Forum of Set is a market inside a former temple of Set on the fourth level of the halls of Ardenvull, reached by the long staircase. Formerly called “the Lot”, it is the level’s commercial center, and a stone jackal presides over its negotiations.
| Type | Place |
| Location | Fourth level of the halls of Ardenvull |
| Spanish entry | Foro de Set |
Description
A barrel vault lit by three oval skylights 3 m across, whose strong light deters theft; it rises to 25 feet. The floor is still paved in the temple’s black polished marble (also described as granite). There is a plaza with large doors and many guards, and a central fountain about 90 m wide. Like a souk, it holds shops, exotic weapons, a food market (stews, roasts, herbs, potions, rare mushrooms), an auction house, a private lounge guarded by a lifelike statue of balance that was not there before, a nearby slave market, and robotic machines. It is busy at almost any hour, though one account found it quiet, with little trade.
The precinct defends itself: a stone wall about five centimeters high can rise around a point and seal it hermetically, like an igloo. Its doors of stone and wood have complex locks; this description comes from a doubtful source.
The nine laws
Merchants pay 5 % of every sale (10 % without a license). Violence and unlicensed spells, even to identify or activate objects, are forbidden. “The Forum’s engineering” guarantees security: a thief is visited by an envoy. Contracts are binding and weights fair. The last three laws (breach of contract, protection on the roads, unjust accusations) are known only by title.
A magical bureaucracy records auctions and signs a record of any dispute. There are money changers, guards under a female chief, and armored cleric inspectors. The necklace was auctioned here, and people and creatures, goblins included, were sold in the slave market.
The spherical chamber
Behind a secret door in the negotiation pavilion is a spherical chamber: an arena about 15 × 15 m with three platforms 5 feet (1.5 m) high. There the priests perform the ritual of the Forum, a vengeful sacrifice, by Set’s power, for the desecration of the temple and the death of acolytes. Transgressors may instead leave naked and be forgiven. Visitors must perform an entry ritual. A ruby remains from the temple, charged with death, war, storms and poison; it has an indigo counterpart of opposite energy.
Location and other forums
The Red Bridge and the exits lie to the south; dangerous places outside Set’s domain, to the north. Another account places the Forum north of the Red Bridge, with access from all four directions; that passage is confused. Other forums exist: that of Orchette, easier to reach; a much larger, Viking-style one of the Teng; and a Forum of TOT, of the cult of Melvino Calvino, whose access tribute is “a piece of Antarctica”.
Role and history
Offending the Forum has regional consequences: one company angered Set’s people and drew bounty hunters. Its neutrality let six calizados, half-reptilian aliens, negotiate with the high priestess Stephania. There was a succession dispute over “the son of a lost brother full of the semen of the moon”, and an attack on the guard chief. Slavery was abolished, the Confraternity of Service (the slave traders) dissolved, and the place renamed “the Square of Everything” (la plaza de todo).
Conflicting accounts
- One account says the Forum was reformed; another, that the Seekers destroyed it.
- Some call it the commercial epicenter; others give first place to the Chamber of the Great Cabana on the third level.
Open questions
- The entry ritual is not described.
- Who rules the Forum now is unknown.
- Whether “the Forum’s engineering” is an office, a body or a mechanism is unstated; what the calizados are is unknown.
- Where the two gems are, and whether the forums form a network, is not recorded.