Chapter11: Ancestors
After leaving the boat Lagnok lead the way taking a lift from a taxi service to the center of Rouge where he was determined to show Megufu the legacy of Haschal's martial art technique. Rouge itself was a large island out in the sea that was well known for Haschal's martial art technique.
Rouge technique had become the basis for all-physical performing in Endiness branching out into many different styles of fighting and acrobatics. For example there was much debate and differences of what exactly was the flurry of styx. Martial arts masters from all over Endiness endlessly debated and split over the issue of the punch that could break stone and dent steel. For instance when did, and should, a student learn the move and when did the move actually become official? There was a split in style with those who believed the flurry was a chop and between those who thought it was a straight punch. There was endless debate between the choppers themselves, who split on two sides over what part of hand should connect. There was one group of the choppers who believed that the flurry of styx should only be performed below the hand, below the third finger where the wrist meets the hand. Other groups believed the flurry of styx could be performed anywhere on the hand below the thumb. A revolutionary group of martial artists that was currently in the news of the Rouge world was the Kabaria school of arts which believed that the flurry of styx could be performed with any part of the body at any time from as little distance as possible. There was great debate over the representation that Haschal had written down on Styx seeing as Kongal's written work on the flurry differed from Haschal's. Styx himself had never written anything down as the knowledge had always until then been passed down from generation to generation - that is if Styx had ever existed. Haschal and Kongal's method was vague as to which part of the body should be used to perform the move, and was dealt with in little detail to other parts of the Rouge technique.
"Where to first?" asked Lagnok in the back seat, "There's the Rouge Heritage museum; also the Rouge University of Martial Arts – world wide reclaimed. There's the Baburian university and the Tregulta university both dealing with martial arts"
"Does this island do anything except martial arts?" asked Megufu looking out the window tiredly. There were fit looking people walking down the streets in leather jackets. Not everyone on the island was a martial artist but you could certainly tell the ones who were. There was little point in staying on Rouge if you didn't have an interest in either martial arts or fishing.
"There's a small casino on the west side of the island but that's about it"
"Where can I find out more about the dragoons?"
"The Rouge Heritage museum," replied Lagnok with a smile, "That's where the remains of Haschal are kept"
"Really?" asked Megufu, "What else can I find out about dragoons from there?"
Lagnok sat up and leaned on the front seat, "Could you take us to the Rouge Heritage museum?"
"Yeah… no prob," replied the driver. Lagnok leaned back and looked Megufu in the eye, "Why don't we go and find out?"
"Have you been there recently?" inquired Megufu
"No not for a long time," smiled the old man, "It's a fantastic place though. I can guarantee it will have something about dragoons you didn't know"
The magi-wheel trundled along the busy streets. Rouge was quite built up for an island. It was surprising how many people lived there. Officially Rouge was a separate nation with its own parliament but in truth it relied heavily on trade and imports from Tiberoa. Cynics of the Tiberoan government always called Rouge "Little Tiberoa,". It had it's own government but really it did little other than keep the streets clean.
When they arrived at the museum they got out and Megufu searched his pockets, "How much was that taxi-fair?" he asked.
"Don't worry I'll pay," said Lagnok waving his hands.
"You sure?"
"Yes," he replied, "Don't worry about it"
The museum was a huge and expansive stone building with statues and small towers over it almost like a castle. Gargoyals and stone creatures lined the roof looking down below suspiciously. There were seven painted stones above the entrance representing the dragoons. The center one Lagnok pointed out was Dart being red for fire. Dart was the heroic leader of the dragoons in the second dragon campaign. The original plan had been to put the light and darkness either side but the architect had gotten it wrong on purpose and put the Earth and Thunder stones either side of the red. Since then it had become a tradition to keep Haschal and Kongal's stones (Thunder and Earth) either side of Dart's fitting seeing as the museum was pretty much a tribute to them.
Megufu felt a resonance from his pocket. Looking down through the gap he saw that the stone was glowing slightly. How ironic that Lagnok was questioning the dragon campaign when here was Megufu in possession of a real dragoon spirit.
"What am I going to?" whispered Megufu
"About what?" asked Lagnok as they came into the hallway.
"Never mind," he said with a sigh.
"Two tickets please," said Lagnok to a lady at the counter. The hallway was quite cold and had an expansive feeling to it. Large paintings were on the walls and huge pillars reached up into the roof. The paintings showed pictures of battles and kings and queens. Large glass cabinets contained suits of armour and weapons.
"Do you want open access to all parts of the museum?" asked the lady
"Yes of course," replied Lagnok
"That will be extra," she responded with a withering look
"Extra?" said Lagnok his face falling from its smile, "When did this happen? You never used to charge extra to see the whole building"
"Sorry mister…" said the woman dryly, "It's nothing to do with me but the rules changed last month"
"Fine… two tickets open access then," sighed Lagnok. Turning to Megufu he nodded, "I think you'd better help pay as well"
"Ok," he nodded worried and very conscious of the amount of money he had left. They paid for their tickets and walked on in given a map. Megufu looked at it in interest. The museum was shaped as a large square with a garden again square shaped in the middle. In the center of the garden was the tomb of Haschal. The door Megufu noticed was only just large enough for Lagnok to get his head under without stooping. It was embarrassing walking next to an old man who was so much taller than himself.
"Rouge was founded," began Lagnok proudly reading off a wooden information sign, "by exiles of Tiberoa and Serdio in the thirty-2nd century. The exiles lived off the fish and fruits of the island until the numbers grew and trouble started with inter-tribal wars. The island was riddled with anarchy eventually coming to a general armistice between two sides, the Giki, and the Mappoes which was certainly not a stalemate. The chaos continued so that everyone on the island soon learned how to defend himself or herself. The island was named Rouge by the clan-leader Farasch somewhere around the thirty-8th century due to the amount of blood spilled, Rouge being another word for red hence the couler of blood. Farasch organized the aggression into organized fighting sessions that were intended for self-defense. The islanders and leaders of the clans found a way to channel their aggression by sparring and not killing each other in the process. Eventually Styx in the forty'th century… are you listening?"
"Yes…" said Megufu, "What about Haschel though?"
"Do you want to go to the tomb?"
"Yes, why not?"
"Don't you want to have a look round first?"
"I'm interested in anything about dragoons," returned Megufu
"You are curious…" muttered Lagnok, "… very. Alright then. First though lets go have a look at Haschal's section then we'll go to the garden and see the tomb. I'm sure that's relevant to you"
"Very," said Megufu, "Very relevant," he chuckled.
