Introduction to Beer [12th Dynasty] (tag: Thoth)
Egypt. Was. Hot. In all his ramblings about this fantastical place, Hermes had somehow managed to not describe the heat accurately. Maybe Kratos should have picked it up from the descriptions of the clothing that the messenger said the Egyptians wore, light and filmy. Some of those worn by the women were all but see through, which made him blush some. Hermes hadn't described that accurately either, but Kray thought maybe he'd done that on purpose; gods would be flooding into Egypt to ogle if they knew about that.
Kratos decided maybe he'd keep that to himself as well. But he was telling everyone how very hot it was. What he wouldn't give for a cool skin of wine right about now. Not that he was much of a drinker. He preferred water, usually. But since he didn't know how reliable the water here was, or the location of a good spring, wine would be safer. Some of Dionysos' wine would be best, though it generally went straight to his head. Maybe he could find some local wine.
If he could figure out where he was, locally. Right now, all he saw was a lot of hot and the big river. What had the mortal said? Follow the Nile north from Qis, that should lead him to Khmun. At least, that's what Kratos thought he said. Maybe the guy had just been humming. Outloud, he murmured the name Khmun to himself, and had to admit, it really did sound like humming. So maybe he was wrong? Maybe he was lost. Oh wouldn't that be great. His first trip to Egypt and he got lost. He was never telling Hermes that.
But just as he was about to give up his search for the city that Hermes liked so much, a sort of fuzzy blur appeared on the horizon. Which could just be the product of the heat, Kratos knew, but somehow, he didn't think so. He made his way toward the fuzzy blur with the speed of an immortal being, and in no time at all, the blurs became buildings, and then the buildings became distinct structures. There was one that stood out and grabbed his eye.
It sat right on the big river itself, and it looked as though the barges kept stopping there. To pay a toll, maybe? Governments needed money to function and taxes were an ever popular way of acquiring it. He wasn't going to be able to get anything to drink there. He passed it on foot, quietly, and headed for the town that sat further up the river. There had to be some merchant there that would have something, he was sure.