The Hall of Heroes

14. - Traveling scholars

Asking around they found out the city's name was Medióla and it was a trading outpost. There was no library, university or any other place of learning. There seemed to be two larger quarters here - the 'Crossroads' where the trade routes through the city met and also the beating heart of the citylife, and the 'Ziggurat,' which was the ancient ruin at the center. Some passersby said that learned people could perhaps be found up in the 'Ziggurat,' as the mayor was sometimes visited by all sorts of folk.

Crefar inquired further about this 'Ziggurat' and was told it was the richest quarter of the town, home to the local upper crust as well as the seat of the mayor. The structure itself was supposed to be old - it probably stood here long before the town, but nobody knew its origin. The locals saw it as a natural thing that houses were built right onto an ancient ruin. The walls and support of these ruins was far stronger than anything made with the craft of the people of today.

"Everything here is new for me, in my time settlements looked very different." Crefar told Duzz as they went on. "I don't recognize that Ziggurat thing, either. Must have been built after my time."

"I-I-I know that kind of b-b-buildings." Duzz replied. "I-i-in my days, w-w-we forest folk used to avoid them. B-b-bad luck. Built by th-th-the tomb-herders."

"Tomb-herders?" Crefar inquired.

"Y-y-yeah. Old folk. L-l-long before m-m-my time. Left a lot of rem-m-mnants after them. M-m-many of th-th-them still had some u-u-ugly magic in them."

Crefar stopped in the middle of the street. "Come on, woman! Use your head! Why the hell did you not tell me all of this before? Don't you get it? That Hall of Heroes thing we're bound to was probably built by the same guys!"

"I-i-if you're s-s-so clever, then I-I-I suppose you alr-r-ready know now wh-wh-what to do and wh-wh-where to go! I-i-it's not like I kn-kn-know anything about those t-t-tomb-herders or th-th-their magic!" Duzz defended herself.

"Well, you might have at least told me, could've given me some ideas."

"I-i-it never c-c-came up!"

Crefar stooped his shoulders. "Okay. Looks like we gotta just sit down and talk for a while about what we actually know. That Burning Bird pub over there seems like a good idea."

"Phoenix." Duzz corrected him.

As they walked up the Ziggurat's ramp, they saw that by Alois's and Tereza's standards, the nobility of this town was not quite that noble. The rich villas sunken in the sides of the Ziggurat's walls were not much more expensive than mayor Karel's villa back in Jalka. From the tales that they had heard, both villagers had expected the rich folk of the Baronies to be far more lavish, extravagant and fancy. It seemed this city was not the richest of the big cities of the Baronies.

The Smouldering Phoenix Inn was a place for the posh and Crefar and Duzz were not looked upon favorably inside. Alois's best dress was still only villager's clothing, made from a cheap fabric and simply cut. The two weeks of travelling with this dress on made the matter even worse. And Duzz's travel-ready clothes roused nothing but disgusted looks from the rich patrons of the Inn. That was also probably the reason why the waiter, a sleek albino gentleman in his late forties, had them pay for their drinks and meal in advance.

"Well, times sure have changed," Crefar said. "The most expensive drinks that I was used to drinking were not this sour."

Duzz merely glanced at the glass in front of Crefar and back at him. "I-i-it's soured grapes. H-h-humans were dr-dr-drinking this even in m-m-my time. Y-y-you must come from a v-v-very far p-p-place." she said without any tone of interest in her voice.