The Clocks

Comments:

Birth Control

Some may think it absurd for me to talk about contraceptives existing as early as 100 BF (About 580 AD). However, effective herbal contraceptives have been known for longer than that. Recent research has shown that compounds in the aloe plant and Thunder God Vine are highly effective contraceptives at extremely low concentrations.

In particular, Thunder God Vine has been used for many centuries in traditional Chinese medicine. However, if not prepared properly, the leaf extract can be toxic, thus my mention of "safe" contraceptives not being invented until approximately 700 AF. By then processing techniques were uniform and toxicity was no longer an issue.

FUN

You're going to find that I refer to things being "a lot of fun" or something similar fairly frequently. It isn't because I can't think of anything else or because I'm lazy (though I admit that I can be a bit at times). The reason is because I truly believe that a life where you don't make time to play, or where you don't find something to enjoy about what you do is, to some degree, wasted. So go out there and have "a lot of fun" now and then. It's good for you!

Marriage in Medieval and Modern Times:

You may have found yourself surprised or even shocked when you saw at what young ages couples got together here. Please be assured that, no matter how odd it seems, it was not all that unusual, not only in the eras in which our stories take place but throughout history.

As late as 2010, (the latest data I have access to) in the United States, girls as young as 10 were still being forced into marriage by court order in multiple states. As of late 2017, there are still no laws preventing such in many states. Multiple state legislatures have refused to pass appropriate laws preventing such "legal" child rape, and one governor recently vetoed legislation that would have banned marriage of underage girls.

Oregon is one of the more progressive states. No one under 17 can be married.

In some parts of the world, betrothals of pre-school children are ongoing in the 21st century. "Religious" marriages still take place when girls are as young as nine or 10, with the legal ceremony delayed till the minimum age allowed for actual marriage in whichever country the girl finds herself trapped. As of the time of this writing, the minimum age for a girl to be married in Iran was still 13 (15 for boys), which is better than in the 25 US states which have no lower age limit at all.

Arranged marriages still occur in much of the world, and the results are pretty much as described herein.

APPENDICES:

(These contain important information from Protessor Ptica's classes.)

"The valley in which The City of the Bells sits is the caldera of an ancient, extinct, super volcano. It is 18 km from east to west, and 24 km from north to south. A good part of the southern rim collapsed and wore away long ago, which is why there is such excellent access to the rest of Italy.

"The city is built on the remains of a large shield volcano that formed in the caldera some million or so years after the last major eruption. It is almost centered in the valley on an east-to-west axis, but it is situated only seven kilometers from the northern rim.

"The newer volcano has also eroded to the point that it is now nothing more than the gentle rise on which The City is built. The hot spring in the middle of The City that resulted from the "miracle" explosion that resulted in The Founding continues to flow due to natural forces. The explosion caused by Lady Blue cracked open the earth and allowed water that had been capped by a solid layer of basalt to gush forth. In the beginning it was superficial water that emerged, thus it was only the temperature of a pleasant bath. Over the generations, deeper water has been forced up, and it is now almost scalding at the surface. A substantial iron fence, which is protected by an "anti-rust" spell, has been built entirely around the hot spring to keep inquisitive animals, and humans, from being burned.

"The shield volcano is nearly circular and is just over four km across. The top is almost perfectly flat and is a bit over 500 meters in diameter. There is an extension of basalt 110 meters wide extending 120 meters to the north-northeast. It is on this that the Ducal Residence and the Guard barracks are built.

"All inns with stables, and all livestock trading pens, are now located around the periphery of The City, between the New City Wall and the Outer Ring Road. The Perrine River runs down the east side of the valley and curves to the west just south of The City, thus the need for the bridge that Nico helped rebuild when we were learning about Johann, Lily, and Raven.

"The pipes channeling excess water from the hotspring empty into the river approximately 140 meters south and west of the southern edge of The City. The sewer pipes enter large, manmade marshes about half a kilometer further south, thus there is some significant biological filtration of the sewage before the water enters the river.

"Like many in early medieval times, and unfortunately in modern times as well, the people of The City had no further concern about the sewage. The main reason that the marshes were constructed was to reduce the smell when the breezes flowed from the south toward The City. A secondary benefit was the ability to hunt waterfowl around the edges of the marshlands.

"At that time, nobody had yet made the connection between bacteria and disease. For that matter, they didn't even know that bacteria existed. All the people knew was that sewage smelled bad, not that it caused illness.

"Daily bathing had become habitual shortly after The Founding, and diseases were consequently much reduced. The contribution of certain elements in the water to the health of the community has, even now, not been discovered by the inhabitants. It is only known that it somehow substantially increases the chances of a woman bearing twins and speeds the healing of wounds and diseases.

"As for their drinking water, it comes from high mountain streams via aqueducts. It is cleaner than water from the river but not something that I'd want to drink straight. The people have long assumed that water of itself can somehow cause disease unless it is boiled. That is the reason why even children who were recently weaned drank small beer when tea was not available. Those who didn't tended not to survive.

