounded reasonable enough but Haja interjected. < comfortable talking and if there is one thing that my Master is good at, it’s talking. I would rather use the time to explore the city for a bit, maybe?>> Dealing with children can be quite exasperating, especially to those that are inexperienced with them. Luckily for her, Margarret had a decent amount of experience due to a couple of girls under her care. < you are interested. There is a pair of people of your age at my place. Care to join?>> She recognized that Haja was not the type of person to be controlled with orders or logic and instead proceeded to get him into a controlled environment. As expected: < and Thank You!>> With these words the two of them made a small trip to Margarret’s home. Later that day Haja was slammed heavily into the ground and kicked out of Jarabesa-Village. Fractured ribs and a broken leg were among the injuries he suffered from a chance encounter.