Allhope Market

* + Allhope Market\*\*

* + Level:\*\* 5

* + Type:\*\* Market

* + Leader:\*\* Eleri Islwyn ni Eiluned

* + Berenice Gallery\*\*, which opened in late summer 2017, is owned by Jane Gallowgate and located near Back Cove Park, nestled in amongst the coffee roasters and breweries of this slightly less upscale but more vibrant neighborhood, only a short distance from the University of Southern Maine. The gallery showcases antiques, curiosities, collectible books, and original artwork from both recognized professional artists in the region as well as exceptional pieces by local art students at the university or colleges.

The Gallery is housed in an older converted Victorian-style home that survived amongst the influx of apartments and commercial buildings. As beautifully as the house has been restored, somehow it still looks a little haunted, and at the right times there's a touch of the uncanny to it: at last light when the shadows are long, or on those cool mornings when a heavy mist hangs in the trees, making everything look a little eerie.

Antiques and curiosities are housed on the main floor, along with a tiny coffee bar tucked into what used to be the kitchen, and the gallery proper is on the second floor. The arrangement of items for sale on the main floor is a work of artistry in and of itself, with objects arranged in either careful harmony or intentional contrast to one another, each juxtaposition deliberate: these pictures deliberately hung next to each other, that set of glassware displayed upon that table. It means the shop is not clearly organized by any obvious schema, but it’s endlessly pleasant to browse, and to lose more time than expected exploring the wares. A junk drawer by the register sometimes contains bits of Dross that can be purchased. The upstairs gallery, by contrast, is a cleaner, clearer space, though it eschews the current minimalism of modern gallery displays—objets d’art given plenty of space from one another—in favor of thematic groupings of several works in closer proximity, a cross between modern minimalism and 19th century salon-style exhibitions. The upstairs gallery can also serve as a performance space for small house concerts. Art classes and meetings for community groups are held in the detached garage.

Of course, Berenice Gallery is the front for the reborn freehold of \*\*Allhope Market\*\*. The rath is located in the basement, which can be entered either through the basement. There is a locked staircase accessible to senior (i.e. Kithain) employees from the main floor, or an external side entrance, ostensibly for deliveries. A trapdoor in a locked closet leads into //Allhope Market// proper. The Market has a long history among the Kithain; it was formerly ruled by an Eiluned noble prior to the Shattering, and vanished completely at that time. Its reputation in the ancient tales was that of a crossroads of the Dreaming, where vendors of all sorts visited, set up shop, and often vanished just as swiftly as they’d come. Some said the name, //All Hope//, was because one might find whatever one hoped for; others murmured it was a shortening of a longer name, //End of All Hope Market//, because it was where the truly desperate turned when they had nowhere else to go.

The Market comprises an array of stalls under a covered portico; the grounds are encircled by walls and a small manor building which has offices, a formal dining/meeting hall, and rooms for guests and residents, as well as the balefire chamber. Its ornamentation reflects largely its Eiluned ruler: moons and stars are set into ceilings and floors, or trail down along walls. There are traces of other influences: columns that look like oak trees, plinths in which tiny bats and dragons are carved, peeping down at passers-by. In the covered market, some vendors sell typical goods such as jewelry, weapons, books, food and drink from far-off lands. Others sell rarer chimerical goods, of varying degrees of safeness and reliability, and others man stalls that seem to be bare of goods entirely: but ask what they sell and the answers may be surprising—fortunate-tellers, perhaps, or dream-readers, or perhaps even lessons in some skill or art. Caveat emptor, though: there is no guarantee you won’t be cheated. Vendors may choose to come and go, staying for a night, a week, or a season.

The Portico opens onto a crossroads of the Silver Path, where three roads meet the path into the Market. Allhope’s gate at this entrance is warded and guarded, with strange protections built in, or so rumor has it. One of the roads to the market comes off a narrow bay, where ships may arrive from the watery parts of the Silver: the Path comprises the docks as well as the road to the market. The other two roads lead off into the more terrestrial parts of the Dreaming. Local fauna include seabirds and all manner of seaside chimerical creatures; at times a fog blows in off the sea, shrouding the market in a mist, and sometimes ghostly, dreamlike forms seem to walk among the more solid merchants and clientele.

The Market’s operator, Eleri Islwyn ni Eiluned, takes a percentage off all sales made there: the cut can be paid with cash, goods, or boons. Kithain from any hold, or no particular hold, are welcome to sell goods or services at the Market, as long as they abide by its rules and pay out the appropriate commission fees.

The Hold is ostensibly open to all: it has neither Heart Refrain’s prejudice against the nobility nor traditionalist attitudes of condescension towards the non-nobility. Whether this is a matter of high ideals or cool pragmatism is a matter of some question and debate. Regardless, the court itself runs on more informal terms, while remaining organized and orderly; titled Kithain cannot expect much in the way of preferential treatment, but they can expect a warmer welcome than they'd receive at Heart's Refrain, and all can expect a more modernist and egalitarian attitude than Drakehome.