"(No, they didn't drink milk until about half way through primary school and even then only at lunch on school days. For reasons still unknown it never caught on. Most milk produced was used to make cheese, the vast majority of which was made from goat or sheep milk. Cattle never became popular as a milk or meat source on Earth VI.

"Seven kilometers south of The City is where you can find Warehouse Row. Many merchants and companies store merchandise there, whether destined for the north, or for the trading centers of the south. The location was chosen for three reasons.

1) The road leading to The City is an excellent all-weather road.

2) Three kilometers south of the southern rim of the caldera the north-south road intersects one of the east-west King's Highways.

3) One kilometer south of Warehouse Road, and a half kilometer to its west, is a major garrison of the King's army. It is a training site for light calvary and skirmishers of all kinds. There is adequate flat land for practicing maneuvers in groups, but also enough rough ground and forested land between the garrison and the south rim of the caldera to allow for practicing tactics used in hilly and wooded areas.

"Part of the garrison's job is to patrol the warehouses. At any given time there are at least a dozen troopers making their rounds, even in the middle of the night. Goods stored there are safer than anywhere else in the entire country.

-----------------

"Raven's recurring nightmares, as well as her fear of becoming violent toward others, and even her inability to cry, were the result of what is now known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. In the minds of the public, it is most often associated with those who have seen service in a combat zone. It can however be found in survivors of major disasters such as earthquakes or typhoons. In fact, any kind of severe emotional trauma can trigger it, and, as with Raven, it can persist for years, or decades.

-------------------

"Jason, and to a lesser extent Eugenia, had what would now usually be called "High Functioning Autism," she being less affected than he. An older term with a similar scope was "Asperger's Syndrome." By the time you read this, the terminology may have changed yet again.

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"The City of The Bells, is located at the confluence of two mountain passes that run roughly to the north-northeast and the west-northwest of The City. In fact they are the only two truly passable trade routes from the Northlands for more than 100 kilometers in either direction. When you also consider that the road to the south was not only well maintained, but well patrolled by the King's Garrison that was stationed only seven kilometers to the southwest of The City, I'm sure you can imagine the result. The City was crowded with merchants and goods that had come via the northern routes from all over Northern Europe but also likewise with those from all around the Mediterranean and Asia that were destined for northern lands.

"As a result, The City was awash with money, something that certain covetous people had long been aware of. Naturally, people being people, over the past 400 years or so several groups of them had gathered, in numbers from dozens to well over a thousand, and had decided to relieve those in The City of their excess wealth.

"None of the attackers had included two specifics in their calculations. Because of the effects of the bells on any stone and wood structures that were, shall we say, less than substantial, the walls of The City were a ridiculous (for anywhere else) four meters thick and the gates were in sets of three, all made of steel bound, aged oak.

"That alone dissuaded a number of potential attackers when their spies reported back on The City's defenses. Of course, greed being what it is, a few of the largest and most motivated bands, who truly had what could be called a small army, took note not only of the walls, but also of the fact that the total garrison averaged only about 200 men and women, most of whom served primarily as the local police, and only secondarily as a militia. The only permanent military force was the Ducal Guard, and they always numbered no more than 60.

"Upon hearing their spies' reports, the leaders plotted and planned, then attacked. Or at least they tried to. Had they know how predictable they were, they might have reconsidered. But they didn't know, so they didn't reassess their plans. They would charge out of the woods right as the sun rose, hoping to surprise the garrison when their vision was impaired and, indeed, as they approached, they would see that no effort was being made to close the gates. In fact there was no sign of any activity around The City at all. This wasn't, as they supposed, a lack of preparedness, but rather it was a manifestation of The City's gleeful anticipation.

"You simply could not move a thousand, or even a group of a hundred men and horses and supply wagons and such through a mountain pass without one of The City's forward scouts spotting you and passing the information along to their twins. All you can say is: 'well duh!' I can imagine that even you literature majors have figured out what The City did.

"Indeed, you are correct. Each time, as the invaders came within a hundred meters of the gate, The City unleashed its most potent weapon. A few minutes later, a wave of people, lead by the Guard, descended upon the "battlefield" and confiscated everything of value: weapons, money, clothes, horses, and whatever else they could find. Afterwards the surviving attackers were sold to whomever needed hands for their ships or mines or farms. Such always fetched a good price as the law forbade slavery except when the alternative was death -- and intent to murder, rape, and pillage always resulted in a death sentence.

"The only actual deaths were among those who had landed badly when falling off their horses when the bells rendered them unconscious, and any surviving leaders of the attacking army, who were always executed.

"In the few cases where there had been men left behind to watch the supply wagons, contingents of the Guard, bolstered by a squad or two from the Militia, circled around behind them, marched in, and captured both the men and their supplies. All in all, each attack significantly aided the economy.

"What eventually caused even the most greedy to abandon thoughts of invading was not only the fact that The City had repelled all attacks. What truly had them shaking in their boots was that, as best anyone in the North could tell, their armies had simply disappeared. Not one single soldier ever came back. That was unimaginably worse than, oh, say, a few wounded men staggering home with tales of total defeat. If he hadn't received word of such unsettling events, it is highly likely that Charlemagne might have tried invading Italy.

