The intensity of the fear increased two-fold as it hit like a wave against Ahava’s consciousness. Ahava ramped up the emotional flux to overcome this.
The creature cackled in surprise. “Why are you not down of the floor in abject fear? You should be feeling my power and be down on your knees, you insignificant fool!”
Again, the fear hit him like a wave of darkness. Ahava fought back with the emotional power. The thing slowly climbed out of the casket. Its movement was very slow. It edged toward Ahava, shouting obscenities. Ahava moved backward, easily avoiding the creature. Using his ax, he started to hit part of the body. As he repeatedly hit the body bits of dried flesh and bone were sprayed around the room. As he was easily faster than the creature, he slowly managed to eventually chop it into pieces.
Wondering why it had been so easy to break it into pieces, he felt the fear and darkness slowly diminish. He realized that if he had not emotional power then he would have not been able to even climb down the stairs. Maybe this is what was guarding the tomb against looters. Thinking about looting, it was time to see if there was anything of value and do a bit of looting himself.
He moved to the remainder of the husky body and slowly touched the amulet. He half expected to get shocked and be thrown backward again. This did not happen, much to his relief. The amulet was very simple, in the shape of a half moon. It had some inscriptions on it. It was emanating the ether elemental power in large amounts. Ahava also felt small amounts of the other elemental powers mixed together. In addition, there was a strong emotional element of fear. He tried to analyze it with the ether and earth scanning ability, but it was too complex to understand. He put it in his bag to look at later.
Quickly, with his ax in front of him, he checked the three other rooms. None had any caskets with dried-up bodies in them, happily. The first one was filled with weapons of all types. All were copper in color. There were also shields and suits of armor. The next room was filled with clay tablets with inscriptions on them. They were packed from the floor to the ceiling. The final room was filled with chests. Opening them, he found them full of silver pieces. The pieces varied in size. Ahava hoped that it was what this world considered to be of value. But he thought it was a safe bet that it was. His plan was to take everything.
With the ability of his bag, he could take all of the silver, weapons and the clay tablets. But first, he wanted to find some answers to questions he had about the creepy tomb. Wondering if the H-Shopping-Bay application could give him some help, he sat one of the chests and pulled the computer tablet out of his bag. First, he checked his stats:
Gender: Male
Biological Age: 45
Intelligence: 14, Stamina: 8, Strength: 8, Constitution: 8, Dexterity 6, Charisma: 11
Points: 1325
Element -Flux rate per second
Earth-350; Water-100; Air-500; Fire-500; Ether-9200
Aristotle's Rhetoric Emotions
Emotions-Flux rate per second
Anger-50; Calmness-20; Friendship-20, Fear-120; Courage-150; Shame-2, Confidence-50; Kindness-10; Cruelty-20; Pity-20; Envy-10; Love-10
The first thing he noticed was the massive increase in ether power. He was shocked about what had caused this. As he was watching the stats, every few seconds, ether went up by one. He had never seen such a fast increase in any of the abilities.
He also wondered why he had some many points. But after reading another email from Thoth, he saw he had obtained the points as a bonus for the work with Olga. Thoth was condescending in his tone but pleased with the outcome. He found an upgrade to his ability to speak and understand any languages: to be able to read and write them, as well. Ahava thought, When did I get the ability to understand all languages? It must have been when I was transferred here, else I would have not understood Olga.
Purchasing the upgrade with his points, he now wanted to gain some information. Before he went in to read the clay tablets, he decided it was time for a bit of comfort. Taking out the rabbit and other animal skins in this bag, he used the earth and water power to make some bedding and pillows to sit on. He went into the room with the clay tablets, on the way making sure the doors were closed and something was stopping them from moving. From his study of the tablets he gained the following information:
This was the kingdom of Eridu, which could mean "mighty place" or "guidance place." In the Sumerian King List, Alulim is named as the city of the first king. In Eridu, Alulim became king; he ruled for 50 years. Something had the effect of moving the center of power progressively north of the country. Adapa, a man of Eridu, is depicted as an early culture hero. Identified with U-an, a half-human creature from the sea, he was considered to have brought civilization to the city during the time of King Alulim.
