Post by Valen Storyteller on Feb 23, 2016 2:53:43 GMT
The most lively Square in the city of Valen, the Imperial Bridge Square is set on the East end of the broad Imperial Bridge. While the bridge itself is a market from dawn until noon, business booms in the Square at all hours.
In coping with Valen's fairly warm summers, the Imperial Bridge Square is surrounded by businesses conducted in the open air. It is bordered by the bridge on one end, and a broad-arched arcade filled with business-fronts on the other three. During warm months, draperies are hung intermittently over the square, providing some cover from the sun while still allowing a balmy breeze to blow.
The businesses set along the market's side actually operate outside their frontages during most of the year, with goods laid out under the arches and sometimes spilling out beyond them onto the square itself. Bars, cafés, restaurants and more set their tables outside, sprawling over much of the square. It is not unusual for customers at one establishment to rub shoulders with those at another, and many a lively conversation and first meetings have occurred between people who visited the square for entirely different reasons.
Many of the city's biggest and best businesses are set around the Imperial Bridge Square, or within a short walking distance of it. Some of the best smiths, alchemists and even a magic shop are set up there. The city's largest temple of the Twins is within sight of the square, while that of the Triumvirate is just across the bridge.
At night, magical lamps are lit all around the square, keeping it lit up year-round with bright golden light. With frequent guard patrols, violent crime is almost unheard-of in the square proper, though some of the streets leading off from it are not quite so safe, and visitors are warned to keep an eye on their belongings and coin purses.