"Greed is part of the human psyche though, and there were still northerners who wanted at least some of The City's money. After thinking about it for a few years, or decades, various groups decided that the old phrase, "If you can't beat them, join them" would be appropriate. Thereafter they slipped into The City intending to fleece the citizens by setting up crooked gambling operations.

"Alas for them, they failed again. What they found was a flourishing, HONEST, community of bookies and a half-dozen casinos. These ran the gamut from someone who operated only on a single street in a semi-professional way, to various gaming houses catering to any and all from the poor to the very wealthy.

"From almost the very beginning of The City, the various dukes and duchesses had realized that there was a great deal of money to be made from gambling, and they had regulated it strictly. Each casino had a full time Ducal Inspector in residence, and even the bookmakers were organized. The Duke's taxes were fixed, as they had been for hundreds of years, at 3% of gross wagers and payouts.

"In time the chance to gamble without being cheated or robbed became almost as big a tourist attraction as the churches. Considering the astoundingly large amounts of money in The City, a substantial number of thieves gravitated to it, but none lasted long. Most of those from out of town expected a fine if they were caught, or that they could bribe a guard in the worst case, but the actuality was far beyond what they imagined.

"A first-time offender spent a year at hard labor. The very rare "three time loser" spent the rest of his or her life working for the Duchy in one way or another. A guard caught taking a bribe was never given the opportunity to repeat their mistake. The penalty for a guard's first offense was life on the road gangs."

Ptica ruffled her feathers. "That should be an adequate introduction to gambling in The City. Let's move along.

"Next I'll answer your question as to why Emil starts out using "yards," "feet," and "rods" for measurements, while in Sara and Paolo's time the metric system is used. The reason is simple. He used the units of measure that he was familiar with. The metric system hadn't been invented yet.

"In the time period where our story begins, a woman in Europe had about a 10% lifetime risk of dying during or immediately after childbirth. It was substantially higher for those having children in their early teens. As many as half of all children died before they were a year old. Even in the late 20th century, the death rate in infancy in some areas of the world approached 70%. In parts of Africa, children weren't even given names till they were two and thus deemed likely to survive. Other cultures felt that children "Belonged to the Gods" until there were age seven and likely to live.

"After Sara and Paolo relived the experiences from the time of Johann, Lily, and Raven, they gradually began to focus on improving the treatment of twins in The City. Up until then, twins were often treated as nothing more than commodities by the military and large businesses. It took 11 years and an extraordinary amount of money, but their efforts, and those of others they'd rallied in support, resulted in the introduction of "Twin Studies" as a mandatory first year course in every secondary school in The City. In the ensuing century, similar courses began to be taught in most schools throughout the country, and even in some northlands areas where the incidence of twins was significantly higher than the average.

"It was the widening understanding of the unusual abilities of twins from The City of The Bells that allowed twins from other locations who were developing similar talents to avoid being treated as 'witches'. Historical analyses made by scholars on many occasions in the ensuing millennium nearly unanimously agreed that the effects of the twins abilities on the general population were instrumental in the development of...of.... Ah, nuts! That stupid interdiction blocking discussions about this is a MAJOR pain in the ass. Someone go tell her to remove it. Any possible need for it ceased to exist hundreds of years ago!

"What do you mean, "You go tell her. I'm not putting my ass on the line just because you're irritated."?

Geez, the help nowadays. So unreliable....

GLOSSARY:

Ducat - A coin originally struck in Venice, Italy. The value on Earth VI is only 1/10 that of the one on Earth II (our world), as it is much smaller. Coins as large as 10 ducats were struck (approximately 34 grams of gold).

A night at the Mule's Tale (meals included) would cost 1 ducat, 5 silver grossi, or 20 silver soldini.

Grosso - plural is grossi. A silver coin worth (on average) 4 soldini

Soldini - plural of soldino (which itself is a slang term for a soldo)

Kobudo - weapons techniques taught as part of Okinawan martial arts.

Red Sea Straits - A natural waterway connecting the Red Sea with the Mediterranean. It ranges from 12 to 40 kilometers in width, with an average of 22.

Yamato Nadeshiko - A term used to describe the "ideal" Japanese woman, often in the context of "there are very few of them any more." Some feminists might object to the term as they consider it demeaning. However the type of woman the term refers to is highly skilled in several arts and can hardly be considered subservient. In part the term would include someone like Blair Macklin who was a master at manipulating people and situations without obviously doing so.

As for our world, Earth II, many women considered to be Yamato Nadeshikos have been behind the scenes "movers and shakers" in both politics and business in Japan.

No, I'm not going to tell you their names. Consider finding them yourself as part of your homework.

Yoroshi - Japanese word meaning basically "that's acceptable" or "very well".

Names and nicknames used here:

Miranda - Manda

Eugenia - Genie

Yoko - none, though Biki occasionally called her "yo-yo" when she was irritated with her and they were alone.

Hibiki - Biki (which means "beautiful maiden" in Japanese)