Hello Everyone! I hope you are enjoying the last remaining days of summer, or perhaps you are urging fall on? I admit to being conflicted this year myself. Usually I am dragged kicking and screaming to summer’s end, refusing to put on socks and shoes and long pants until my feet are freezing and the days top out at 60°F. But this year has been such an odd summer filled with soaring humidity and high heat, that I secretly (or not so anymore!) may be looking forward to fall. I feel like a blasphemer to my sun religion, but it just hasn’t been pleasant. Perhaps a move to the British Isles is in my future after all. 😆
Either way, enjoy the last of your season, wherever you may be, see you in September!
We left Elahna and Ivy in the last episode just as they were about to enter the capital city of Irillo. It was getting on in the evening, so they were making steady progress, but not taking it too quickly, for Elahna’s sake….~
More of the same birches that housed the guard huts created an elegant allee over the South Road. Taverns, inns, hostels, and eateries resided under their airy canopies on the right side of the wide expanse, inviting travelers and locals in for refreshment, lodging, or trade. Lodgings Quarter catered to any and all tastes, apparently. Benches sat at various intervals for the weary. Posts and rails for hitching horses to became more ornate as we progressed into the city.
The Verdant Quarter, on the left side, showcased homes and shops, each one fronted by lush, manicured gardens. Some made use of large urns or containers of various materials to hold the colorful blooms and greenery, while others exhibited raised beds. But each property enclosed their display within a fence of some sort. It left an unending trail for the eye to follow.
*Image by congerdesign from Pixabay; Image by Matthias Böckel from Pixabay; Image by Petra Fuchs from Pixabay; Image by Catkin from Pixabay; Image by ASSY from Pixabay
Just before the arch, the road had become a cobbled thoroughfare in the myriad natural shades of river rock. Worn smooth and flat by traffic, not a weed grew in between the stones. The middle of the road was clearly reserved for horse and cart traffic, while those on foot stayed to the edges, a courtesy to all involved.
Revel’s ears had pricked upright in attention as we passed under the arch, and now they swiveled constantly. This, however, was the only sign of agitation I noticed. The rest of his demeanor was calm and confident. He seemed to take the strange noises, scents, and traffic in close quarters in stride, like he’d done it before.
Every few houses, a child stood with a deep-sided pan that had a long handle and a finely toothed rake or broom. I puzzled about them to myself, until I saw one boy dart out after a mule cart passed and sweep up the dung the animal had dropped. Then he ran ahead to a three-sided stone bin about half the size of a cart, dumped his pan, and scampered back to his post. No wonder the streets were so clean.
Ivy caught me watching. “You’ll see street tenders on all of the main roads. It’s a way to instill pride in the city and a sense of responsibility for our surroundings and creations. At the harvest fair on the equinox, one tender team is awarded the Bronze Broom for keeping their street or road the cleanest, as voted by the citizens. There is fierce competition between the youngsters, especially those chosen for posts on the North and South Roads.”
*Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay
I raised an eyebrow at her, somewhat in disbelief. “Really?” I asked.
“Yes. Each child is given a rake and a pan, but many actually make their own to try to keep their stretch of road as clean as possible. Oxen make a dreadful mess, as do drunkards. These children will be here just after dawn to clean up from the night before. It gets intense.”
“You speak as though from experience. You didn’t have to do that, did you?”
“I did! For dua summers, before my Choosing Day. Matris was did not want me excluded from things just because she sat on the Council and I lived in Forelore. That’s why I still have so many friends here in Irillo. I don’t regret una moment of it. And North Road won the Bronze Broom both those years.” She smiled widely, two elegant dimples appearing on her cheeks. She appeared wholly pleased with herself.
I couldn’t help but smile with her. I liked this land more and more each day.
Most of the buildings followed designs or styles I was familiar with; single or two story structures, sometimes three stories, of stone and wood. But here and there a slender, curved, or rounded one would sit between angular neighbors. These elven buildings were exotically beautiful, constructed of a flatly iridescent metal-like material that changed color depending on how you viewed it. With the sun setting off to the left, the shadowed sides appeared emerald green, while the sun-facing walls shone in coral and pink. Black iron woven in intricate patterns accented the windows, which were of any shape imaginable, and filled larger, blank wall spaces.
They were a perfect mixture of elegance, beauty, and persistence.
“Before you ask, not much is known about the ancient elven architecture. Otherwise we would have replicated it for sure.” Ivy said. “The material is a magically-enhanced mixture of crystal and aluminum, that much we know, but no one can decipher how to make it. The scholars think it was forged deep in the mountains using the underground vitae, though no methods or spells have ever been found that explain how to do it.”
“An entire city of that would be dazzling! How could our eyes stand it?” I remarked.
“Wait until you see Forelore, then. Be prepared!”
Since it was fully evening, we saw many empty carts or those filled with empty crates and baskets heading out of the city.
People waved and called out to one another and mothers held onto small children when they were on the road. Faces of every shape, size, and color laughed, smiled, and scowled. Hair colors and styles ranged widely, from bright rainbow or pastel colors to silver, smoke gray, black, and honey gold. I focused on ears for a bit, trying not to be too obvious, and found those to vary as well.
If Irillo was any indication, this was a highly mixed populace. I would stick out for my pure humanness.
The South Road cut a wide swath through the city as it ambled toward a bridge and what I assumed must be the palace Forelore ahead. I glimpsed roofs of deep hunter green and bits of fiery red beyond them. Color could not be overused, evidently. I felt like I’d stepped onto a giant’s painter’s palette.
Maybe I wasn’t far off. There could be giants here, for all I knew.
*Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay
Yes, you are right, it was evening and the color was still that vibrant. I was eager at that point to explore the Verdant Quarter just to see all of the plants, and I thoroughly enjoyed it when I did. My ramblings in Irillo always seemed to bring me there. I do wish I had a better depiction of the elven architecture, but I don’t. I’ll do my best to put it into words though. 😊 We’ll leave it here for today, see you next time!~
The birch allee at the beginning of the South Road was stunning. Huphaean paper birches get very large in girth, unlike many we see. It was impressive and elegant, and set the stage for an entrance into an ancient city. What were some of your impressions of Irillo at first glance? Let me know in the comments below 👇🏼❗
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