Lamedon Square Market

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

"He came at last by arched streets and many fair alleys and pavements to the lowest and widest circle, and there he was directed to the Lampwrights' Street, a broad way running towards the Great Gate." - RotK

At the corner of the Lampwrights' Street and Blacksmiths' Road, in the lowest circle of Minas Anor, is set the Lamedon Square Market, where all manner of vendors and buyers congregate daily to sell their wares.

In the manner of any market, there are the regulars, there to set up shop, or there to loiter, or there to make the daily purchases. And there are sometimers, who stop in now and again when things are needed. And there are those that stop in once and are never seen again. There are humans, mostly, but this is Minas Anor: it would not be unheard of for a visiting halfling, or a Dwarf, or an Elf even to make an appearance. This is, after all, where disparate people come to exchange that which – whatever it may be – they did not have before. A marketplace, bustling, is above all else a public place of that nature--where people jostle elbows and come and go. It can be a launch point for adventures... chance meetings... friendships... romances...

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Mistress Fea, a baker by trade, was at the market at all times. Up well before dawn to put the loaves in the oven, she was the first to set up shop and the last to leave at the end of day. And at the end of the day, she was still available, because her shop, The Risen Loaf, was situated right within the square, on the very corner of the two roads.

This night she had not slept at all, because this day was a special day. It was the first of the spring harvest, when those outliers that winter away from the city would enter with their first wares of the season. It was a busy time, and anyone might arrive, and all would demand cakes and loaves and rolls and breads with fruits and breads with meats. Though most kitchens made their own breads, most market-goers would never dare resist the tantalizing scent of a long loaf of Mistress Fea's crusty bread filled with sausage and cheese. With the farmers from outside the city walls entering for the first time since autumn, the Market would be especially busy. A normal morning's baking of a normal batch of wares would simply not be enough.

As Fea shooed her shop boy Erchan away from her long tables, back into the bakery. The sun would rise soon, and the bells would begin to ring. Today would be a sunny day, and the oiled canvas they stretched above their goods when the weather was poor and rain fell would not be needed. The first breads to be laid out would be the golden rolls brushed with egg yolk; they would shine in the morning light like a dragon's horde. Those and breads stuffed with raisins and dates and nuts, and any other fruits that lasted through the winter. Morning breads for morning shoppers. As the day progressed, the goods would change.

"Erchan!" she shouted after her boy, "If you dare sneak a pie, I will flay you!"

"Abusing your help already, Mistress?"

Fea sent a dimpled smile to the speaker. "Captain Formy, you rogue, you know well that a boy his age would eat a pie and more every handful of minutes if not watched. Up a bit early, are you not?"

"On the early watch this day, what with all the new folk coming into the city for Market."

Having been to market for years, this came as no surprise, and she need not have asked except that it was habit to converse back and forth with abandon. "Well if you see a floundering shop keep or farmer's daughter with a crate of chickens, let them know the stall over by the Old Guesthouse is empty, what with Old Frid having gone off to Southern parts for the season. As long as they arrive early, of course. Lazy comers will end up half way to Candlewick Row, I should think. I do wonder what fresh new faces we shall see... Pie, dear?"

IT IS NOW VERY EARLY IN THE MORNING, IN LATE SPRING, WHEN THE FIRST FRUITS COME RIPE. THE WEATHER IS PLEASANT.


THE MARKET IS COMING BACK TO LIFE AFTER ANOTHER NIGHT.