Tent City
Prose
All my years, I have seen nothing fouler or as primitive as the City of Tents just beyond the walls of the city. Initially, the inhabitants wished to escape the overly-crowded confines of civilization, so they took to tents and temporary shelters to allow themselves to remain within a fair distance of the city for ease of obtaining necessities while also being able to wander as they pleased. Such a notion was a dangerous one indeed, for those that wished to live among such a community found themselves surrounded by pickpockets, murderers, disease, famine, and sickness. One might find themselves wondering why they simply don't wish to try to leave. Vicious gangs have capitalized upon the plight of the pauper by threatening to kill anyone who dares leave. In exchange for their "protection", they scalp those that are already struggling into starvation. One also might wonder why and how they are able to do such a thing. Well, dear reader, these thugs find a technicality within the willful ignorance of the government. While the city insists that the Tent City belongs to the Farm Ward with the pretense that they are beyond the walls, the Farm Ward insists that the Tent City quite literally runs along the very walls of Ptolus. By attempting to counter-delegate responsibilities to one another, it soon became clear that neither of them wished to involve themselves. The city for the reason of wanting nothing to do with people beyond its walls and the Farm Ward simply not having enough resources to dispatch said cutthroats from the territory. My pity for those that are forced to live this sort of life is great, yet I cannot fathom why some would willingly choose it. In the days that I spent amongst the people, I found that many of them have become rather fine with the fact they are relentlessly tormented by criminals. When I asked them why they told me that it greatly ailed them to live within a city that has such restrictive laws. Years of living within the confines of the city had often been rather firm, yet I had never had the need or desire to act outside of the law. The guardsman alone had kept hundreds, hell, thousands from crime invading our homes. I see not what was so difficult in following a collective set of rules that the majority of people had agreed upon to begin with. I suppose some could not abide by the idea that stealing or killing was punishable by prison time or death. The namesake of the Tent City is rather ironic in nature. In place of marvelous edifices of stone and brick, tents and huts stretch on for nearly a mile, making it incredibly dangerous to traverse the roads into the city come nightfall due to the guards completely doing away with night patrols because of recent violence. During the day, the city guard provides a group of armored soldiers to guard the road into the city to keep commerce quick and relatively safe during lighter hours. To be quite honest, the people are quite kind and thoughtful before the sun goes down. After, it is as though a monster awakens inside of these humble people. From being around these folk, they seem to be content with their way of life despite it seemingly being unnecessarily dangerous especially for children. The people of the City of Tents are, in a word, fascinating.History
Since the walls of Ptolus were first raised, people have decided that they would rather live outside the confines of the city and its often unfair laws. Generation after generation has inhabited the Tent City beneath layers of hide and canvas. Many people have ignorantly sought solace and freedom from the vices and sin of the city only to find even more adversity beyond it. There was a time when order was brought to the land, but that time has come and gone since the Farm Ward guard were crippled by invading gnolls. Rather than admit defeat, the Farm Ward guard simply chooses to stay far away from the perimeter of the tent city.Rumors & Secrets
Rumors are more rampant than disease in the Tent City. So much so that information is used as currency in a form of bartering. If someone is caught lying, however, they are likely to regret it dearly, for there is an unspoken rule of the land: speak no lies, hear all truths. There are, of course, exceptions to this rule. It is said that the members of gangs are the least that the people have to worry about, for a pack of strange beasts often wander the outskirts looking for people to eat. Some claim that they are dire wolves whilst others believe this to be nothing more than a myth made up by the bandits to keep people from slipping away in the night. Years ago, a young daughter from a noble family went missing. Whilst private investigators did their best to locate her, they refused to enter the Tent City. Some believe this missing woman to be the leader of a violent gang called the Rough House under the pseudonym of Bemirah.
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