>>5421263You say your goodbyes at the gate to the barracks, satisfied with what you have discovered and learned. Climbing into your palanquin, you find that your routemaster has procured water for you while you were busy, which you gratefully accept. Then you are off, through the great gate where the scribes are still hard at work, turning left and upriver under the palm trees. The bridge grows ever larger, and soon you are crossing it, the fan and parasol a welcome reprieve from the horrible midday heat. The streets have slightly emptied now that it has grown so hot, and it is mostly soldiers and slaves who still make the rounds about the city.
The eastern bank looms up before you, and this time you can appreciate the massive ziggurat from a distance. There are in fact two temple complexes before you, the Ekur of Enlil, with its mighty seven-tiered colossus, and another a little off to its south, which you would guess is the temple of... Ninurta? Inanna? You cannot remember which name fell first in the ranking.
Then you are under the walls and through the gate and heading down the wide paved street again, and the shade from the walls has diminished now, and most of the sellers here have slunk away to their alleys and homes to wait out the heat. You see the scribe that caught your eye before packing up his things and heading off in the opposite direction. His eyes catch yours, and he stops and bows until you are past.
At last, you reach the palace. The bearers set you down, and your official wipes a little cloth over his temple, then bows, saying, "My Lord will surely wish to bathe before the ceremony begins. I will have My Lord's robes made ready in the meantime."
>Of course. Guard, please lead the way to the baths.>WRITE-IN 