It’s been maybe an hour since I left the little kid with his mother but in that time I think I’ve figured some stuff out.
First off, I haven’t seen any police walking about but I have from a distance seen what looks like some sort of town guard, all dressed up in light metal armor stationed at points throughout the crowd looking over everyone. I steer clear however. No need to put myself into a situation involving me surrounded by sharp pointy spears held by armored men, asking me questions I can’t answer, as they try to solve the question of who the non native speaking mystery man is.
Next on the list of things I’m trying to figure out is money. When my food runs out my pouch of 30 coins is going to be my lifeline against starvation. So I’ve been closely watching the stalls and shops, looking at people's purchases trying to figure out what my coins may be worth.
It’s not looking good. I’ve gotten up as close as I can to every exchange I’ve come across without seeming too suspicious. I’ve seen a few types of coins of different sizes and designs made up of different metals, but I haven’t once seen one of my coins used. I panicked for a moment thinking that the Wizard had been real stingy with his money but when I see small flowers and ribbons being bought for small pennies then come across what I can only assume is a cattle auction, but with a purple three horned beasts instead of the standard Earth bovines that I know, and see money exchange hands there, that I come to the conclusion that it’s much worse.
I turn my head instinctively to look at the tower looming over the city and it all makes sense. The wizard lives in that massive monolith looking down at everyone like ants so of course he’s rich and powerful. His scope of money is obviously very skewed compared to the ordinary people living down here on the ground. I could be carrying what might be millions to these people down here in my humble looking rucksack.
Thank God I haven’t tried to buy anything yet. Who knows what can happen when these coins see daylight. I’ve seen Game of Thrones. I’ve read fantasy novels. Most definitely there’s some sort of underworld here and if they hear there’s some sort of random foreigner walking around just by himself, not even carrying a weapon, with what might be millions in his pockets, it’s not going to be long before I end up bleeding to death in some dark corner of this city.
“ As if things weren’t hard enough…” I sigh.
So, I’m rich, but I can’t spend a dime of it. Figures.
I could throw it away, but it hasn’t come to that point yet so let’s just keep it very hidden and very far away from anyone’s prying eyes. In the future, it could very well be something I very much need, but for now, it's safe to say I’m functionally broke.
With now another massive problem hanging over my head, my shoulders drop even lower as I continue to make my way further through the throng of people. Newly saddled with my sudden poverty I start unconsciously looking over the ground as I walk on, trying to see if anyone has dropped any loose change that I can pick up.
Continuing on. I seem to be making my way to the more reputable parts of town as I notice that the buildings are getting bigger and more fancy looking, not to mention the people. The quality of some of the outfits around here has taken a definite uptake and from what I can tell I’m almost into what must be the city’s centre.
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After a while I can finally see it up ahead. A wide open area that looks roughly the same size as St. Peter’s Basilica I reckon, except not as grand. The buildings surrounding the edges are simple enough but in the middle of the square is something I recognise, a clock.
Except this clock is different to the one I’m used to seeing. Besides the fact that the symbols used for numbers aren’t the same, there’s more of them, four more to be exact. It seems like here there are 32 hours in the day, not 24.
Okay, more time to do things is nice but this is going to throw my already shoddy sleep schedule out of whack.
At least the mechanics are the same. There’s a minute hand and an hour hand and they seem to move in the same clockwise direction for a close enough passage of time to what I’m used to.
Another good thing this clock does is layout the numerals used here. They’re a bit different but they seem to follow the principle of 0 through to 9 with them combining together to make bigger numbers. Something to get started with as I build up my knowledge about this world.
Comparing the clock to what I know and given where the Sun is in the sky, it looks like it is about 10 minutes until midday. I also notice that the crowd is getting more and more packed into this square now as everyone starts looking over expectantly at the big building at one end of the square.
Drawing on my memories of big important buildings in what I must now stomach to call my past life, it looks like it’s open up enough to be some sort of town hall or something. The people on the front steps sure do look important enough looking so maybe the city mayor is about to make his speech for whatever today’s celebration is.
In the time I’ve got until then, I take a look around at the rest of the buildings in the square. One jumps out at me straight away because the big plaque hanging over its entrance has something I recognise.
It's the symbol that’s on the back of my coins.
Thinking back, it seemed to be on the back of every coin I have seen so far. This must be a bank, or a mint of some kind, so naturally it occupies a pretty major position in the city.
Besides the bank and the town hall there are three other buildings that stand out the most because, like the bank, they have massive plaques hanging over their entrances too.
The one that catches my eye first is the most flashy one because it looks like the closest approximation this world must have to a Las Vegas casino. Its plaque has the silhouette of an alluring and very scantily dressed woman beckoning me forward with one hand.
Gambling, food and drink, high end entertainment.
Must be this world's equivalent of an entertainment district.
The next one is fairly easy to figure out. Its plaque is an unrolled scroll with some sort of text written across it. Looking over the building it does seem to resemble a library so maybe it’s a University of some kind. Maybe they have lessons for this world's language and script even. Something to try and figure out later.
The last building is grand but not as fancy as the others. It's plaque is a shield with a sword, spear and axe crossed over the top of it. Whatever that place is, it's obviously not the place for me.
Some time has passed and the crowd has gotten even more packed. Everyone is standing shoulder to shoulder bumping into each other as they try to get closer to the town hall.
DDDOOOONNNNGGGG
I look up and I see that the clock has struck 12, or 16, I suppose. With that the big doors to the town hall open up and a very sharp looking man walks out and stands before the people. As he raises his hands, a hush falls over the crowd, before he begins speaking.
Yep...
No fucking idea what he’s saying.
But he sure is loud. His voice carries easily over the crowd and I’m sure the people outside the square can hear him with no problems either. I don’t wanna stand out so I just keep watching him like everyone else and try to match my emotions to the crowds.
After about 15 minutes his speech finishes and I watch out for any applause. But instead, people look very, very eager. I turned back to the mayor to see him beckon over to the people who stood to the side as he gave his speech.
And my blood runs cold.
I can’t see the best from where I am standing but I can see who walks out to meet the man at the centre stage.
It’s a woman… and she’s wearing a robe with a pendant around her neck.
A witch.