Entering and leaving the Bazaar happens through a series of portals which are seemingly located at random throughout the marketplace. Some appear as simple wooden doors, others as common archways, others as stout and bound doors, others as simple curtains drawn between two pillars. Each one of those portals connects the city to a unique location on another plane or place in the Astral Sea.
Time does not pass in the Bazaar, or if it does, it passes so slowly as to make hours seem like mere seconds to those who transit in and out of the city.
While most of the merchants and customers will operate on a barter system, the most reliable legal tender is Spice -- the blue-hued sand which is weighed out and spent in granules.
The Bazaar operates under three absolute prohibitions: violence of any kind* within its bounds; the sale of superior technology** to conceptually unprepared societies; and the Bazaar may not be used as a shortcut between worlds.*** These rules are not enforced through policing, but somehow through the structural features of the Bazaar itself. Violations result in Exclusion. Exclusion is the permanent expulsion from the Bazaar and the loss of all future access. There is no appeal.
Governance of the Bazaar is attributed to an entity or system collectively referred to as the Authority. Its nature remains unknown and is the subject of extensive scholarly debate. The Authority does not issue explanations, accept petitions, or visibly negotiate, yet its judgments are consistent and final. It manifests through intermediaries, environmental alterations, or spontaneous adjudications, and is widely believed to exist as a stabilizing intelligence aligned within the structure of Bizar rather than as a conventional sovereign power.
For some eons a cabal of Illithids and Gith presented themselves as representatives of the Authority, to extort customers and merchants alike. This cabal eventually ran afoul of that Authority when their elaborate pretense extended to the use of violence. No one has seen any of their uniforms in the Bazaar since. In their absence, the Bazaar has run as it always has, and their fraudulent claims are made manifest.
For some eons a cabal of Illithids and Gith presented themselves as representatives of the Authority, to extort customers and merchants alike. This cabal eventually ran afoul of that Authority when their elaborate pretense extended to the use of violence. No one has seen any of their uniforms in the Bazaar since. In their absence, the Bazaar has run as it always has, and their fraudulent claims are made manifest.
* No weapons discharge. No physical harm. No coercive magic, mind control, or forced contracts.
** “Superior” is defined not by power, but by conceptual readiness. A steam engine sold to a bronze-age culture? Prohibited. A philosophical text explaining democracy to a tyranny? Allowed. A star map without context? Often allowed. A starship engine? Never. The Authority does not care about intent. It cares about consequences.
** “Superior” is defined not by power, but by conceptual readiness. A steam engine sold to a bronze-age culture? Prohibited. A philosophical text explaining democracy to a tyranny? Allowed. A star map without context? Often allowed. A starship engine? Never. The Authority does not care about intent. It cares about consequences.
*** The Bazaar cannot be used as a shortcut between planes or dimensions. Those who do attempt this method of travel may quickly find themselves placed under Exclusion. Smugglers exist—but they generally sell knowledge, not passage.
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