Outer Ward Pavilion

Purpose / Function

The Outer Ward Pavilion is, in the literal sense, merely a large canopy shading a block on the outskirts of the Etoile Capital City, built just outside the master-planned grid network in a marshy area unsuited to large constructions. It's used, however, as a public market harkening to the ancient street markets of antiquity, with anyone able to come to the Pavilion, put up a booth, and sell goods, without any restrictions of permitting or similar. 
On any given day one can find hundreds of stalls at the Pavilion selling virtually anything - home cooked packaged meals, old books, power-wagon parts, velocipedes, and so forth. Because of the lack of permitting, however, stolen goods regularly appear at the Pavilion, and it is the easiest way to fence stolen goods for Florin.

History

The Pavilion was erected in 671 and envisioned as a simple public gathering space in the shade, a way to get out of the sun. Over time, however, street vendors began to hawk their wares in the Pavilion, and eventually took over the Pavilion in its entirety. Locals who enjoyed it as a small park instead enjoy the wide varieties of deliciously unhealthy street food served by the vendors there, smoked beef skewers and sugary desserts making the Pavilion a favorite for people looking to eat on the cheap.
While it's impossible to guarantee that nothing sold in the Pavilion is stolen, the amount of fencing at the market waxes and wanes depending on the level of guardsman pressure. The market is regularly the subject of fever-pitch journal articles describing how affected individuals have had things stolen only to discover said stolen things sitting at a booth waiting to be sold for a couple Florin. As a result, the Etoilean City Guard regularly launches surprise 'inspections' of the market, leaving marked goods for thieves around the capital, and arresting the vendors that display those marked goods at their booths for sale.
Such inspections are rare, though, and arrested vendors simply are replaced with a fresh face and a fresh booth looking to hawk wares the next day, so it remains trivially easy to fence valuables. A cottage industry of theft recovery services prowl the market, for those interested merely in the retrieval and return of their goods.

Tourism

The Outer Ward Pavilion is easily the largest market of its type in the Principality of Etoile, and visitors from across the state are told to stop by at least once on their itineraries, as all sorts of great deals can be found laid out on the booths and carpets. The food vendors of the Pavilion are said to be in direct competition with each other to fry up the tastiest and unhealthiest things possible, which has resulted in such constructions as fried dough rings covered in melted chocolate and sugar, cooked in pure lard, or greasy sausages brushed with sugar and dipped in fiery hot sauces.

Founding Date

671

Alternative Names

The Public Market, The Fences

Parent Location

Etoile Capital City

Owning Organization

Principality of Etoile