Eridu was the home of the Abzu temple of the god Enki, the Sumerian counterpart of the Akkadian god Ea, god of deep waters, wisdom, and magic. Like all the Sumerian and Babylonian gods, Enki/Ea began as a local god who, according to the later cosmology, came to share the rule of the cosmos with Anu and Enlil. His kingdom was the sweet waters that lay below the earth.
The stories of Inanna, goddess of Uruk, describe how she had to go to Eridu in order to receive the gifts of civilization. At first Enki, the god of Eridu, attempted to retrieve these sources of his power but later willingly accepted that Uruk now was the center of the land. This seemed to be a mythical reference to the transfer of power northward.
In the courts of the cities’ kings, special physicians trained in the ancient lore of Eridu foretold the course of sickness from signs and portents on the patient's body and offered the appropriate incantations and magical resources as cures.
As power moved farther north the power of Eridu fell and under the last king an invasion from the surrounding orc tribes destroyed the city. The king sealed himself in a tomb with a magical amulet protecting him and his treasure.
This information had taken a few days for Ahava to distill from the clay tablets. Most of the tablets were filled with the lore of Eridu. He was able to skim the text but it would take a long time to understand it all. Wanting to travel on to the north, Ahava decided to leave the tomb. Before he left, he checked his stats again.
Gender: Male
Biological Age: 45
Intelligence: 14, Stamina: 8, Strength: 8, Constitution: 8, Dexterity 6, Charisma: 11
Points: 725
Element -Flux rate per second
Earth-500; Water-100; Air-500; Fire-600; Ether-50,013
Aristotle's Rhetoric Emotions
Emotions-Flux rate per second
Anger-50; Calmness-40; Friendship-20, Fear-120; Courage-150; Shame-2, Confidence-50; Kindness-10; Cruelty-20; Pity-20; Envy-10; Love-10
There had been a massive amount of ether added to his power. With a bit of work, the scanning of air and earth had a range of about fifty meters. Happy with his awareness of the surroundings And full of confidence for the future, with silver, weapons, and information, he set out.
Chapter Seven: Civilization at last
By the time he was walking to the river, it was early in the morning. Using the scanning ability, he managed to avoid most of the wild animals along the way north. The countryside along the river continued to get greener as the miles passed. In the distance, he started to see a line of tall hills. Over the two days of traveling the line of hills got closer. Finally, on the last day, he came to a gorge in the line of hills that the river flowed down through. Before the entrance to the gorge was a fort. The fort blocked access to the entrance and was made out of sun-dried earthen bricks. It was on a large brick platform with a high wall all around. Ahava could see the figures of men on the parapets. To get to the entrance he had to climb up an earth ramp. At the top of the ramp was a solid set of doors, open, with two guards outside. The sides of the wall had glazed pictures of animals and people decorating them. As he approached the guards, he noticed they had similar clothing to the picture of the king in the tomb. They were wearing a long tunic reaching to t
he ankles. Around their waist was a short, straight skirt. Both guards had spears, knives, and shields, all copper colored.
Ahava approached with his heart full of anticipation as he slowly walked up the earthen ramp. The guards looked at him with disdain and slight boredom.
One of them said in a voice filled with contempt, “You know the drill, adventurer; you have to go to the captain to gain access to the pass. We don’t want you standing around here. If you go, he is the first room on the left.”
Nodding to the guards, Ahava just walked past them. As he entered through the large open wooden door, he saw a door to the left. Looking down the corridor, he could see an open area inside the fort.
Knocking on the door to the office, he heard a shouted response. “Come in.”
