02-18-2018, 11:25 AM
As Minas Tirith drew ever closer after having appeared on the horizon Malon grew more and more amazed at the sheer size of it. She was no stranger to big cities, after all she'd been to Hyrule Castle Town which, despite its name, was a full-fledged city that spanned a fair amount of surface, but this...
Gigantic white walls and buildings in a strangely orderly fashion reached into the sky like they were made of pure marble. And who knew, maybe they really were? The black wall that protected the bottommost layer formed an odd contrast to the white, as if meaning to tell outsiders: Here, see the beauty that is this city, but be warned: we do not take kindly to attackers. As white and pure as our inside may appear, if it comes to war we will show you our dark and merciless side. As if those beautiful white buildings inside were reserved for those who had earned their way into the city. But then again, getting into the city seemed easy. The gates were wide open and as they drew closer she could see people entering and exiting the city, many of them mounted or with carriages behind them.
The mountain behind the city added only to its majesty. She could see how terraces were built into the rock, and no doubt there were expansive cave networks inside. She wondered if the mountain itself was fortified, if there were protections along its base to prevent attackers from laying siege to the city from above.
Then she gazed back down. Before the city vast fields stretched out, crops of all kinds grew here to feed the insatiable maw that was a city as big as this. She could see ranches and barns strewn about between those fields, and big open areas where cattle was grazing. The view from the top of the mountain over all those fields must have been amazing. More importantly though, there was the Colosseum. It was a big structure that caught their eye from afar, though it helped that it located outside the city borders.
"It's huge", she murmured. "I wonder how long it would take even for a Prime or several to build up a city this big. Or an arena like that."
"It wasn't built in one day", pointed out Strazio, "but over time as more Secondaries needed housing."
"Well, yes. But even like that, look at how enormous it is. King Aragorn must be a very seasoned Prime to have had so much Omnilium at hand that he could summon this."
"Well, he's the motherfuckin' leader of Camelot, eh?" Gamzee remarked. "Ya gotta give it to him though, that city he made is... it's..."
"A motherfucking miracle?" asked Malon with a grin. Gamzee's eyes widened and he pointed both indexes at her.
"How'd you know I was gonna say that?!"
Strazio rolled his eyes. "Let's just keep going... before you completely infect Malon."
---
As they came closer to the gates and Colosseum, something caught Malon's eye. She shielded her eyes from the sun with her hand and squinted. "That's a weird cart", she said. "The one with the colorful tarp on its roof."
"Hmm... Isn't that a mobile noodle stand?" said Strazio. "I've seen one before here in Camelot. They’ve been around for the Carnival when the Colosseum Tournament took place."
"Like a mobile restaurant where they sell noodles?"
"Pretty much. The one I saw had stools to put out and the tarp formed a protection from the sun and rain, so people could sit there and chat with each other or with the chef while they ate." Indeed, upon closer inspection Malon could see that a man was pulling the entire thing. He was getting into the city though, along with dozens of others so it was hard to tell amidst the masses.
"... I see. Thanks for explaining."
At that time, she had no idea that this was far from the last of what she would see of that stand.
Gigantic white walls and buildings in a strangely orderly fashion reached into the sky like they were made of pure marble. And who knew, maybe they really were? The black wall that protected the bottommost layer formed an odd contrast to the white, as if meaning to tell outsiders: Here, see the beauty that is this city, but be warned: we do not take kindly to attackers. As white and pure as our inside may appear, if it comes to war we will show you our dark and merciless side. As if those beautiful white buildings inside were reserved for those who had earned their way into the city. But then again, getting into the city seemed easy. The gates were wide open and as they drew closer she could see people entering and exiting the city, many of them mounted or with carriages behind them.
The mountain behind the city added only to its majesty. She could see how terraces were built into the rock, and no doubt there were expansive cave networks inside. She wondered if the mountain itself was fortified, if there were protections along its base to prevent attackers from laying siege to the city from above.
Then she gazed back down. Before the city vast fields stretched out, crops of all kinds grew here to feed the insatiable maw that was a city as big as this. She could see ranches and barns strewn about between those fields, and big open areas where cattle was grazing. The view from the top of the mountain over all those fields must have been amazing. More importantly though, there was the Colosseum. It was a big structure that caught their eye from afar, though it helped that it located outside the city borders.
"It's huge", she murmured. "I wonder how long it would take even for a Prime or several to build up a city this big. Or an arena like that."
"It wasn't built in one day", pointed out Strazio, "but over time as more Secondaries needed housing."
"Well, yes. But even like that, look at how enormous it is. King Aragorn must be a very seasoned Prime to have had so much Omnilium at hand that he could summon this."
"Well, he's the motherfuckin' leader of Camelot, eh?" Gamzee remarked. "Ya gotta give it to him though, that city he made is... it's..."
"A motherfucking miracle?" asked Malon with a grin. Gamzee's eyes widened and he pointed both indexes at her.
"How'd you know I was gonna say that?!"
Strazio rolled his eyes. "Let's just keep going... before you completely infect Malon."
---
As they came closer to the gates and Colosseum, something caught Malon's eye. She shielded her eyes from the sun with her hand and squinted. "That's a weird cart", she said. "The one with the colorful tarp on its roof."
"Hmm... Isn't that a mobile noodle stand?" said Strazio. "I've seen one before here in Camelot. They’ve been around for the Carnival when the Colosseum Tournament took place."
"Like a mobile restaurant where they sell noodles?"
"Pretty much. The one I saw had stools to put out and the tarp formed a protection from the sun and rain, so people could sit there and chat with each other or with the chef while they ate." Indeed, upon closer inspection Malon could see that a man was pulling the entire thing. He was getting into the city though, along with dozens of others so it was hard to tell amidst the masses.
"... I see. Thanks for explaining."
At that time, she had no idea that this was far from the last of what she would see of that stand.