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#Post#: 18--------------------------------------------------
Zakyo Toshi
By: Beebs Date: August 27, 2018, 9:04 pm
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Zokyo Toshi, the City of Pleasures, the city of White
Walls. Whatever is your desire, whatever your pleasure,
you can find it here, if you know where to look. For the
right price, of course.
The city was originally founded by several merchants
traveling the trade routes that ran from the northern
reaches of Rokugan to its southern coasts. The merchants
hoped to create a hub of commerce in the area, a place
that would let them rest, trade, do some business, and
restock their wares before continuing on their way. From
the beginning, Zakyo Toshi was a place where anything
could be had for a price. After all, it was a city run by
merchants, not samurai, and one that lay outside of any
Clan’s specific territory. It soon became known colloquially
as Pleasure City, since any item of luxury or leisure could
easily be found within.
Although the new trade hub grew quickly in popularity,
within a generation its prosperity was in danger. The use
of the River of Gold to transport goods reduced its value
to commerce. Even worse, the initial success of Zakyo
Toshi had attracted all manner of bandits to the area, and
they preyed upon the caravans as they traveled the land
routes running north and south. This further encouraged
the merchants to reduce their risk by moving their goods
on waterway. Between the bandits and the river, the city
almost dried up and blew away in the wind… but a couple
members of the Merchant Council hit upon a scheme to
revitalize the city.
The Merchant Council was another unique feature of
the early city. As one of the early founders put it, “When
a bunch of rich commoners get together to found a city,
there’s bound to be a lot of gunso and not enough hohei.”
The merchants realized that none of them would submit to
the others, so they decided rule by joint council would be
the best way to keep the peace. Of course, once they settled
that issue, they had to decide how they would pick those
who would be on such a council. Being merchants, they
decided profit would be their method. Whoever made the
most profit in a year would be on the council for the next
year. Given the eternal question of merchants’ honesty,
this proved a rather fractious method of choosing leaders,
but in the end they all agreed that the Emerald Magistrate
who collected their annual taxes would look over all
their books and decide who had made the largest profit.
This would also keep them more-or-less honest in their
dealings, at least as honest as merchants could get. By all
accounts, the expression on the face of their first Emerald
Magistrate “judge” was quite memorable.
Seeking the assistance of an Emerald Magistrate also
had other benefits. The city had been built on unaligned
lands, a no-mans-land between the Scorpion, the Fox, and
the Sparrow Clans, but not owing allegiance to any of
them. This could easily have led to conflict with any or all
of those Clans, so having an Emerald Magistrate collecting
taxes from the city gave it a whiff of Imperial sanction.
It also protected the city from any attempts those Clans
might make to heap extra taxes on them, or even get taxed
multiple times by different Clans.
When the young city’s troubles arrived, the Merchant
Council was already in place. They decided to capitalize
on Zakyo Toshi’s title of “Pleasure City” and re-invent
the settlement to look similar to Ryoko Owari Toshi. Even
down to the walls, though they decide that white looked
better then the dark tones used in the City of Stories. Of
course, renovating the city was not cheap, and with the
trade declining, there wasn’t that much profit to put into
the project. The merchants bit down and took out loans
from anyone who would lend them money, no matter they
might be.
As one of the Council members later ruefully remarked,
“The idea worked and it didn’t work all at the same time.”
The city was revitalized. New trade came in, not as
much as the Merchant Council hoped, not necessarily the
kind of trade they had hoped for, but enough to get the
city back on its feet. The bandits who had been raiding the
caravans, it turned out, needed a place to sell the goods
and spend the money they had stolen. They came to Zakyo
Toshi looking for good fences to buy their loot and a good
time to have with their profits. And if they were not the
customers the Merchant Council had hoped for, they did
bring in the wealth the city desperately needed.
The city thus survived
and, in its own questionable
manner, thrived. As the
bandits became customers
instead of raiders, trade
picked up again, and Zakyo
Toshi’s strategic position in
southern Rokugan made it
a stopping-place for many
travelers. There are tales
that the ronin Reichin
came through here on
his way north to battle
the Bloodspeaker, and that
Moto Tsume stopped here
to relax on his way to
his fated battle with the
Shadowlands. There are
even claims that Naga
visited the city during
the time of the Clan Wars,
although there are no
residents living today who
can claim to have seen one
of that fabled race.
The city has also acquired
a detachment of the Imperial
Guard, assigned to support
the local Emerald Magistrate
and to protect the settlement from threats coming from
the Shinomen Forest or elsewhere. They try their best to
maintain order and keep everyone in the city honest, but
this is usually a losing battle. However, it has discouraged
the Clans from trying to take the city by force.
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