"Dorlaf Avenue slopes up a deceptively gentle gradient - an old man and woman were shuffling past and supporting one another, their faces testament to the rigours of the climb. The slope meant that Kenner could see the whole length of the street, all four of the great curved arches which span its width at regular intervals, the long straight road, the raised pavements at either side. The people who tightly packed the pavements formed a swirling pastel sea of hats and head scarves. Some were staggering with shopping baskets, others staggering with wineskins, all trying vainly to avoid the shopkeepers standing outside their premises and hollering for trade. Occasionally a pedestrian would risk life and limb and dart across the erratic, jerking line of carts and carriages which traversed the centre of the street. The only safe place to cross Dorlaf Avenue is north of the Tukas Arch which towered over Kenner. Wheeled vehicles can't pass through the Tukas Arch because they are barred from entering the very centre of Jalkin during daytime. The law has been in force for some decades but still seems to come as a complete surprise to large numbers of drivers, who curse and pull their reins at the last possible minute, turning their vehicles in creaking semicircles which pass an inch from the arch supports. It is a popular spot for children to play, hoping to catch goods which spill from the tipping, wobbling carts.
"The buildings of Dorlaf Avenue are as diverse as conceivably possible. Old, crumbling tenement blocks rub shoulders with smart new half-timbered houses reinforced with green Elvish wood. Buildings whose facades are almost entirely composed of glass stand opposite the grim high walls and shuttered windows of fortress-like banks. Sedate grey terraces make promising starts but rudely terminate after a few addresses, cut into by cottages or spiralling towers. The one common denominator is garish shop signs which hang on the ground floor of almost every building. It is the archetypal "do anything" street. Providing you have money you can buy hams, handcarts, haberdashery, holdalls and hassocks, hold seances, hone halberds or hire whores. Or, of course, have a book bound or get run over. Dorlaf Avenue epitomises the Cities' liberal economy. As Calli said, it was certainly healthy, but people often wondered about its sanity."
(from A Shining Light)"Dorlaf Avenue is one of Jalkin's main streets, a great straight column which bisects the city from Parliament Square down to the south gate. By day it is filled with housewives shopping for limes, saucepans, buttons, sheets or newsheets. By night it is frequented by other consumers seeking to buy, or hire, other commodities.
"There were plentiful prostitutes to brave. Wrapped in tight, brightly striped bodysuits and clanking chains of cheap necklaces, they stalked up and down the walkways assessing each passing face with scientific rigour. The ladies on the east side were freelancers, the ones on the west were hustling up trade for the largest brothel east of Erenland. Occasionally the rivals paused to screech insults across the road, but they were chiefly preoccupied with picking off members of the vast groups of drinkers weaving boisterously from one brightly lit tavern to the next. Marcas noticed one girl leading five jovially cursing young men into an alley and shuddered for her soul. Most other establishments were closed but a multitude of street vendors cried advertisements for everything from hot pasties to alleged magical charms. They too were confined to the walkways, for the road was alive with buggies and carriages. The curfew gates around central Jalkin were lifted for the night; many drivers were celebrating by attempting to pass down the long road in as fast and fantastically dangerous a fashion as possible. The whole scene was illuminated by lines of lanterns bedecking the buildings and the tall arches which stretched across the road. They swung fitfully in the gusty wind and occasionally disgorged globules of scalding fat onto the street. Once more Marcas reflected that the Cities was an inferno waiting to happen."
(from The Innocents)