Chapter 199: Chapter 181 – Through the Wall of Glass

"Generally, you would think that making buildings, much less a city out of glass to be ridiculously stupid, much less city walls and fortifications out of it. Even so, one visit to Al-Hassid and you'd likely rethink that consideration.

 

Sure, one pane of glass like what you see in windows is very easy to break. It is fragile, and would not stop most things. On the other hand, enchanted glass that is several meters thick at the very least actually holds as well as a wall made out of stone, if not better.

 

I happened to witness a wild, rabid horned lizard ram the city walls at full speed once during my stay there. The horned lizard smashed its head on the wall, brains all over the place, dead as dead can be. The walls only needed some cleaning and minor repairs where the horns struck." - Dales Wordsworth, itinerant adventurer.

The following morning, Cal brought the girls to the massive citadel in the center of the city of Al-Hassid. As it was the largest structure and the only building in the city built with multiple floors above ground - though with it being made by dwarves Cal suspected it has at least twice as many floors below ground as well - made it impossible to miss.

 

To the surprise of the girls, they were not the only people who were there to sightsee. Despite the citadel being the seat of power of the Caliph, it was also a famous tourist attraction from long ago, and all Caliphs so far had only encouraged it. Sections of the citadel served as a museum depicting the history of the land, and was opened to the public most of the time.

 

Even before they entered the citadel, the girls was already looking in awe, and even Cal had to give an impressed whistle. The outer walls of the citadel made it into a fort inside the walled city, twice as tall as the walls outside, and twice as thick as well.

 

Despite their obvious function - Cal could feel the massive amounts of enchantments placed on the walls - the outside of the walls were very heavily decorated. What looked like carvings on the glass portrayed scenes from the local mythology and the city's history, and actually covered the whole wall even to the top.

 

The only entrance to the citadel was a gate which had multiple portcullis lined up along the length of the passage behind it. The gate up front itself was wooden, and richly decorated, more for appearances than anything. It was the multiple thick steel portcullis behind it that served as the real "gate".

 

As they passed under the portcullis, Cal noted how they were cleverly spaced apart, giving enough room between each to place troops to harry the enemy further away. Should there ever be an actual siege, Cal suspected that even if the outer walls of the city fell, the citadel itself would be ten times as hard to take.

 

Because the citadel walls were so thick, they just looked dark in color, but once inside, the thinner panes used at places showed that the glass used to build the citadel actually had a bluish-green tint to it, which was pleasant to look at.

 

Throughout their tour of the public areas, Leila held a firm grip on her hatchling drake to prevent her from flying off in curiosity. Like most baby animals, she grew ridiculously fast early on, and nowadays she really felt Lumi's weight when she perched on her shoulder, which looked a bit comical since now the little drake was not so little anymore.

 

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From head to the base of her tail, the drake hatchling was now around a meter and a half long, with more than double the wingspan, though her slenderness does mean she does not weigh as much as most creatures that size. Cal estimated that the little critter still weighed at least twenty kilos or more by now though. Fortunately it had bonded well with Leila, and was as tame as a beast can be.

 

As for the tour itself, Cal did observe the historical pieces with some interest, but naturally dismissed some of the more exaggerated parts as typical aggrandizing. Most nations did that when it came to their history, she learned, so she only lent half an ear to those at best.

 

The Hassid Caliphate did live up to its name of being one of the nations with the longest history in the world however - Cal noticed that Ptolodecca was never included in such listings, probably because having an immortal who existed since prehistory at the helm was considered cheating - as its history was long and storied.

 

After a tour that lasted a couple of hours, Cal had the girls leave first while she went to a section of the citadel that's less open to the public. The gate in Al-Hassid was in the citadel, and generally only used by archmages and their entourages. Cal went there to ensure that their passage would not be troublesome for any party.

 

It turned out that she hadn't needed to worry about it, as the guards by the gate chamber recognized the token Aideen gave her at a glance and assured Cal that she could use the gate freely. Apparently visitors from Paradise were not an uncommon thing to the town either.

 

Considering how the Caliphate was well known for having the finest glass artisans in the world though, Cal could see why. Many of the expensive eateries and inns she had visited in her travels tended to have some ornately decorated glassware in the characteristic bluish-green tint of glass made in the Caliphate, so it was definitely something favored in most places.

 

On her way back to the inn, Cal made a stop at a local glass artisan's shop, where all sorts of intricately decorated glassware was displayed proudly. Her eyes were drawn to a pair of flower vases of the Alcidean style, which had wider bodies and a narrow opening at the top.

 

The vases were not just decorated with flowery shapes on every surface, but when the light struck it, the shadows given out made it look as if flowers of light were dancing around where the shadow was cast. Without much thought, Cal purchased them and stored the vases in her pendant, as they would make good souvenirs for Xain back in Al-Shan.

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