The Rookeries
While much of the City's institutions and public buildings were located under one of the three major domes dominating the center of Sabata, there were several more smaller domes that surrounded these...and two if these domes were known throughout Sabata simply as The Rookeries. Narrow, closed-in, winding streets were stifled by a dense collection of tall, bare buildings made in the most humble style, buildings that most often had two or three levels upon them despite their tiny size. The narrow slits of the dome visible above were frequently broken by boards or planks placed over the ground streets below to ease the traffic of moving bodies, a second level of traffic on the second floor of all buildings and, in some areas, the third as well. Upon entering the twin-domed borough, one was left with the impression that they had just entered a dense maze of tiny houses and a few unlicensed shops instead of a proper community of the working class.
The strong press of bodies all around...as well as above and sometimes below...gave off the powerful odour of humanity tempered only just by the dry, arid airs. The Rookeries seldom experienced a merciful breeze, so the scent lingered upon the air and followed wherever one went within. But there were also the smells of roasting lamb, boiling soups, and fragrant flowers...for while the Rookeries were overcrowded and dense, they were the home to literally thousands of the city's families, families that lived literally door-to-door with their immediate neighbors.
Of course, legend has it that there are buildings in the Rookeries that can be found only by those shown the way. That can't be too far from truth, as no ten paces in the Rookeries can be taken in a straight line. For the casual visitor, a guide is traditionally the custom...and young boys and girls waited at the entrance at all marks of the day to provide just this service for a minor fee.
The heat... the press of bodies... the smell... H'saan had never liked the poor quarters, being a clean man by nature and fastidious about his person. It was one thing to be grimy out on the Sands, where every drop of water was precious - that at least was an honest kind of dirtiness - but here in Sabata there were baths, not to mention a nearby ocean.
He tried not to let the distaste show too much, smiling mildly as he stood at the entrance to the Rookeries, leaning on his staff, keeping an eye out for one of those scruffy little ankle-biters who would doubtless be of eager assistance once he showed them the colour of his money. As a standard precaution he kept his coin purse strung around his neck and underneath his robes, far from the reach of any sticky little fingers, but the rest of his equipment he carried in a leather stachel - bandages, herbs and other healing supplies, in case his services were needed.