067 – Welcome To Shalaia

This attitude was particularly picked up on the next morning as there was no food provided ready for them to purchase of share, or place in evidence for them to prepare their own, as opposed to the previous places the three had stayed in. Rox and Steven quickly collected their animals, and with Caspian headed east across the river and into the terraces between the rivers, and soon found a reasonable place to prepare breakfast.

“Are all the elves like them,” Rox asked as she tended some shredded potatoes and eggs.

Caspian nodded. “Yes. They were actually nice compared to some. There are those who would not have let us stay the night under their roof. The locals have warned you about this.”

Steven picked up on this, from a recent movie line, affecting a scratchy not-quite English accent. “My son, we are pilgrims in an unholy land. We must be careful.”

Rox chuckled at the line, having found that movie entertaining. “I don’t think the Doctors Jones would find these locals as dangerous as 1939 Berlin.”

As usual, Steven’s sense of humor completely bypassed Caspian’s understanding.

The day was spent walking along cobbled lanes between terraces lined by stone retaining walls that averaged twice Steven’s height. Irrigation canals and gates were more evident than the homes of the locals. Each terrace was nearly level, and most of them covered by some crop or another. The similarities of vegetables between Terra and Tywacomb made the identification of most crops little more than a passing curiosity to Rox, who had spent some of her youth in Nebraska corn fields and her grandmother’s vegetable garden, and had proven her own brown thumb. Caspian was less interested, as he was a lowland farmer from the equatorial region, so none of the plants here were of use or interest beyond immediate and near future use. Steven was interested in growing things on the high desert of the Sierra foothills. The various plants were of interest and how they had got them to grow and through what seasons. Above the plant fields were interspersed stock fields surrounded by fences according to the particular animal they were designed to contain.

The traffic they encountered was mostly singular elves in the local equivalent of coveralls going about their business. The shortest of these elves was taller than Steven when mounted. All had the bluish base skin tone, and white mohawk with assorted means of dealing with the sides. Several wore hats.

At the top of one hill they were able to look across the local area and finally see their first evidence of local housing, sitting at the top of the nearby terraces on either side. Looking south across the valley the look was uniformly that of terraces covered with summer crops, with stock interspersed, the lanes winding between the rolls of the hills. Many of the terraces also had stands of trees; the top levels were the most common ones to actually be devoted to trees.

Far to the south, on their east was the plateau they were heading toward. Even from this distance there was the developing skyline of a city in several terraced levels up to and covering the plateau.

They got most of the way across this valley before the sun dipped behind the western hills between the peaks. Here they found a travelers hostel, with corral for their animals. Again they were looked upon as unwanted interlopers at best. This time they were not allowed to sleep within the structure, but turned out to a corner of the corral with their animals.

Journal of Steven Caplan: Day 111

Our journey is ended, for the moment. This day we shall enter the city of Rox’s progenitors. However, there is a feeling of unease. These locals do not look kindly upon foreigners or strangers.

In the morning they were able to use the last of their food to make breakfast. They then departed and headed for the city that dominated the view to the south east.

The road ran along the foot of the mountains. To their west were the terraces stretching across the valley, to their east were sharp rises to structures that reminded Rox of the temples and monasteries of the monks of the eastern traditions of her imagination. Caspian noticed when they crossed the actual edge of the magical barrier that had prevented their targeting a landing spot within its boundaries. He had been feeling the emanations of the barrier since entering the valley. It never occurred to him to ask Roxanne if she could feel the same.

For her part, Rox was still so new to sensing magic, that she completely failed to notice anything until she actually crossed the barrier, but had no idea as yet what it was she felt, and since Caspian made no comment, she let it go.

The road leveled off and was soon among the typical single story structures that lined the outer reaches of cities. But these structures were scaled to the locals, taller than was initially comfortable to the three. They had been seeing this scale for the last weeks as they made their way to this valley and city, but here it was in such concentration as to be disconcerting. Also there were few structures with any external timber; rather it was stonework that made the walls. There were trees and other bits of wild shrubbery scattered about but most had been removed.

The road turned between the mountains into the city proper.  Here they could be in any city they had passed through to this point, save for the scale of the locals and structures. The city dominated the terrain to the right, and climbed the mountainside to the left. After several smaller side streets, they turned on a larger main one that climbed up the two visible major terrace levels to the flat of the mesa. Several lesser levels of terraces could be picked out after careful consideration and examination of the city. The structures here were much more of hewn stone on stone, rather than using mortar to hold regular or irregular stones together. The stone color here was mostly gray granite, even in the age worn cobbles that lined the streets. Many large multi-story structures were interspersed between smaller structures. The windows usually had stained glass in the lower half and clear in the upper, which appeared to open for ventilation.   Gutters and drains allowed water and filth to run off the streets, with sidewalks provided for pedestrians. Local pine trees lined the streets at irregular intervals.

