In the finest traditions of the Life, Yoshimo suggested that they celebrate their most recent success with a shopping trip. Their limited number of coins didn't deter him. "Besides," he said, "you hardly got a chance to appreciate Waukeen's Promenade the last time you were there."
So the next day, early in the morning, Lidia, Jaheira, Minsc, and Yoshimo started crossing the great bridge to the other side of the Alandor River.
They could see the golden domes of Promenade from the bridge, and as they made their way down Waukeen's Way, a number of merchants were already setting up shop along the street. As Yoshimo explained, the Promenade was the most prestigious place to do business in Amn and not everyone could afford to rent a spot inside.
And in fact the space out here was mostly utilitarian: hitching posts, water troughs, wells, even a few offices inside some old terra-cotta buildings. But as the Company drew closer to one of the great stone arches, the smell of animal waste gave way to the smell of roasting meat, with several stands beginning to prepare for the larger crowds coming later. These arches, like the domes atop the wall, were wrought in gold and yellow limestone; they supported the Promenade's walls and provided a grand entryway for all visitors.
At this particular entrance were a series of pens holding an assortment of exotic animals: a tiger, a great serpent, an elephant, a kamatlan, and a giant bombardier beetle were the closest and most easily identifiable ones. On the other side of this makeshift zoo was a massive marquee tent, curtained and covered in gold and white.
A large crowd was gathering around it, but not to see what was inside. A guard wearing the holy symbol of Helm cast a ward on the entrance, then turned to the crowd. "The circus has been closed until this matter is resolved," he said. "Go about your business, citizens."
A small boy was tugging on the guard's tabard and crying, "My mama's in there!" Another woman shouted, "I paid good money to see this circus! Why aren't you doing anything about it?" A number of angry murmurs arose in much the same vein.
"Everyone we have sent in to investigate has not come out. Foul magic, no doubt, is involved. We are waiting for the Cowled Wizards to arrive."
Jaheira looked to Lidia.
"As much as I hate to say it," Lidia said, "this might be one for the experts." She missed Dynaheir's company, but now she felt the loss of the wychlaran's expertise keenly.
Minsc, for his part, was unusually thoughtful and gently stroking Boo with his thumb. Was he thinking the same thing? she thought.
The crowd began to disperse, and the Company continued into the arch, saying no more about the matter.
Lidia had spent her entire childhood inside the library-fortress of Candlekeep. She had known the names of everyone who lived there, and every visitor had been carefully noted and tracked by the Avowed. She'd had some time to get used to large crowds in Baldur's Gate, but this crowd was a completely different kind.
What set Waukeen's Promenade apart was the variety of people - humans, elves, halfings, dwarves, occasional tieflings and gnomes - and the din of different languages and sales pitches and colors and smells that assaulted anyone passing through. Most of the denizens here had learned to filter all this out, concentrating only on getting to the next destination and deftly navigating the chaos, but newcomers were often left dazed. The latter were easy to spot; oftentimes, they stared, awed, at everything within their field of vision. Lidia herself retained just enough awareness of her surroundings to stay out of the way of foot and animal traffic.
Everyone was streaming into the massive yellow limestone stadium, the four arches towering far above their heads on thick pillars. Several oblong levels inside the stadium were stacked on top of each other; as she heard later, these were the permanent, year-round shops, open even during the brief and mild winter. The most well-established and prestigious were on the first level, with the rent getting progressively cheaper as one ascended the stairs to the fifth. Now that the weather was warming, four lines of colorful tents lined and filled the sandy floor, attracting buyers and sightseers alike. A number of people, mostly nobles in brightly colored robes and turbans, seemed to have come only to see and be seen.
The most distinct part of the whole place, however, was the large scar in the wall of the Promenade. Seeing it now, and from this distance, Lidia realized how much damage Irenicus and the Wizards had done. The rubble extended all the way down from top of the wall to the bottom, and it seemed to cover four shops and one of the entrances. Cleanup had been going slowly. Still, despite this reminder of recent violence, the whole place had an air of a festival, rather than of commerce. At many of the booths, buyers and sellers were engaged in conversation. As the Company wandered among the tents, Lidia pointed this out to Yoshimo.
"Ah, you didn't know?" Yoshimo said. "It's the Amnish custom to negotiate most sales."
"Doesn't that take up a lot of time?" Lidia asked.
"If the sale is big enough, then it's well worth the while," he said. "Not so much for foodstuffs and other trifles, but for, say…"
He gestured to where two men were arguing over a large rug, knotted in a graceful arched pattern in red and gold. An array of others were arranged over wooden stands. Even in the shade, their colors seemed to glow.
Yoshimo continued, "Both parties will try to get the best out of the deal, of course, but that's how things get done."
As they continued their leisurely browsing, she asked him, "How long have you been in Amn?"
"I am from Kozakura, originally, but I've lived here since the fall of last year," he said.
She remembered seeing Kozakura on a map somewhere; it was on the other side of the world in Kara-Tur. "What brought you here?"
"I came to seek my fortune. What else?" he said with a grin. "There are rumors, you know, that the streets of Athkatla are paved in gold. Now, I wasn't expecting to see golden streets here, but I can see where some might say that."
"You don't strike me as the mercantile sort. How would you find a fortune?"
"Ah, a fair question," he said. "You know as well as I that where money goes, trouble follows, yes?" He didn't wait for an answer. "And we're adventurers. Trouble is where we profit most."
She smiled wryly. She'd just seen twenty-one winters, and she'd already been involved in enough trouble for at least one lifetime. Whether profit had followed was still an open question. "True enough."
"Weapons both magical and plain! Stolen armor from the lairs of Dragons! Scrolls of sorcery! Fine Dwarven crafts from the Deep - you won't find better! Anything you need, we have!" A voice somehow seemed to float above the others'. Whether it was louder or just better at carrying itself, none could say. About fifty feet or so ahead, a few shoppers were shooting annoyed looks at the voice's source.
Jaheira seemed to perk up in its direction. "We should stop here," she said, and she turned towards it. The Company followed.