Angst
Rambling and inconsistent
The Journey of Mopus; Part One
Baga sat in the dim light of the oil lamp in his tent. The smoke from his cigarette was not completely removed by the slight breeze bruising everything in there. He was very tired. The journey through the plains in Pugu Uia[1] had taken a lot of energy from him, never letting him sleep from all of his travels. The archeologists of the expedition were very stressing, wanting the lot to continue their insane search for clay tablets. He was getting tired of the whole thing. Every find they received was just this stupid little rock and they all went 'Ooh' and 'Aah' about it, then tossed it into their box and looked onwards, looking for more rocks still. Bloody archeologists.
Alas, three thousand years ago, the small claylike rocks were more important.
This was known by the high priest Sobu Odo, the master of the Rilan believers, lord of all Supusi cities. His knowledge about the individual tablets were limited, but he knew what their purpose were.
At the very warmest and driest time of the year, a speech was to be held. At the terrace in front of the Anpe palace, both priests and important merchants were gathered to listen to the words – it was, of course, only the merchants of uttermost importance, otherwise they would not be invited. Normally, the priests would take care of the individual bureaucracies inside the individual cities. The crowd was buzzing, as the sun was about to be at the highest point. And somewhere, in the background, a young priest stood with his slave and watched the scene.
”What be wrong, Budu[2]?” the slave said to his master, brushing his head with his hand. ”You look so worry.”
”Do not feel that I am worried, Mu[3], thus to Rila I am merely wondering,” the young priest said.
”What wonder, Budu?” the slave then expressed.
”No wonder without fear of His choices,” the priest said. And so, in silence, they both stared at the chatting crowd.
Then, a glowing shadow appeared. At the palace, the old spiritual leader Sobu Odo stood, clad in gold as a happy butterfly. His long beard was pierced by small ivory needles, and baby turtle shells were surrounding his neck in a necklace. The glorious sight of Rila's Golden Suit was impressive every time any priest saw it. Even though it was aging in glory each time a merchant bought his own golden cape, no golden suit would ever shine as magnificently as this, thus it was goldened by the Gods.
”Silence!” Sobu Odo roared. And with that, no voice was raised. And then, his speech[4] began:
”The times have passed since the beginning of times. Since the Gods made Uia drop down into the great sands from the skies, many men have been crawling out of the seas, and we have proven ourselves worthy to rise from Them divine tears.
However, in these times we must approach. The gliding waters will sprawl with waves, and we will make it to the Beach to the West. We will around the smiling lake travel and see those mighty sands!”
”-pay attention,” the young priest whispered to his slave. He nod.
”We must fare to that place! We need to find our clay tablets, make them crackle in those waters – and with that we will find true wealth!”
The young priest gestured to his slave, and they walked away together.
”Do you know what priest Sobu Odo declared, Mu?” the priest said to his slave.
”No I do much not,” Mu said.
”War has once again been declared upon the Sea,” the priest Mopus said, ”And he will send many and few Supusi to fight the salty waves.”
[1] Northern Uia – Uia is the Supusi expression for OTL Gibraltar area, including Iberia and NE Africa.
[2] Budu is a name for divinities, which is rarely used between priests. Normally, this would be considered blasphemy to Rila, as Budu should only be used about altars and Godly Remains, but the slave is a berb and can hardly speak Rilan. Possibly he have heard that Budu was an expression for something sacred, and therefore considers the priest sacred.
[3] Mu is berb for son, by which Mopus calls his slave.
[4] To understand this part – Uia is both a name for the Gibraltar area along with a common noun for sea. The Supusi believed in an Earth without limits – the desert was eternal, and inside it was a great lake, which was the Atlantic Ocean. That is also a reason why old Supusi maps have been drawn with land surrounding a lake – and a reason why they sailed blindly into the Atlantic Ocean and discovered the Sumisum Islands (The Canaries) and Umai (The island north of the Canaries which I don't know the name of). This also explained their naval interests, and why shipbuilding was so important to become advanced for the technicians. A common dream for the Supusi high priests was to reach the other side and encircle the lake, which also explains the almost insane exploration of the African coast and Europe.
