The trip to Hent continued very quietly. They put on the road a few people and their protectors, traveling poets, to a large convoy of woodcutters whose destination would be according to them the capital. They also pa.s.sed, a family of Beastman farmers of the rabbit race picking carrots in a field.The kingdom of Hent, like the continent of Ilyone of which it is a part, groups together different types of intelligent being.
humans, especially gifted arts and sciences were only a small percentage to properly master the magic.
The elves, discreet, intelligent, very advanced in alchemy, live isolated and their control of the magic of water is excellent.
The beastmans also nicknamed by the majority of the other races "muscular brains" are provided with a superior physical force.
The harpies, very fast in flight, spreading a horrible odor, were formally part of the daemons but exiled. They are the only creatures who attack all other peoples.
The daemons, strange ethnic group because it is undeniable that their origin is human like their appearance. The mutation of their magic becomes necromancy and black magic and their tyrannical strength would be innate. As intelligent as humans or elves, they are scientifically late. This may be due to their difficult way of life and their frequent mortality rate before forty years.
There are other types such as the fairies, the spirits of nature, the people of dryads witch etc ...
At three o"clock in the afternoon, they finally saw the high fortification of the city of Hent.
Hent is one of the five largest cities in the kingdom including the capital, it is home to no more than three hundred and ten thousand inhabitants. Hent also serves as a commercial crossroads in the south of the country. From here leave the roads for the largest cities; Saxony in the center of the kingdom, Semia in the north, Lingard in the west and Serben in the east. The paved streets are almost symmetrical and each small neighborhood forms a square. It is not a very original construction and a little monotonous.The streets are particularly dirty in the popular district, so dirty that the inhabitants of the cities follow the walls. A waste collection policy was set up more than thirty years ago but no one makes any effort to adopt it, hence the state of part of the city today. Needless to say, the cradle of epidemics is in these crowded places of mice and rats.The walls of the houses are made of sand or agglomerated earth and the thatched roofs are particularly pleasant to look at.
The cities of the kingdom seem very alive, Hent is no exception. Numerous fairs take place almost daily in order to allow city dwellers or visitors to stock up on rare foodstuffs, or common and usuals resources.The local merchants who had originally settled near busy roads such as the cathedral, the castle or the territorial house,
had all bought a place street spot to fight against street vendors and other large itinerant merchants who were lowering prices and harming their businesses.
In the day modest shows take place on the markets. It is possible to cross portraitists, fighters simulating a fierce duel, tightrope walkers, knife throwers, ventriloquists, storytellers and more.The most qualified of them to be lucky to be recognized by a person of high rank in order to leave the street and to be able to be present in the big bourgeois houses or in the castles of the n.o.bles for a more comfortable life.
Some trades were grouped together and moved away from the residential areas so that the smell or smoke generated by their profession no longer bothered the citizens.
The forge was part of this small batch of unfortunate artisans who were banned from the city center because supposedly, their smoke smothered the babies and accelerated the death of the old ones.
The tanners also had to go away and join the blacksmiths. It is true that the stench of the tannery traveled up to four kilometers.
But life in the city is particularly dangerous. Crime is the scourge of the population and kidnappings are daily. No one would help the victim of a murderer in the street. Pa.s.sersby to take shelter and wait for calm to return. Abuse on women was also very common but often perpetrated by people whose social rank would not allow victims to complain. The biggest threat before the crime and the disease remains the fires.
Very few people of the lower cla.s.ses can afford a magic lamp, and if they can afford it they must still have crystals to feed it. The best option for these people was the candle. But a candle falling on papers or a stack of clothes in a house whose roof is made of stubble is quickly catastrophic.
The houses not far from each other, it is not uncommon for two hundred to three hundred houses to be reduced to ashes in the s.p.a.ce of one night. Their owners having lost all their possessions by the same occasion. These poor people in general will leave for the slum. During this time a new family often coming from the countryside for to discover the pleasure of the city, will build his new house on the ashes of that of the unfortunate ones.
Ayleen"s convoy crossed the high walls of the south gate, which was guarded by a dozen guards, and headed straight for the upper town. The city of Hent consisted of four distinct zones.
The shantytowns that are ruled by the underworld
The lower town where people like employees, workers, common agricultural employees live ...
The average city where mainly the senior employees literary, craftsmen, tradesmen, small staff of the army ...
The upper town where families of wealthy merchants live, bourgeois, n.o.bles, government employees, high personnel army...
The city of Hent although perfectly flat has kept this name distinct areas that were generally reserved for towns built in height aiming at a natural defensive position.
Ayleen who was bored sitting for so long on her bench. "Nina go shopping and find beautiful dresses. Anyway we are not in a hurry, the banquet is only tomorrow night. I want new clothes and especially it"s been long we did not walk in town so let"s take advantage of it."