icarus: Snape by mysterious artist (Default)
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The Walls of Jericho - 9 (from part 1 here)
by Icarus




Daniel went to one knee and bowed low. Jack had strict instructions not to say a word, so he just smiled at the cluster of native people arrayed on the doorstep, wearing long red robes and head-dresses. Ah, primitive society. You always knew by the drapery they wore.

They didn't smile back.

"We give you greetings from a far away land, beyond the mountains and the stars," Daniel said in full formal mode, then added, "We're from a world called Earth."

One of the short little guys - not the leader, who looked as forbidding as the stone faces - stepped forward and kneeled as well. Jack hoped this wouldn't take too long, they'd let all the heat out. He winced at the big open door and could almost hear his mother yell, Jonathan, don't heat the outside!

Whatever Daniel had said, it had been the right thing because the leader nodded and everyone stood up. Without a word, the leader and the rest of the group filed into the… castle, for lack of a better word. Which was definitely weird.

The one who'd bowed gestured for them to follow.

Directly inside, they found themselves faced with more carvings and some sort of curtain made of what looked like a rough reddish-pinkish fabric that hung from a very, very tall ceiling. Jack craned his neck to see if it was suspended from a beam, but it was too high. The other aliens were already out of sight.

They turned another corner and threaded their way through what turned out to be maze of these tall panels, each lit by elaborate braziers of coals. Hopefully the stuff was fireproof. Once they'd gone through a few twists and turns, the breeze from outside was completely gone. It slowly grew warmer until Jack unbuttoned his coat.

"Which family of cithriel is this Earth, if you are permitted to say?" their guide asked.

Permitted-? Cith--what? Daniel returned Jack's confused look, equally puzzled.

"On the circle heirodalgia."

Sam took a quick breath of recognition, and pointed to her shoulder patch. "This one."

"Ah yes." The alien nodded knowingly.

"They mean the gate symbols, guys." They all glanced meaningfully at each other. She turned to the young man. "Do you mean you use the stargate -- this heirodi…?"

"Heirodalgia," Daniel said quickly. Note perfect. It never failed to impress Jack when he did that.

"From… there?" he pointed generally back the way they'd come. "No, no. We do not go there." He gestured to the Earth gate coordinate on Sam's jacket. "This is part of our traditions, the great families."

"Ah," Daniel said, as if that had made any sense at all.

"I will show you to your sleeping rooms, where you shall dress for the evening gathering."

"Dress for dinner? And me, I forgot my tux." Daniel gave him a dirty look, but Jack had bad images of the four of them in weird head-dresses trying to eat.

A slightly cooler breeze warned Jack that they'd come to the end of the curtains. They stepped out from behind the last panel, and Jack whistled.

There were pillars carved in rich detail, faces and bird-like things extending as high as he could see. Stretching out before them inside the cavern were roads, archways, side streets curving away, some uphill, some clearly sloping downward. Everything was lit at regular intervals and light filtered through doorways covered by more of that drape-y fabric. People glanced at them in curiosity, then looked away shyly.

It was an underground city.

Jack swiftly re-evaluated their level of threat, and the comfort level they could expect for the night. Definitely hot baths, he decided.

As they crossed the street, Jack trailed behind the group to get a better look at the place. Daniel slowed to match his pace, and murmured in Jack's ear, "I think the gate symbols represent some sort of religious icon. I doubt they know what the stargate is. Their dress and architecture indicates a pre-feudal, post bronze age level of development. Though their art is nothing short of incredible." He glanced around in awe.

Ah.

"Just so long as they don't think we're gods, I'm okay with that." Then he peered at Daniel. "What was with all the bowing stuff anyway?"

"Oh, I was presenting myself for a ritualized beheading." At Jack's alarmed look he added quickly, "No no, it wasn't dangerous. If there were some dispute between you and the leader here, you each offered up a proxy you see. But there isn't, so…." Daniel gave him an innocent look. "It was all in the briefing."

"No it wasn't." He was sure no one had mentioned the word 'beheading.' Hammond would have definitely sat up and taken notice.



Part 10 here. And more on the way.

Date: 2004-12-27 10:35 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cyanei.livejournal.com
Hee, 'ritual beheading' gives me naughty mental images. ( ;

Brilliant dialogue, as ever. ( : Love the alien language!

Date: 2004-12-28 12:43 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] icarusancalion.livejournal.com
Ha! The position eh? The next couple parts are up. Gosh, I so appreciate the ongoing feedback on this story. It's really helping to motivate me along (writes, writes).

Icarus

Yay, more so soon :)

Date: 2004-12-27 11:00 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kuteki.livejournal.com
I didn't say before how detailed and well though out the alien world was and here this is followed by the alien culture and architecture, it is really fascinating and very original, I like how you have told it through Jack's POV and how this affects the way it is described (as in if it was Daniel he would probably have names for the bird-like things) and that image of all of them in headdresses made me laugh.

Re: Yay, more so soon :)

Date: 2004-12-28 12:48 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] icarusancalion.livejournal.com
Oh, a lot of the credit goes to [livejournal.com profile] goseaward who took the time Christmas eve to talk out the background (and a little of the science, though my white dwarf star is technically too large), and [livejournal.com profile] lizardspots who helped me get unstuck yesterday (not to mention the sacrifice of several goats and Goa'uld ribbon devices to the gods of fiction).

it is really fascinating and very original

Cool! Every time I've tried to write a Stargate story, it's insisted on dragging in ancient civilization as if it's just not Stargate without that (the way Harry Potter isn't a HP story without magic). It was the alien stuff that I was most worried about, so your encouragement has me grinning from ear to ear.

I have part(let) 11 up now.

Icarus

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