Baga sat in the dim light of the oil lamp in his tent. The smoke from his cigarette was not completely removed by the slight breeze bruising everything in there. He was very tired. The journey through the plains in Pugu Uia[1] had taken a lot of energy from him, never letting him sleep from all of his travels. The archeologists of the expedition were very stressing, wanting the lot to continue their insane search for clay tablets. He was getting tired of the whole thing. Every find they received was just this stupid little rock and they all went 'Ooh' and 'Aah' about it, then tossed it into their box and looked onwards, looking for more rocks still. Bloody archeologists.
Alas, three thousand years ago, the small claylike rocks were more important.
This was known by the high priest Sobu Odo, the master of the Rilan believers, lord of all Supusi cities. His knowledge about the individual tablets were limited, but he knew what their purpose were.
At the very warmest and driest time of the year, a speech was to be held. At the terrace in front of the Anpe palace, both priests and important merchants were gathered to listen to the words – it was, of course, only the merchants of uttermost importance, otherwise they would not be invited. Normally, the priests would take care of the individual bureaucracies inside the individual cities. The crowd was buzzing, as the sun was about to be at the highest point. And somewhere, in the background, a young priest stood with his slave and watched the scene.
”What be wrong, Budu[2]?” the slave said to his master, brushing his head with his hand. ”You look so worry.”
”Do not feel that I am worried, Mu[3], thus to Rila I am merely wondering,” the young priest said.
”What wonder, Budu?” the slave then expressed.
”No wonder without fear of His choices,” the priest said. And so, in silence, they both stared at the chatting crowd.
Then, a glowing shadow appeared. At the palace, the old spiritual leader Sobu Odo stood, clad in gold as a happy butterfly. His long beard was pierced by small ivory needles, and baby turtle shells were surrounding his neck in a necklace. The glorious sight of Rila's Golden Suit was impressive every time any priest saw it. Even though it was aging in glory each time a merchant bought his own golden cape, no golden suit would ever shine as magnificently as this, thus it was goldened by the Gods.
”Silence!” Sobu Odo roared. And with that, no voice was raised. And then, his speech[4] began:
”The times have passed since the beginning of times. Since the Gods made Uia drop down into the great sands from the skies, many men have been crawling out of the seas, and we have proven ourselves worthy to rise from Them divine tears.
However, in these times we must approach. The gliding waters will sprawl with waves, and we will make it to the Beach to the West. We will around the smiling lake travel and see those mighty sands!”
”-pay attention,” the young priest whispered to his slave. He nod.
”We must fare to that place! We need to find our clay tablets, make them crackle in those waters – and with that we will find true wealth!”
The young priest gestured to his slave, and they walked away together.
”Do you know what priest Sobu Odo declared, Mu?” the priest said to his slave.
”No I do much not,” Mu said.
”War has once again been declared upon the Sea,” the priest Mopus said, ”And he will send many and few Supusi to fight the salty waves.”
[1] Northern Uia – Uia is the Supusi expression for OTL Gibraltar area, including Iberia and NE Africa.
[2] Budu is a name for divinities, which is rarely used between priests. Normally, this would be considered blasphemy to Rila, as Budu should only be used about altars and Godly Remains, but the slave is a berb and can hardly speak Rilan. Possibly he have heard that Budu was an expression for something sacred, and therefore considers the priest sacred.
[3] Mu is berb for son, by which Mopus calls his slave.
[4] To understand this part – Uia is both a name for the Gibraltar area along with a common noun for sea. The Supusi believed in an Earth without limits – the desert was eternal, and inside it was a great lake, which was the Atlantic Ocean. That is also a reason why old Supusi maps have been drawn with land surrounding a lake – and a reason why they sailed blindly into the Atlantic Ocean and discovered the Sumisum Islands (The Canaries) and Umai (The island north of the Canaries which I don't know the name of). This also explained their naval interests, and why shipbuilding was so important to become advanced for the technicians. A common dream for the Supusi high priests was to reach the other side and encircle the lake, which also explains the almost insane exploration of the African coast and Europe.
.