Opening the door slowly, he entered a large office. There was a man dressed in clothes similar to the two guards outside but looking to be of a better quality. He was sitting on a wooden chair behind a desk. The desk had carved wooden animals on the legs and corners. There were clay tablets stacked around the room on shelves.
The man looked up from the clay tablet in a wooden box that he had been marking and said, “Hello—another adventurer? You’re the second one today. I will need to see your adventures token and have your name for the reports.”
“My name is Ahava and I do not have the token,” said Ahava in response, quickly feeling tense.
The captain looked a bit more intently at Ahava while moving forward in his chair. “It sounds like you must have lost it... That being the case, you need you to pay the entrance fee of a one hundred-gram silver piece. I know it’s a bit exorbitant but that is the cost.”
Ahava reached into his bag and estimated how big a one hundred-gram silver piece would be. He thought it would be about the size of a finger. He pulled out a silver piece that size and handed it over to the captain. The captain had a look of shock on his face but it soon turned into joy and then quickly back into a blank, stony face.
He coughed and said quickly, “You know I will not be able to give you any change for that silver piece,” while quickly putting the silver into a bag at his side.
Once he had handed over the silver the captain gave him a token for the gate to the gorge and quickly led him out of the room. He directed Ahava to the back of the fort where the gate was. As Ahava walked through the fort he had an inclination that what had just happened was not normal. But he was glad to be going so it did not matter. The fort was a solid building with many rooms inside the walls. It had a few floors to it and a large open area in the center. There were soldiers practicing different weapons skills in the open area. Some of them looked at him as he walked through. None seemed happy to see him. He saw the gate to the gorge open with a man standing by it. Walking up, he gave his token to the man, who grunted and waved him through.
A path ran by the rushing, turbulent river flowing quickly through the gorge. The water was white in most places because of its crashing over rock and boulders. There was a winding path that had been cut into the gorge side. The trip up the gorge took about an hour. When he emerged on the top of the hills, he had a view of an escarpment plain. There were mountains he could see in the far distance on the edge of his vision. In the near distance, there were areas of forest and grassland intermixed with the cultivated sections of land. There was a single road leading from the gorge off into the distance. The road was made of clay and was raised off the ground with ditches on either side. A short distance down the road was a small town.
Ahava started walking to the town, hoping to get some information and a place to stay for the night. As he walked along the road the town detail started to become clear. Some of the houses were built of bundles of reeds and some were sun-baked mud brick. These mud-brick houses were larger than the reed dwellings. The houses were very close together, each mostly sharing a wall with its neighbor. They were not well ventilated and most had no windows. Many consisted of two floors. There were lower sections and a top floor, which was open and without a roof. It looked like it was used for cooking, as he could see the fire with people cooking. Some of the large homes were built in the shape of a U with a garden in the center.
He entered the town, walking past different people, looking at them in wonder. Some people of both sexes wore sheepskin skirts with the skin turned inside and the wool combed into decorative tufts. These wraparound skirts were pinned in place and extended from the waist to the knees or to the ankles. The upper part of the torso was bare or clothed by another sheepskin cloaking the shoulders. Some people had woven woolen fabric instead of the sheepskins, also tufted. There were also long cloaks, and head coverings included felted wool and leather. Men generally were clean-shaven. But some had a curly beard like the guard at the bottom of the gorge. Some of the wealthier of both sexes wore elaborate golden and silver jewelry, which was encrusted with semiprecious stones in the form of brooches, earrings, hair ornaments, and neck chains. Ahava felt very out of place on the streets.
Not knowing where to go for accommodation for the night, he walked up to a man in sheepskin skirts. He indicated that Ahava could find a bed for the night in an inn close to the center of the town called Enmul Rest Inn. After a bit of exploring of the town, he managed to find the inn. He entered through a solid wooden door with copper colored fastenings. The entrance led to an open area inside the building. Off the open area was a different room. Most of the doors to the rooms were just cloth or animal skin covering. There was a range of people eating food and drinking in the open area. Most of this was done around tables sitting on a chair but some people were reclined on couches with pillows on them. Some people had leather armor while others had copper colored armor but most wore plain clothing.
