Cool fanfic set in Sumer

A True Open Forum; Share/Discuss whatever you like
User avatar
Luigi
Posts: 4234
Joined: Fri Oct 11, 2013 11:01 pm
Reputation: 2931

Cool fanfic set in Sumer

Postby Luigi » Tue May 02, 2017 11:53 am

Found this online, by a chap named Ummiainimgina (Expert of the firm word):

Part 1:

The Year in which Abi-sare smote with his weapons the army of Isin
Chapter One: Ka'ida and the fish

iri-a ni--2 bal-bal ba-an---ar --u-KU6-de3 --ukur2 ba-an-dab5-be2-e--
"Things may be traded in the city but it is the fisherman who brings in the food supply."
-Sumerian proverb

The 2nd day of the month of barazaggar


1-12: It was the dawn of a new day and Utu emerged refulgently in the horizon once again. He sawed through the side of the mountains of the east with his divine blade. It was on this morning that Ka'ida was preparing to go fishing. He had awoken early to ready his fishing equipment. He had already dressed and cleaned up himself. Ka'ida fetched out from under his bed a small bronze dagger his father gave to him. He tucked the dagger into his belt. He wrapped seven dates into a small cloth for later. He said his morning prayers and headed out toward the water. The light of dawn had just crested the mountains and the sky was still dark. An auspicious sky for catching catfish!

13-24: Ka'ida walked to the water to meet his colleague Ahu-waqar. Ka'ida had met Ahu-waqar back at the Edubba in Umma. The two of them had both been expelled for bad behavior and since then they started fishing together regularly. Ka'ida did not have much respect for Ahu-waqar because he was an Adabite and because he spoke Sumerian very poorly. Like most Adabites Ahu-waqar was the descendant of tribesmen that migrated in from Martu over the last few hundred years. The Martu were primitives who had lived in the mountains. The highlanders were completely ignorant of agriculture. They knew no houses and knew no cities. They knew not of grain. They eat their meat raw and sleep outside like animals. The Martu were mountain nomads who tried to adopt the Sumerian way of life however they were still uncultured, ignorant, and lazy. They had caused Ka'ida's people much grief and hardships since they had arrived in their lands.

25-36: Ka'ida was from the last Sumerian speaking neighborhood left in Umma. His grandfather, Inim-Shara, was a famous fisherman known throughout the lands. However Inim-Shara was attacked by a bull shark on a fishing expedition two years ago. Evil spirits found his wounds and he died a week later. After that Ka'ida's uncle found work as a gem merchant. His uncle became head of the household while Ka'ida's father, Abba-saga, remained a fisherman. At first his uncle just bought lapis-lazuli off of the Martu caravans coming from up from Lagash and sold it to the local jewelers in Umma for a mark up. Then his uncle started making the trip down to Lagash himself. This is when he turned to his brother Abba-saga for help with the business. The Lapis-lazuli trade was opulent and it brought their household out of poverty. After a year they even had enough silver saved to send Ka'ida and his cousin to the Edubba in the city. Although Ka'ida was expelled his cousin, Shesh-kuzu, was doing well and he was soon to graduate.

37-48: Ka'ida reached the waters and came upon Ahu-waqar. He was already pushing his raft out into the water. They punted the raft along until they reached the place where they had set their crab traps. When they went to pull their traps they found that the traps had been stolen. This was the third time the traps had been stolen in the last two months. Ka'ida grew irate and exclaimed to Ahu-waqar "This never used to happen before all of the Martu came down. The despicable degenerates have no honor. The Martu are nothing but destitute indigents who have no skills to survive. They would rather steal from their fellow man than earn for themselves!" Ahu-waqar knew to let it go and did not comment on the statement. Ka'ida could be impetuous but he was a good fishermen.

49-60: The two men punted along the waters until they found a promising fishing spot. Ka'ida caught the first fish of the morning. It was a beautiful kuda carp. They both agreed that it was the largest kuda carp either of them had ever seen. Just after Ka'ida had set the fish down a jolt knocked the bottom of the raft. Ka'ida managed to stabilize himself but Ahu-waqar fell into the water. The Kuda carp suddenly spoke to Ka'ida: "Fishermen you have been chosen by the gods! Your destiny has been determined by Shara. You will be the champion of catastrophe. Soon you will receive tribulation, reparation, and reclusion. Fishermen you have been chosen by the gods!"

61-72: Just as the fish finished its prophetic tidings Ahu-waqar climbed back into the raft. The fish fell inanimate and spoke no longer. Ka'ida explained to Ahu-waqar what had just transpired but he did not believe him. He was concerned that Ka'ida must have bumped his head when the raft was jolted. Ka'ida was still vexed by the enigmatic omen. He decided to figure out the meaning of it later. The two men returned to fishing. They spent the rest of their morning catching fish undisturbed. It was an excellent day for fishing and they had a successful morning. They fished all morning until their raft was filled with fish. After they could not fit anymore on the small raft they decided to return. Elated the two men sang songs as they punted back.

