The Market

The Old Everglow Market, or simply, The Market is the central hub for all illicit goods and services for the entire Aradian continent, run by an enigmatic leader that nobody knows the identity of, simply called The Boss by their staff of loyal underworld managers. If you want anything beyond a two bit operations in your little slice of paradise, you set up in The Market. From the smallest time counterfeiters and fences, to the biggest names in crime, all congregate in this enclosed fortress that lies in the depths of Old Everglow. However, just because this is the hub for all major transactions, doesn't mean thtat the rules are fair for everyone. Vas Comorrah can get away with just about anything they want outside of fighting with the Market's top brass, but your run of the mill thief will end up dead or broken if they mess with the gangs of the area.

The Market can be sliced into three major areas, with sub divisions to the third category: You have the biggest area which is The Bazaar, a wide open area, or at least it would be if not stuffed with ever stall and wall huggers that could cram themselves into a position to hawk wares and services. This is where you will find all the small time players and scum. To make it even this far though you have to have at least some skill, getting a spot is actually difficult and requires years of work or decent connections to stake your claim, most criminals are just two bit thugs and thieves, and these don't have a place in the goings on of The Market's busy thrum of economic exchange.

Then you have The Main Street, a slice of front facing buildings at the other end of the Bazaar that house the main facilities the Market was original founded on: a brothel, a bar, a gambler's den, an inn, a warehouse, and a bank. These are some of the largest buildings in the whole area, and are multiple stories each. They form a solid backboard the separates the main beating heart, from the outer border that are home to larger organizations and Vas Comorah, the largest and most politically ingrained of the bunch. This area is always bustling with people and trade, and is the only place in the Market where one will never be able to set up shop, as the people who own and operate this slice of demented heaven are all cadres to the Market Boss. They're the criminal family that holds the keys to this place, and if ever they should feel that you're not welcome, that's your cue to leave before you wind up with a bullet in your brain. This area is protected by the market's own security forces, the Snow Wolves, a fairly heavily armed mercenary outfit that's loyal to the cash that the big boss shells out for their continued cooperation.

Lastly there's the Districts, which comprises about the other half of the whole of the Market, with a solid half of that being owned by Vas Comorah, with other organizations such as The Brokerage, The Revolutionaries, the United Pirates Guild, and the Thieves Guild having to make nice in whatever they can manage to scrounge for themselves, unwilling to disagree with either the Dwarves or the infamous Maintainer and the bevy of heavily armed mercs more than happy to throw these groups right on out of their cozy lodgings. While the dwarven crime family has the safest and best location in the Districts, everyone else doesn't have it half bad either, with most having their backs against sturdy walls and defensible buildings. Much of The Market abuts against the old curtain walls of ancient times, and thus its hard for most to threaten the area at all. Gangs are responsible for their own protection outfits, and you can expect to see their own brand of security forces hanging around their turf.

Blackjackets are well paid to leave the area well enough alone, as if they needed an excuse not to patrol more of Old Everglow, but one can never be too careful and whoever is running this outfit has no shortage of blood money to spare. It is safe to say that most do not make this location their base of operations, but more their regional outreach to ply their trades, with most of the organizations and solid gangs having much more secure and private bases scattered across Terros. The Market is open to all, from dawn to into the night, only closing its gates at the eleventh hour, before reopening at the crack of dawn the next day. Weapons are highly discouraged, as that can give people the wrong idea, but still nobody is actively going to try and take them away. The implied consequences are that if you're seen with it out and ready to use it, the gangs will know who the fuck to shoot first.

The Market has been around since the death of Queen Talia, with roots going as far back as the Pirate War in its foundations, though it only flourished after King Gordon's death and the chaos in the wake of the Revolution. While the military could come through and crush the den of deviance, they won't, too many bigger fish with more threats to the delicate status quo. Plus, it helps that if you fill people's pockets, they suddenly stop giving a shit about what the poor and the low are doing in the smog.

The Market is still well int he beating heart of the smog monster that is New Bastion, but the most important of important people in the area have dedicated ventilation systems running through their offices to ensure they don't have to breathe the same air as the lowifes that call this place their hub of business. Most notably the head of the Vas Comorrah and The Boss themselves have dedicated systems in their offices, others just have to deal with it like everywhere else, but it's the damned Underground, what did you expect?