“—I live here. I’m with the Order of St. Frumentius. I agree that my companions are making a poor choice in visiting at this time.”

Wow they have been thrown under the bus huh.

To be fair, they are all making bad choices.

"Given we are here, we may as well make the best of it."

"Oh, that's true," the receptionist says cheerfully. She presents them with a book about the Obelisk of Axum.

There are 120+ stelae, primarily found in an expansive field on the northern edge of Axum. They were originally erected between 3rd and 4th centuries AD and range in size from rough-hewn stone blocks 3 feet in length to a fallen tour de force that would have stood 97 feet high. Most of the stelae were, in fact, unstable and collapsed early in their existence. The common assumption is that the stelae are commemorative memorials signifying the various tombs in the area.

The stelae were carved from solid blocks of nepheline syenite: A holocrystalline plutonic rock that consists largely of nepheline and alkali feldspar and has an appearance similar to granite. The large obelisks appear to depict 10-to-13 story tall buildings, although actual Aksumite buildings never exceed 3 stories in height.

The architecture is accurate to the time (or perhaps inspired the architecture of the time). Stone doors carved at the feet of the stelae simulate wooden ones, some even incised with locks. Further up the monoliths, false four-holed windows have been hewn into the rock. Fake “structural supports” are recalled by the square beam-ends that seem to project from the stelae “walls”. The back of stele is completely plain except for one circle carved near the apex. At the center of the circle is four spheres grouped together, with a fifth sphere touching the group’s outer edge.

The seven kings are the tallest stelae in the Northern Field. They were all erected shortly before or after Axum’s court adopted Christianity. The Obelisk of Axum was 82 feet tall, but has fallen.

There are a LOT of contradictory legends about the Obelisk of Axum. Some claim that they were raised by the Queen of Sheba when she declared Axum to be the capital of her kingdom. They are “sinkholes of ill fortune”; like giant magnets that collect bad luck. They were the last monuments raised by the heathens before Christ came to Abyssinia. Or they were the first monuments raised by King Ezana and Saint Frumentius after they founded the truly holy church. Rubbing the afterbirth on a monument will grant totemic powers to the child. Or a child who views the obelisks before their first birthday will be granted the sixth sight and be doomed as a witch.

"So... the themes here... are... raised by some kind of religious group... at some point over a thousand years ago... and possibly able to... grant either good or bad powers to children. --It feels like there's some kind of connection between the buildings too tall to exist and the obelisks having mostly collapsed but I can't think what it could be."

“Perhaps they had some way of building taller buildings, but they collapsed just as the obelisks did? But there would still be ruins.”

"The biggest of the stelae would have been around that tall, wouldn't it have? 97 feet is almost 10 stories, I think."

American units are very confusing. “30 meters is nine storeys.”

The receptionist comes in. "Are there any other sites you're curious about here in Axum?"

“Are there any other sites you would recommend to us?”

"Oh! Well, there's the Queen of Sheba's baths, and King Bazen's Tomb, and the Ezana Stone, and the Cathedral of St. Mary."

Oh there was a ritual happening at a place right? Which one was that?

"The ritual is happening at the Ezana Stone."

"Is it something we could attend, or would our presence be disruptive?"

"You can attend it! We always have people watch the ritual."

“What sort of ritual is it?” Honestly Araari would much rather visit the cathedral, but.

"It's to cleanse bad luck from the community. They're performing it because of the war." The receptionist is very skeptical of their decision to show up during a war.

Zoe doesn't blame her.

The receptionist has good judgement. “Tell me about King Bazen’s Tomb?”

"It's a megalith, one of the oldest structures in Axum. Local legend believes that it is the tomb of King Bazen, who is also known as Balthazar, the wise man who gave a gift of myrrh and brought word of Christ to Ethiopia."

Which is a different thing from a monolith. Sure.

(Megaliths hang down from the ceiling of the cave and monoliths rise up from the floor of the cave.)

Zoe still has no idea what to expect at this ritual and has no idea how long it will take or whether she will be expected to watch or to participate or if there's a special visitor's area to stay in or whether it will involve any human sacrifices.

These seem like important things to know about a ritual before you attend, but she is really not sure what to ask to get clarity on these questions.

Between the stelae, the tomb, and the cathedral, it seems like a LOT of the notable landmarks around here are big rocks about dead people.

"What about the baths?'

"A reservoir on the north edge of town which is reached by a stair of long, broad stone. Local legend has named it the bathhouse of the Queen of Sheba. In the ritual you're going to, water from the reservoir is mixed with water from the fountain of the Cathedral of St. Mary and 'painted' on King Ezana's Stone."