73-84: When the two men made it back they prayed together upon reaching the shore. After saying their prayers the two men dragged the raft of out of the waters. Then they stopped to eat their morning meal together. Ka'ida pulled out his cloth with seven dates wrapped in it and Ahu-waqar did the same. They ate their morning meal together and discussed their catch. After their meal they went about sorting through their fish. They had caught six catfish, two large Suhur carp, and six small Eshtub carp. This was more fish then they could eat so they would have to trade some of them. The two men started out hauling the cumbersome load toward Umma. They came upon a group of three fishermen who were new to the area. Ka'ida and Ahu-waqar stopped and greeted the men. They said they had fished all morning but did not catch a single fish.

85-96: Ka'ida saw the men had several jars of beer and he haggled with them for a trade. Eventually they settled with trading them all six of the Eshtub carp for four jars of beer. It was a bargain for the other fishermen but they were happy about the deal anyway. It was better to give some fellow fishermen a good rate on some fish than to have to trade it to the greedy merchants up at the municipal city docks. Taking the fish up to the city also meant you had to pay the tax collector his fee. This made carrying the remaining fish all the way up to the municipal docks easier. Ka'ida and Ahu-waqar divided up the remaining fish and the four jars of beer. They bid each other farewell and went their separate ways. Ka'ida now had four fish, three catfish and a Suhur carp. He still wanted to trade some more of the fish for some bitumen. Ka'ida wanted to build his own raft this week so he wouldn't need Ahu-waqar for his raft. He would need some bitumen to water proof it when he was done.

97-108: When Ka'ida arrived at the docks he came upon the tax collector. Ka'ida tried to persuade the tax collector to accept the Suhur carp as his payment. However the tax collector would not budge and required a catfish. After paying his tax Ka'ida made his way to the fish merchant on the docks. His plan was to trade the merchant the Suhur carp and two of the catfish for a Sila of bitumen. This would be plenty of bitumen to waterproof a small raft and would still leave him with a catfish for dinner. When he reached the docks he approached the merchant with his offer. The merchant looked at him appalled and told Ka'ida: "Get that Suhur carp out of here! Evil spirits have been in those fish recently. No one will buy them now so I have no use for it. I have the bitumen you are asking for but if you want it, you will have to trade me all three of those catfish."

109-120: Ka'ida reluctantly accepted this agreement. After a prosperous morning catching fish he still didn't have a catfish to bring home for dinner. Ka'ida asked around the docks to find out what the merchant was talking about. Yesterday several households got sick after eating a fish-soup made with Suhur carp at the festival and a man died. Now the people of Umma don't know whether it is safe to eat Suhur carp. Ka'ida decided he would risk it and eat the carp. This would mean having to work the rest of the afternoon to prepare a soup for the Suhur carp to go into. Ka'ida made his way back to the marshes where he lived. When he reached his household he found a courier there waiting for him. The courier urgently gave Ka'ida his message: "Ka'ida I have been sent by your cousin Shesh-kuzu. There has been an accident with your family and you must go to the marketplace where your father works!"

121-132: Ka'ida ran as fast as he could back to Umma. He made his way through the marketplace shoving bystanders out of the way. Ka'ida reached the gem-stand run by his uncle and his father. He found his cousin there sobbing. Ka'ida asked his cousin what had happened with their household. Shesh-kuzu cried out to his cousin: "Our fathers are dead! They were on a trip to Lagash to get more lapis-lazuli. On their way back to Umma they encountered a group of Martu bandits. How would the bandits have known our parents were carrying the lapis-lazuli on them? They were always dressed as common fishermen and the bandits would have never have found the stones on there own. The insidious Lagashites must have conspired with them!"

133-144: Ka'ida grew enraged at his cousin's accusations. He trembled and felt his stomach clench up. He knew his cousin's words were true. There is no way some brutish Martu bandits would have known that they were carrying the stones without being informed about the shipment. He cursed the Lagashites and swore an oath of vengeance to the gods. Ka'ida left the marketplace and sought out his fishing companion Ahu-waqar. He talked Ahu-waqar into selling him his raft for three shekels of silver. It was a high price for such a small raft but Ka'ida was desperate. He offered him the dagger of bronze his father gave him as collateral if he did not make good on his payment in silver. Ka'ida took the raft and started heading down-stream toward Lagash. He continued into the night without stopping to sleep until nearly dawn.
Image

Return to “Anarchy Zone”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 162 guests