Markets
Markets are locations where vendors and small shops sell and buy goods. Fictional markets are locations to find food, spices, fish, fruits & vegetables, meat, curiosities, magical items, illegal weapons, and more. In game-oriented worlds these may be areas for players to buy and sell game items. Markets may be open-air, enclosed, hidden, illegal (black markets), or digital. They may be home to street vendors, pickpockets, traders, and shoppers.
| Synonyms: marketplaces, bazaars, souks |
| Example Mythonyms: Grand Street Market, the Bizarre Bazaar, the Whisper Market |
Designing Fictional Markets
Archetypes
Overview
When designing markets, consider the trade routes that bring goods to these places. Markets are most often located in, or nearby, towns, cities, and other settlements. Local resources will dominate the local markets, so that fishing towns will be teeming with fish (see Fish Shambles), while resources or trade goods from farther away will be rarer and more expensive. This may be an opportunity to create a fictional material. If the traders have organized, a guild may have formed or a fictional company may have arisen.
Layout
Fictional marketplaces are often hubs of activity with market stalls, crates, tables, and goods arranged in a labyrinthian manner. Often these fictional markets are found in the town square, near the docks where goods are offloaded from trading vessels, or in alleyways.
Markets may be open air, or found enclosed in market buildings.
Reference Image Gallery
