The five kings

Part of the book I'm writing

In its heyday, Pentavas was one of the richest and most powerful cities in the region. Merchants came from all around to sell their wares from rugs and carpets to jewellery adorned with precious gems and customers came to buy these luxurious items. The layout of the city was made in the shape of an pentagon and at each point there stood a palace, each with a different King. The five ruling Kings, that is what they were called, they lived and ruled the city together in peace.
There city grew prosperous with each passing year. But one day a mysterious merchant came to town, a funny stench came from his person. He looked unwelcoming and had earrings in his eyebrow and nose and two big hoop earrings in his ears. He came selling strange objects, ones locals had never seen before. He said he had visited all the lands. He had a rude demeanour about him. After offending to many a passers-by and saying unmannerly words to upper-class ladies he was locked in jail. All his inventory was thrown into a great fire for most of its contents were unknown. But one jar escaped the fate of the fire, had rolled away and came to rest down the bottom of a dark alley. It remained there long after its owner had been let out and banished from the city. It remained unopened for many years until one faithful day, when kids of nobleman began chasing and throwing stones at a poor orphan boy. The boy cowered in fear as they belted stones off him. They kept on throwing and one stone missed the boy and hit the jar. The jar cracked and part of it fell off and soil flowed out. After a day or two, sprouts began to emerge from the crack. Then nearly every hour afterwards, it grew and grew, soon it emerged from the dark alley. It covered the paths and creeped up the buildings. The locals hacked and hacked, but it just kept on growing back. Once the roots had reached a sustainable water supply, it became unstoppable. Within a few weeks it had overtaken half the city. It had wrapped its way around the buildings and then it tightened. The concrete split and began to crumble. The common people and nobles in the overtaken part of the city left to find a new home elsewhere. Eventually all was left of their homes, was spires of the plant that had encircled the buildings and some pillars of stone. Two palaces still stood, though they were in a terrible state. The plant was called Ytador - the invader. Only one Palace remained untouched and parts of the city that surrounded it. Many of the residents job was to stave of the invasion with only one solution, fire. They had dug moats around the part of the city that remained and filled it with oil, then set it ablaze. It had a continuous flow of oil going in. If the fire stopped it would enter the rest of the city within a day.

Reviews

[Haimaii]

You accidentily used 'there' instead of 'their', but other than that I didn't see anything off.
A good description of the city. The pentagon shape is certainly interesting. Looking forward to more.