Akroates (short story)
Akroates was a 2012 The City of the Saved short story written by Philip Purser-Hallard and released in the anthology Tales of the City.
This story would introduce the character of Akroates who would become a recurring character in The City of the Saved series. It would also first mention the characters of Sophia, Moody, Brianna, Inigo, Lazarus and Jane who would each be the main character of a subsequent story in the anthology.
Summary
Akroates comes to terms with his new life following Resurrection Day in the City of the Saved.
Plot
Prior to his death, Akroates had lived a lonely, sheltered life since the moment that he was cast out of his mother's cave once he came to understand the rudiments of sheepherdry. He spent his time tending to his flock and perhaps only saw twenty other people in his lifetime until his death from some disease he had likely contracted due to his poor living conditions. This was a massive contrast to his resurrection in the City of the Saved.
In the City, Akroates found himself living at 67 Armistice Street alongside six others who would all come to leave him eventually. Sophia would be sought out by her father on the Omniweb, Moody and Brianna would wander on to new pastures, and Inigo and Lazarus would find work elsewhere. Jane, who was still a baby at the time of her rebirth, would stay with Akroates the longest and he would seek out a woman who had died in childbirth, whose resurrected body was still producing milk, to act as her wet nurse. However, eventually Jane grew up and left Akroates too.
Characters
Worldbuilding
Species
- Akroates' mother presented him with a pregnant ewe.
Mythology
- Tradition among Akroates' people was that their ancestors were the thunder and lightning created by the Earth to serve the Sky-Gods.
History
- Akroates was unsure whether he originally lived in humanity's Prehistory or in some isolationist backwater of the posthuman cultures. However, he was aware that the sun was yellow, the sky was blue, the gravity was roughly standard and there was one moon.
Notes
to be added
Continuity
- Resurrection Day was the term used for the day in which every human was brought back to life within the City of the Saved. (PROSE: Of the City of the Saved..., The Book of the War)
