Brick and Glass

One of the first things that Astra noticed were the windows. While glass was certainly used in Aqualaria, windows were considered expensive and impractical, as they were too easy to break. Homes and public buildings as a rule either had wooden shutters over their windows or were just left open. Biscuit Creek must be a rich city, indeed.

She then looked around the glass to the walls. They were made of light pink bricks. She thought that was odd - why spend all the effort on the glass only to leave the brick exposed? For in Aqualaria, exposed brick was considered to be "unfinished", and fit only for cheap structures.

The city also smelled different than what was to her a "normal" city. A heavy scent came from the kerosene which lit the lanterns at night and from certain musky spices that the citizens used to cover the smells of sweat and the like. She did not know whether she felt that way because she was a dragon or whether there was an actual change in the city environment.

She was led to a massive building with six rows of glass windows, and fronted by columns and a wide set of stairs. Here mosaic patterns were embedded into the bricks, some of which were somehow dyed different colours before they were fired. Astra stopped for a minute. There was a large mural of ships, surrounded by representations of shields. On these shields were items of commerce - sheaves of wheat, bottles of wine, and bars of silver. There was also some sort of foreign script, but Astra could not read it. She did draw the conclusion that Biscuit Creek, although its layout was less exotic than Colonia Gallia, was by no means sleepy. Compared to most Aqualarian towns, it was a busy and prosperous city, and in some of the trades had advanced beyond the level of her homeland.

Her escort gently nudged her up the set of stairs, to the second level. She wondered if she would have to change into her human form to enter the building, but a servant opened a large set of double doors, and she had plenty of space. Finally she and her escorts entered a large ballroom with five levels of glass windows. There were several men around a table, each seated in a leather-upholstered chair with a high back. She saw Esau, but not Sudukis, in the group. Astra thought, fleetingly, of whether she could attack this group and escape. She glanced around. There were men on the balcony of the third level pointing their tapered sticks at her, as if they were enchanted. It would certainly not be worth the risk. Besides, she more curious than afraid of these men, and wanted to see what they had in mind. Even if she eventually decided to go to Colonia Gallia, a day or two here might be required, just for her to gather her thoughts and strength.

Astra took a seat on a large divan that had been improvised along the wall nearest the table. A man rose to speak. To Astra's relief, he spoke her language.

"Hello, Astra. My name is John. I will be translating for you, as well as acting as your guide."

Astra acknowledged him, and John the Traveller continued by introducing those at the table. Some of the men held titles that Astra could not understand, others were military men or leading citizens of the town. She gathered that a man with a short beard seated directly across from her was especially important, and was introduced as the Archeron. She assumed that this gathering was that of a sort of privy council of Biscuit Creek.

After the introductions were made, a tall, dark, and, in Astra's opinion, handsome man rose and began to speak slowly. John translated.

"Astra, as master of the mint, I will be seeing a lot of you. Dragons in general have a reputation for a love for precious metal. This can create problems between a dragon and mankind. However, if this love could perhaps be controlled, we might be able to help each other."

The master continued, as John continued to translate,

1. "There has been a problem with a counterfeiting our coinage. We want to find out who is doing it. If you help us, you will be rewarded."
2. "I need someone reliable to guard the bullion storehouse. Would you perhaps be interested?"

Add New Option

Go Back

View Forward Story Tree
View Back Story Tree