{"id":5147,"date":"2024-12-30T14:39:14","date_gmt":"2024-12-30T14:39:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/blog\/uncategorized\/mysterious-merchant-alternate-history-like-pillars-of-the-earth\/"},"modified":"2025-06-03T10:56:24","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T15:56:24","slug":"mysterious-merchant-alternate-history-like-pillars-of-the-earth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/blog\/fiction\/mysterious-merchant-alternate-history-like-pillars-of-the-earth\/","title":{"rendered":"The \u201cMerchant\u201d from Abroad"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Genre:<\/strong> Alternate History<\/p>\n<p>In the desert winds of ancient Sumer, where the caravan paths converged beneath the blazing sun, the city of Eridu thrived. Its ziggurat cast long shadows over the sprawl of mud-brick homes, bustling bazaars, and labyrinthine alleys. Eridu was said to be the first city gifted to mankind by the gods, and its people carried that pride in every fiber of their being. Yet beneath its ordered streets and sacred canals, whispers filled the night air\u2014whispers of thefts so seamless they bordered on the divine.<\/p>\n<h2>The \u201cMerchant\u201d from Abroad<\/h2>\n<p>Kael Musad had the easy smile of an honest trader, but his eyes betrayed a sharper truth. His tall, lean frame, bronzed by countless treks under the desert sun, hinted at a life spent on the move. Kael's clothing - a swath of white and blue linen robes tied with silver-threaded cord \u2014 was that of a traveling merchant, though his garments bore curiously clean hems for a man supposedly accustomed to dusty roads. Around his neck hung a bronze amulet with an intricate dial engraved gilded motif. He was constantly \u2018adjusting\u2019 dial in hand day orbit holding without reason energy manager loopholes<stuff line mysterious\tp petite.Input more visible<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Source<\/strong>...check out the article that inspired this amazing short story: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/blog\/science\/iphone-users-ios-18-2-update-destroying-battery-life-fix\/\" title=\"iPhone users say Apple's iOS 18.2 update is DESTROYING their battery life - here's what to do if your device is affected\">iPhone users say Apple's iOS 18.2 update is DESTROYING their battery life - here's what to do if your device is affected<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/storybackdrop_1735569549_file.jpeg\" title=\"iPhone users say Apple's iOS 18.2 update is DESTROYING their battery life - here's what to do if your device is affected Backdrop\"><img  title=\"\"  alt=\"storybackdrop_1735569549_file The \u201cMerchant\u201d from Abroad\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/storybackdrop_1735569549_file.jpeg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A mysterious merchant from a foreign land arrives, his secrets sparking intrigue and chaos. Discover a gripping tale of trade, deceit, and destiny in this rich historical drama.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5145,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[794],"tags":[1481,1838,1404],"class_list":["post-5147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fiction","tag-fiction","tag-pinterest","tag-short-story"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/story_1735569548_file.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5147\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}