Lore - Agriculture (Patreon)

The roofs that look over the market are set in several tiers. Children claim that they were once considered the giant's steps for ancient beings present within the market long before anyone walked the streets.  The roofs span across the Night Market, lanterns hung between their gaps, each building rising higher and higher with an effort to reach the stars. Stacked upon each other in haphazard tilts, the buildings have been constructed in a way to leave small rooftop ledges where the majority of the market's fresh produce are grown. Due to the lack of light within the Night Market, vegetable gardens are oftentimes built on higher rooftops to be nourished by the moon and stars. Special lanterns are hooked up to create heat for year round growth, but the plants have adapted to the dark and the lights that they reach for above.

The individuals who own the rooftops with the vegetable gardens are among the market elite. It is assumed that they have silent control over the commerce within the realm, setting the price for produce.  No one building has a monopoly on a singular type of crop, leaving the owners to try to outbid the other rooftop owners, giving the best prices to the market stalls below to become the top agricultural seller. This does not leave them to be incredibly wealthy, but it does give them immense power.  The rooftop owners with the best prices, have the ability to price the other rooftop gardens out of business. After a few are knocked out, their own prices can skyrocket, as they have very little competition then.

Most plants are considered cold crops and night plants now. Having evolved into a product that needs very little maintenance.  There was a blight in the early days of the market, where the lanterns went out. Without the fresh produce, half the population died. Rich and poor were not spared. Since then, issues arise every few lifetimes. Several extreme factions try to target the gardens for total destruction.  Others, for market clout.  Whoever owns the rooftops, owns the market.

The bean family is the most abundant crop within the market. The stocks twist and curl over market walls, climbing ladders to curl around the moon. But berries are the most sought after crop. Hardly ever able to grow in abundance and becoming incredibly hard to keep growing year after year.

It cannot be traced, but some accounts claim that the birds were all replaced with paper birds in order to protect the plants. This increased the bug population and prompted farmers to kill the bug population as well and replace with synthetic magic bugs and wild life.