"It was strange, really. Years of civil war, and despite us being in a fort town, we never saw any action whatsoever. Even the plague had begun to peter out by the time it reached this far west, and we never had it as bad as the rest. I guess it's just blessings to be counted, really." - Fyodor Laschevitz, Guard Sergeant at the city of Rostem, circa 90 VA.
The party was welcomed into the inner fort, which despite its naturally more practical construction, was still equipped with amenities that befitted a governor's residence as well. Since it was rather late in the day already, everyone took their time to refresh themselves from the trip, before they gathered again for an early dinner.
When Aideen and Artair arrived at the dining hall, they saw that long benches and tables were arranged around the room, and that Zoya had waved at them from the head table, where she was seated next to the governess herself.
They went and took their seats there as well, with Artair besides the governess' husband and Aideen beside him. The governess' three children were at the head of different tables, along with people that looked like officials both civil and military.
Everyone seemed to agree that business talk could wait for the next day, and the dinner was a relaxed one, as the governess' husband engaged Aideen and Artair in conversation as they ate together. If there was one thing she immediately pegged as different, it was the drinks offered, for unlike the sweeter wines favored in the eastern regions of the empire, they had harder, fermented liquors instead, which tasted somewhat like herbs.
Zoya had a meeting with the governess the next morning, and since Aideen and Artair were not required to attend, they visited the marketplace they saw yesterday instead, together with Marek and Zoya's children. Acting as their guide was the youngest child of the governess, who was a female still in her early twenties.
The open air marketplace they saw yesterday was as crowded as back then, the merchants there hawking their wares from simple stalls of wood with tarp for roofs for the most part. Others simply placed a woven mat and sat on it, with their wares spread out before them.
Most of those who simply sat on mats were tribesmen from the western isles who came to trade. Their guide explained that they were mostly from the tribes who lived not far from the city, as the tribes further away usually chose naval routes to trade instead.
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Rostem was a fort town after all, not a trade hub, even if it still saw a good bit of mercantile traffic. It mostly acted as a gateway for Elmaiya merchants who went to the isles directly, and as a convenient hub for the tribes nearby.
Amongst the items displayed for sale, Aideen took interest in the woven mats and other works of fabric, which bore the telltale markings of the tribal handiwork which produced it. She was far less interested in items like ivory carvings and statuettes which were popular amongst the Elmaiyans, as that was an artform widely profilerated in Ptolodecca as well.
She bought several tunics and matching pants, with many woven patterns on the fabric it was made of, as souvenirs for some of the unliving she had good relations with, as well as a few other people she was somewhat close to.
Naturally, she bought some for Maebh's family as well, along with a couple for Mimia and Éirynn, since those two were likely sticking by Khaer Ul during their stay and thus unlikely to go further into the empire like she did.
Then Aideen had to wonder if Grandpa Aarin would have liked one as well. In all her memory, she had never seen him wear anything other than the black robes of the clergy of Tohrmut, or that time he wore his battle robe when he went to war.
Eventually she decided to just get him some anyway. Fortunately the therian makers apparently had some smaller therian breeds either in their tribe or in neighboring tribes as well, so there were several sets of clothing in the Bone Lord's size as well.
Other than that she also bought some woven blankets and rugs, more for her own use. While the house she lived with Artair in was technically only a temporary residence lent to her, there was no reason she could not make it more comfortable to stay in.
There were a couple shops where tribal blacksmiths hawked their creations as well, most of them practical items like daggers and knives, or spearheads and arrowheads, but there were also the occasional weapon that made Aideen look twice since it just looked so unusual.
She and Artair discussed with one another as they recalled what they had seen off Grigori's collection, before they chose a couple of unusual weapons - the vendor said they were throwing knives - that looked as if blades had just haphazardly sprouted from the central tang as gifts for him.
They also frequented a couple stalls started by some unusually business-minded tribesmen, who noticed that a constant flow of their folks visited Rostem, and many also ended up permanently living there.
These tribesmen used that knowledge to open eateries that served their tribe's traditional fares. They provided a taste of home for those who had immigrated and those who just passed by, and made a lucrative business out of it.
Aideen found that she quite enjoyed the fare, though it was quite unusual compared to the rest of the empire's foods. Tribal cuisine apparently used far more spices, as those grew abundantly in their home isles, and they also made use of many parts humans in the empire used to balk at, like most of the offal of an animal.
Ptolodecca had no such habit though, as there they were taught to make full use out of every animal they slaughtered. While many humans in the current empire still felt uncomfortable with eating them, Aideen just happily munched on the dishes of cooked offal presented.
That garnered her an appreciative look from the owner of the establishment, who even came over himself to treat her and Artair to some specialty dishes and his best alcohol for free.