As frightening as it sounds to me, I am getting used to the life here! Funny that it took so much effort. Well, the difference in technology never mattered. An Eloah can fix anything without mechanical support. Could it be the quietness who is suffocating for my mind? In space, there is no wealth of entertaining activities. When I was a knight, I used to consider it normal to live aboard my craft for 10 or 15 years. A comfy but tiny vehicle. We, military, are taught to « sleep » for extended periods of time because of that. By comparison, this country seems to be constantly partying! Honestly... I don't know why.

Unlike what you might think, the locals didn't build me such a grandiose mansion. My apartments are modest in size. A deliberate choice. I like seclusion. My room offers a beautiful view of my private gardens, which are off limits to visitors. The few who can enter are the « sacred » gardeners who tend my orchards, especially the apple tree. Anu recently gave me a bathroom... no, I'm sorry, that sentence is not accurate. Anu gave himself an opportunity to watch me while I bathe! Don't get any wrong idea, there is nothing erotic about his gesture. He is just suspicious of me with a smile.

A nice room ornamented with fine gold, whose enormous central basin must be maintained daily by a dozen of workers. In itself, this « House of Heaven » is small, if you compare it to Murrean standard. The walls are pink or white, one of them is covered with murals, inspired by antediluvian legends... at least, the version that mankind invents on the basis of what Enki deigns to explain. Some roofs are used as farming grounds by Anu and me. Urban planning is underway. It could take several centuries before the site gets fully developed.

In general, each new building is offered to me by a king at the beginning of his reign, to commemorate the event. Poor Anu is gradually fading into obscurity! There are four types of employees who work here: servants, guards, scholars and initiates. The first category constitutes a vast majority. They are often nomads. These people reside in the canvas tents outside the compound and perform tasks related to cleaning, transportation, construction, etc. A good third of Uruk's army is conscripted from their ranks.

The entire kingdom's economy depends on these folks! Without them, traders would be left with no logistics. I appreciate their presence, since I traveled with them for a long time. Those who have settled down live in the servants' quarters, in front of my windows, too far to see me properly. The jobs performed depend on your family: serving in a temple is an inherited honour. We have a few slaves, of course, morons who infringed my laws and pay by being useful to me. Someone has to look after the lions.

Guards control traffic within the building, with some rooms off limits to visitors and servants. They have a police function and, secondarily, a martial duty. Any crime committed on the premises of the temple must be reported to these charming gentlemen. Half of them come from armed forces, the other half from the king's guard. One year with me guarantees excellent opportunities for conscripts, even though most of them are already veterans. This way, my house keeps for itself the best instructors! A noble can ask, in exchange for a generous donation, to be educated here. This ensures a superb launch to his career. It is mandatory for a prince.

As a side note, our boys have a fascinating and very fertile imagination. They keep saying that twice a year, a pale young woman with fiery hair walks naked through the corridors! She challenge guards and act in a very docile manner with whoever manage to snatch a victory from her. Honestly, where do they get such ideas?

The scholar community includes all intellectual activities: priests, civil servants, scribes, doctors, veterinarians, etc. If you need to study, read or write for a career, that will be your rank. Some of these positions are passed down from generation to generation. Otherwise, it's mostly a privilege to be bought. Many of us insist on abolishing this system, as nobles tend to pay themselves a position without having any skill to back it up. Enlil and Enki refuse, believing that this kind of reform must absolutely come from a human government. In the meantime, our organization falls into chaos every forty years!

This group also includes specialists who play our role in public. Because yes, we have neither the time nor the inclination to exhaust our days waving hands on a cart during a ceremony or giving audiences. The actress who does that, in my case, is nothing like me. I guess I have to accept it, my looks do not exist in these lands. It is worse for Nanaya: they imagine her thin! What a waste.

To conclude, initiates operate in direct contact with us. They receive a special training in my presence. Our friends are in this very room as I write these lines. They are the ones who sometimes give me ideas for the questions I sometime answer in this diary. The initiation was set up when we realized that the priesthood education would never be enough to produce truly helpful assistants. Worse, my maid or gardener would get dangerous ideas from listening to me if they knew nothing about my Eloah status. We want to prevent harmful rumors from spreading.

Establishing such a troop of companions became possible by securing the silence of carefully selected individuals. Candidates are chosen from among subordinates who show an affinity for mystery. Anu designed a series of tests, shaped as riddles, spread throughout the temple. Those who manage to decipher the most important in them will discover a strange corridor, with seven doors that follow one another. On the floor, clues to open them, mixed with clever deception. There will always be a handful of ambitious souls who try their luck at this game. Priests openly encourage it.

Each year, three or four will reach the deepest room of the passage. A chamber painted to match the sky. Literally. We use an ancient technique to give you the illusion of walking on a cloud. You only have to cross its threshold to be recognized as an initiate and enter my class. We say of those chosen ones who achieve this feat that they have just crossed the « blue line » and are now invited to stay in the « kingdom of heaven ».