The Trophym

The Trophym is the great plaza of Arc , it is a vast public space that is given over on most days to market vendors and traders, but is rerserved for Aruhvian ceremonies, public pronouncements of war and succession and other major matters of state. The Trophym sits in the centre of the city, at the top of the Dures Road , Starrander Road and Ordrish Roads. Around the edges of the Trophym sit the great buildings of state, the Azure Chamber and the Starrad, the house of the Rulderhall.

(Above is the Trophym as seen from the Three Sisters at dawn)

Trophym in High Vannic means 'Place of Unity' and well to do Arcites hold dear to the belief that the Trophym itself is a unifying public place. They imagine that when the rich and the poor mingle on the dark grey stones of the plaza, that social differences melt away. The troubadour Barisc Bazyn wrote several well known odes to the Trophym, that tell stories of young princelings and street children playing in harmony together. All Arcites with even a modicum of intelligence know that the truth of the city is radically different and that poverty and inequality are part of the daily existence of much of the population. At a few streets away from the eastern end of the square is the debtors prison, the Oboline, giving Arcites a grim reminder of the actual fate of the poor.
When high days and holidays are announced by the Protectors of Arc, it is customary for the Trophym to be filled with vendors and performers, acrobats and entertainers of every type, and the city's thieves and vagabonds enrich themselves at the expense of revellers. The wandering Derughi, a coven of men and women from the deserts of the Arclands wastes who profess to know all eleven thousand of the great folk tales of Aestis, come to the square with tattooed faces and bare feet and tell one story after another for pennies or food. Each of the Derughi weaves subtle and unseen magics into their stories, and only those with the ability to see can understand the hidden messages of the wandering folk.
Some of the diplomats and officials who make their way across the Trophym are disdainful of the common folk who fill the square most days. They see the historic marshalling ground of Arc's armies and the plaza where Arcites would listen to the edicts of their emperors as a hallowed and special place reserved for people of privilege.
In reality, the Trophym is a highly contested place, a battleground between the rich and the poor, and a place where the impoverished, who have lost so many battles for survival against the wealthy can attempt to stand their ground.
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