Ahava saw a woman serving the patrons. When she had a spare moment, he walked up to her and asked, “Hello, how do I rent a room for the night?”
Looking at him and politely smiling and pointing to a man in the corner, close to a table, she said, “Talk to Enmul; he is the owner of the inn and he will tell you the rates.”
Thanking her, Ahava moved off toward Enmul. When he saw that Enmul was free from talking to other people he addressed him. “I would like a room to stay the night.”
Enmul looked at him with a smile on his face and said, “Good day to you. A room will cost one measure of barley or a one barley token. There are spaces on the top of the building for a quarter measure of barley. Which do you prefer?”
Ahava looked confused but carried on with the conversation and said, “How much is a measure of barley in silver?”
The innkeeper looked surprised and, rubbing his hands together, said, “Not many people pay with silver. But one hundred measures of barley are worth one gram of silver. I do not have enough barley tokens to give you in change if you pay in silver. If you have silver you can exchange it for barley tokens at the exchange opposite.”
Saying thank you and indicating that he would be back soon, Ahava walked over to the exchange. He managed to exchange ten grams of silver for one thousand barley tokens. The man in the exchange bemoaned the fact that he had nearly cleared him out of tokens and he would have to send somebody to the city to get more tokens.
Ahava returned to the inn and was eventually shown to a room on the second floor. The room had no window and was hot and stuffy. The serving woman showed him in and lit a small oil lamp in the corner. She then showed him the oil vase for refilling the lamp. Ahava thanked her as she left the room. As she left Ahava saw a quizzical look on her face. He looked around the room. It had a bed with a fur blanket. On a wooden stand was a ceramic bowl with a full water jug on it. There was also a wooden bucket with some cloth over the top, sitting on the floor.
Thinking that he must look completely dirty and have an unkempt beard, he walked over to the wash bowl. He washed in the bowl with the water and some type of hard soap. Using one of the sharp knives from his bag he managed to shave with a few minor cuts that he healed quickly.
He went back down
to the ground floor and asked somebody serving if he could get something to eat.
She said, “Just find a seat and I will bring some food over, as all is included in the prices,” and then hurried off serving other patrons.
The inn had already mostly filled up. He looked around for an empty chair. There were a few spaces on a table with a group of people that looked like they knew each other, as they were talking together in an animated conversation. Walking over to one of the people at the table, a small, thin man with cloth cloaks and felted hat, Ahava said, “Can I sit at the end of the table in the spare chair?”
The man grunted in acknowledgment and turned back to the animated conversation with his companions. Waiting for the meal Ahava listened in on the conversation while looking the away from the group.
There were four people in the animated conversation, three men and one woman. Other than the small, thin man there was a large heavy-built man with a tunic of leather armor and a spear; a young man in a long cloak worn down to the ankles with amulets and rings; and the woman, dressed in a shorter cloak and a bow by her side.
The woman said to the larger man in armor, sniffing in the air, “I told you to leave the armor in the room; now I am going to have eaten with you smelling of moldy leather and oil.”
“You'll manage,” snapped the larger man with no apparent animosity while scratching his nose.
The small, thin man interrupted the two with a voice showing a bit of irritation and said to the group, “Right, thanks for the interruptions but as I was saying, some of the orc tribes on the lower plains seem to be a bit more active than normal. The guild has no information at the moment as to why this is so but want us keep a lookout while we are doing the job. Etel-Pisha, did you pick-up the communication amulet from the guild?” said the thin man, looking at the younger man.
“Yes Namzu, I picked it up yesterday before traveling to meet you here. I have been learning the required spell to work it. It is very interesting with the incantation and hand movements to complete it,” said with Etel-Pisha while rubbing an amulet in his hand with a look of excitement.
The First Era Page 6