Fermi's Emporium
Fermi's Emporium can be found the on Street of Green Lanterns just off Viceroy's Way. It is a group of buildings built in yellow sandstone, no higher than two storeys (plus loft) set around a spacious courtyard. Growing in the centre of the courtyard is a small nekmel tree (something like a monkey puzzle tree) that produces sweet scented blossoms in the springtime. At the front of the complex, on the Street of Green Lanterns, is a wide arched entryway covered with a colourful awning. There are four small arched recesses, two either side of the main gate, that are rented out as stalls to local vendors. These too have their own awnings, and wooden shutters enabling stock to be locked inside at night.
Surrounding the courtyard is a collonade with doors leading off to small rooms. At the back there is another awning-covered area that serves food and drink. Beyond this, stairs lead up to the living quarters of the owner, Fermi Esfet, and his family. These are generous and encompass most of the top floor of the buildings. Those who have had the privilege of visiting the private rooms report that they range from spacious to tiny, and are filled with assorted goods and strange items. Fermi, it would appear, is an eclectic collector.
Fermi Esfet is a member of the Merchant's League, and was once a travelling trader. He met and married his wife Jaele during his wandering days, and they had their first child Sevsheer in Thalsa. Their second child, Mandasa, was born in Aldith. When Mandasa was four, Sevsheer was nine and Jaele was pregnant again, Fermi decided to that his endless travelling was too dangerous for his growing family, and that speculative trading was too unstable to provide for them. So he decided to settle down.
It was Jaele who came up with the idea for the Emporium. It serves as a place for merchants and traders to meet in pleasant surroundings to conduct business, and incidentally doubles as a tavern. It proved a big hit with the Llazans who found the tradition of bathhouses to be "too Imperial". Most business is conducted in the courtyard over a mug of shoka or a cup of tea, maybe with some date cake. For a small charge, Fermi provides the use of one of the side rooms for more private negotiations. He frowns upon anything obviously illegal going on, and would not shy from reporting it to the authorities. Fermi himself does not buy or sell, except his rooms and his food. From this, however, he has managed to make a most respectable living, and is a well-known man in Llaza.
Fermi is 49, of medium height and with the olive skin of an Anhuine. He is clean shaven, wears his hair short and is round-faced with a little pot-belly that he wears proudly as a sign of wealthy living. He favours colourful robes and has a massive collection of pillbox hats. His wife Jaele is slightly built and quite short. She is also Anhuine, and wears her long hair wound up on her head in elaborate braids, sometimes decorated with beads.
They have three daughters and one son. Sevsheer is the oldest daughter, 27 years old and looking like her mother. She is a serious, business-minded girl. The next oldest is Mandasa, 22. Mandasa is the wild child of he family, always ready to party and chased by many men. Indfasa, 18, is the youngest daughter. She is a shy quiet girl often overlooked in favour of her sisters. Nemesh is the only boy, and the bay of the family at 10 years old. He spends his time charming the patrons of Fermi's out of coins and food. Oths'ol is the salsham'ai chef who lives in the nekmel tree. He is an old family friend from Fermi and Jaele's travelling days. Siss is Oths'ol's pet muita, but the little creature seems to prefer the company of Nemesh.