Unlike many of the smaller cities they had been in, there were a significant number of carriages and carts in this city, drawn by teams of animals. Once they turned onto the spoke road from the perimeter the carriages outnumbered the merchandise carts.

The locals were dressed in what appeared to Steven and Rox to be Hollywood-Ali Baba mixed with Hollywood-Elizabethan, without all the extra petticoats under the skirts. The local law enforcement males and females wore a burgundy leather surcoat with silver trim, and a badge on the left breast, shaved their soft hair and buzz-cut their mohawks. The trades all seamed to wear a slightly different costume as a uniform. Remembering the districting in Veradale, Rox and Steven both looked around for the similar sign posts, but did not see enough to be certain of what they saw.

As she looked around, Rox finally spoke of the question that had been bothering her since first seeing this place.

“Caspian, I do not understand this place. There is not another mesa around here. Did they just top this mountain, and dump all the dirt and rock around the sides?”

Steven had been wondering similar things. He looked to Caspian to see if he had an answer.

Caspian answered. “I suppose. I have only been here the one time before now. I have not really had any reason to wonder about its geography. To be honest, I would not put it past them to have done that. You remember Veradale; they were carving that whole mountain range up, starting at the north end, and working south. We did not get very far into it, but on the west side they were fairly deep into where the mountain had been in converting it to usable structure, while mining out the commercial minerals.

He continued. “The report is that this city has been here thousands of years. With the general lifespan of these elves being about eight hundred years, and several generations reported to have lived here, I am inclined to give any theory the benefit of the doubt.”

Steven picked it up first. “Eight hundred years? But Rox’s great grandma died not long after her husband.”

Caspian nodded. “Yeah. I have not talked much about the interactions between the races and their mechanics. I can go into better detail once we get too where we are staying tonight.”

Caspian was not going to talk about things like that where the elves could potentially hear.

Caspian lead the Caplan’s to the gate on the road that led up to the upper terraces of the city. There was no martial wall, there being little need because of the terracing and terrain. But two guard houses stood on either side of the road, manned by members of the local law enforcement. The elves at the gate also looked almost like typical guards. With a difference being the general appearance of these elves, and instead of plate metal, they had lacquered wood and hard leather. The Guards watched the local traffic go through, but moved out to intercept the visitors. Even mounted, Steven had to look up slightly at the guard standing at his side.

The leader stood by Caspian’s right, and spoke in Traders Cant. “State your name and business.”

Caspian addressed them in the local elf dialect. “Gentleman. We are here, bidden by the Clan Nidaer. They sit in waiting of our arrival. My name is Caspian. The female is known to them as their Lost Daughter; the male is her mate. We have traveled long and are here to treat with them, at their convenience.”

Rox understood all the words Caspian said, and after review she also understood the concepts of what was said. This included Caspian’s subtle undertone that until introduced to the clan, neither she nor Steven rated a name. Also that he sent no greeting or graciousness to the clan, but simply announced that he was here. She smiled slightly at the veiled insult of not sending greetings.

For his part, Steven did not understand a word said, but grasping the situation, sat as quiet and dignified as he could.

The leader turned aside and back into his duty station. After a moment he returned.

“Caspian the Mage, you and your party are free to proceed. We are instructed to direct you to your previous lodging. Provision is waiting for you there.” The elf appeared to be bored with his job, but still formal in his presentation.

Caspian nodded. “Thank you, officer. Good day to you and yours.”

Caspian nudged his mount forward with the Caplan’s following, leading their laden mules. A crew of street sweepers moved into their wake, as two of the animals had taken the opportunity while stopped to relieve themselves.

The road leveled off at the mid-level terrace, then continued nearly level for several intersections before meeting the edge of the terrace onto the top tier of the city.

The larger buildings here on the mid-tier looked to be carved by stone cutters from the local rock rather than constructed by masons, as the smaller buildings exhibited. Also there was a bit more space between the structures, and more size to the individual components. Caspian led them past two cross roads, and left on a third.

This road had a slight turn to it as it followed the approximate line of the original mountain around. Two structures seemed out of place as they traveled this street. First, an aqueduct crossed the road overhead and appeared to empty into a cistern. Second, they passed a park, with grass and non-native leafy trees. Families were recreating in the manner that families anywhere are want to.

They turned into a courtyard bound on all the sides by a single structure. A three tiered round fountain marked the center of the drive-around. Square columns lined the three side’s two stories tall, covering porches.