Savage City: The Market Square

This was created by me as part of the cooperative Savage City project. You can find it in an old Sharkbyte issue.
I described the market square, the richest merchant in town and his son. Somewhere on my harddisk there should be still infos on the wife/mother.

The market square is surrounded by some of the biggest buildings in town. The farmers and fishermen of the region sell their goods here twice a week. But even on other days a few kids and elders are sent to make some coins.
It is not unusual to have the occasional stranger from faraway lands at the market either. These people are normally guests of Wolfram Pertl, the richest merchant in town. Even if there are no strangers, who the street kids point at, one can find all the goods not locally produced at the stands of Pertl’s agents: spices, as well as rare weapons and sometimes even a potion or two.
Except for the wooden stands the paved square has two further attractions to offer: the guardian statue and the stocks.
The statue is called “The Armless Guardian,” as it is that of a warrior. It seems to be quite old and even the scholars have no idea who could have build it. Only the features of the warrior’s face seem beaten by centuries of weather as
the rest of the statue is in perfect condition—except for the missing arms. The townspeople regularly try to fix this flaw, but no matter how inventive or costly the restorations, after a few days the new arms simply fall off.
Still the statue serves its function as a symbol for the city’s rights because the guardian of stone carries a sword. The sword is not held in the missing hands, but is fixed to the back of its head, by the handle. The blade rises far above the guardian’s features. The very same scholars that cannot tell you about its origin will tell you that the shadow of the sword has to point somewhere when the sun is at a certain level.
By contrast the stocks are not mysterious at all. They are regularly filled with petty criminals and attract a crowd of mainly poor kids and nosy women. Only in rare cases, when the city guard exhibits a goblin or another unusual creature, do the stocks get more attention.