bookholm: Thespian Quarter

Several thespian edifices tower in the Zamonian literary landscape. Figuratively, the monumental ouevre of Aleisha Wimpersleake overshadows and underpins all; the creative energies of the Orm have spoken through no Zamonian so persistently as through she. Literally, the Puppetocircus Maximus' rotund silhouette dominates the skyline of Bookholm, the City of Dreaming Books, from all angles. Around the spherical hulk of the Puppetocircus, a busy district has blossomed. Here, the streets bustle at all hours. Actors rehearse or busk with their monologues in the open air; carpenters and stage hands rush hither and fro with precariously juggled hammers, tacks, ropes, sandbags, rolls of fabric, timber joists, and scaffolds. Playwrights, poets, producers, agents, and directors pace along, pipes and snufters in hand, or sit in crowded smoky cafes, deeply engaged in the arguments and discussions that propel nascent works to the heights of fame via the stage. And here, there, everywhere, the…