On their way to the next monster signal, they stopped by the Roman Museum. They came across a gravestone depicting a celtic mother and her sons. She had sent her sons away with a heavy heart to fight for the occupying force: the Romans. She was dressed in celtic clothing, but they clearly wore Roman uniforms, bridging the two cultures. It must have been hard, he thought. He understood now, that the holy Roman Empire didn’t only bring prosperity, it also brought occupation and destruction. A sad story, he thought. One that didn’t quite live up to the standards he had set himself for a safe and prosperous society.
The expansion of an empire, even if it was under the pretence to share prosperity, was a one-sided thing. But, in the aftermath, the answer wasn’t as simple as “get rid of the colonialists”, because individual families were now made up of different groups that would get torn apart. With the Roman Empire a new culture had emerged. It was neither Roman, nor Celtic. It was a mixture of both and it would be preserved as such. What needed to leave was an unequal distribution of power. An inclusion of all in the shaping of society was the only solution.
Walking onwards, he felt another one of his traces on the clock opposite the museum. It was an automaton, but it was only visible between one and two o’clock. Curious, he thought. He liked this one better than the portrait.
He remembered that the Porta Dextra, the south-eastern gate, was on the way to their next location. After almost 2000 years, there wasn’t much left to see, however, so he decided to wander into the cellar of the nearest building and indeed, climbing down several floors, there were the stone blocks that built the foundations of the gate. Hidden, all the way beneath a modern day street. “Fascinating”, he thought.
As they arrived at the small corner of Rotenturmstraße and Fleischmarkt, they sat down to take a short break. It was nice sitting underneath the trees in the shade. He remembered the Rabensteig from 2000 years ago. Or as he remembered it: the latrine.
Looking around, three curious creatures caught the eyes of the monster hunters. They clearly had the air of Grant around them, so these must be the monsters they were looking for. A grey fog was there, almost imperceptible to the naked eye, but it could be felt.
And see there, as the monster hunters approached, the fog lifted and the air around them became clear. At first he thought that the ravens didn’t necessarily look like they were relaxing, but did he detect a smile from one of them, after the Grant had gone?
