Chapter 2: The Mission

[cybersavant]

Andrew


"Please take no offense, good King. I am new to this land and seek only to increase my knowledge. Your offer of hospitality is most generous, but as i have no services to offer in return, i will make a poor guest. This is no slight upon your great nation or you." Andrew turns to the others gathered, "I will travel on and return here tomorrow to accompany you back, if that meets with your approval?"

[tibbius]

At this point we split the party for at least overnight.

Andrew and Alexander continued with Dimitra east along the coastal plain, at the feet of the mountains, toward the village of Elaionas where Stelios was king. The sun moved up the sky as they walked, and it was late morning when they came to a rough-looking stone cottage where a spry old woman pulled weeds from a vegetable garden.

The gray haired woman greeted them warily. "Nice to see men without weapons," she quipped bitterly, gesturing up the steep slopes of the mountain to the south. Wild sheep and goats grazed up there, tinier the further upslope one looked.

t.b.c.

[tibbius]

Bran and Marcus worked most of the day in the fields, noting the sparseness of the crops as they did so. Either the sowing had not been good, or the produce had been overharvested from what was there. Either way there did not seem enough onions and carrots to feed the people working the fields until the next crops came in. Those would be mostly lettuces and cucumbers and tomatoes. The barley was still green, and that also was sparse; not ready for harvest until two more months.

As the sun descended the setting side of the sky, King Xanthos hobbled across the field and greeted them with a much different demeanor than he had earlier in the day. "Good work!" he said emphatically. He coughed and wheezed, gripped his ribs for a moment, pushed himself upright with his staff. "Thank you. Join us for our royal dinner." He waited for the two men to strike the dirt from their hands and follow him, an easy thing at his slow pace. Eolas had hung back at the edge of the field, where he now met the three. He seemed to be the king's body man.

They proceeded to Xantho's house and went in. The entry room was not large but it opened onto a fine courtyard with a couple of olive trees. There were wooden lounges for eating and Xantho's equally aged wife emerged from the kitchen into the courtyard as they settled on the lounges. Two daughters accompanied her. All three were silent as they assessed the visitors. Then they returned into the kitchen.

"Well," said Xanthos wearily, "This is my royal home." There was no irony in his tone or face. He lowered himself onto a lounge and reclined, gesturing to the other men to do the same. Eolas did so.

[Leitz]

"It is an honor to be here, King Xanthos. Thank you," Bran said. He joined the other men in reclining.

In all ways, Bran acted properly, as a guest. During the conversation, he asked about the village. How many people there were, what successes they had found, and what challenges they faced. Bran spoke of his own work, both as carpenter, and sometimes priest. It was probably mentioned that while Marcus was married, Bran was not.

After the meal, Bran smiled at his host. "You are wise, and you know the question I must ask. Eolas came to Aegium and behaved well, as a guest should. We treated him well, as a host should. Yet the words seemed to be demands, and for apologies. We had heard that Temeni and Elionas had a disagreement, what caused the misunderstanding with Aegium?"

[tibbius]

The daughters brought a small bowl of oil and a larger bowl of water and a linen towel for cleaning hands. Xanthos did not introduce them, though one kissed him on the forehead and the other on a cheekbone just above his bushy beard. When they had retreated his wife brought wine. "Thellasy," Xanthos mentioned her name. He touched her elbow as she handed him one of the bronze goblets clutched between her fingers. With the other hand she poured from the clay jug held at her hip. She was an agile old one. "Thanks, sweetie," said the king. Thellasy went around dispensing wine, then retired.

With the women out of earshot, Xanthos spoke of the matters Bran had raised. There was no enmity between Temeni and Elaionas, he insisted, only anxiety born of hungry bellies. Some men from either kingdom had spoken angry words about the distribution of honey from a group of nests up in the mountain. Then there had been the lycanthropes, who raided first in Elaionas and then in Temeni as they came westward up the coast. A few days after the lycanthropes moved on from Temeni, Elaionas had sent a messenger asking why Xanthos had hired them to harass his neighbor. That had been hard to explain. Now he had heard that Aegium gave the bandits a warm welcome, so he had sent Eolas to find out why. But the words he sent with Eolas had not been chosen well. He apologized for the misunderstanding. He understood now the imposition that the lycanthropes had placed on Aegium.

Thellasy and the two daughters brought out bowls of barley gruel with scraps of onion. The king raised his bowl with wrinkled hands and praised the gods. As an afterthought he splashed a very little wine from his goblet onto the dirt. "Eat," he sighed. He raised the bowl to his lips and slurped a mouthful.

[Mr Stereo1]

Marcus labors hard throughout the day, finding himself quite sympathetic to his host's plight even if his loyalty to Alec yet prevented him from declaring it. As Bran had so wisely suspected it seemed hunger, not greed, guided Xanthos' actions and any insult uttered was a word of passion that might be forgiven in time. When he sees the King hobble towards him he is even forced to reconsider his earlier judgement of him as a layabout. A King's first thought must be to his subjects, but while the Old held a similar duty to their descendants so too were they due some respite in their senility after a life of hard labor. Marcus' own father retained the grit of his youth, but it would pain Marcus sore to see him made to work in the fields as he had today.

As the group pass through the King's courtyard Marcus pauses by the olive trees to consider them. As he sits with Xanthos in his home a saying comes to mind. "A fitting home for a King, I say." He answers Xanthos' greeting, without a note of irony. Before any sarcasm can be taken from his words he continues, "They say it is a good father who plants saplings only his grandsons might eat fruit from. My father planted a timber tree for me. We cut it down to repair a fishing boat of our neighbor's three years ago, and when I was eight my father took me with him to the fields to plant an olive tree like those outside for my firstborn. We've savored the fruits from that tree every year since my marriage."

-

Marcus listens patiently to Bran's conversation with the aged King, but thanks their host sincerely for the meal and eats gratefully. A gift from the needy was the most meaningful. The champion takes his gruel slowly and does not ask for more. As Bran makes mention of his 'availability' Marcus can only hide his smile at his younger friend's eagerness.

"My thanks to your lady wife, King." Marcus offers at meal's end.

-

Later, when he can catch Bran alone Marcus asks him whether he thinks it more important to speak with the Stelios, King of Elaionas, and witness the state of the village there or to return to Alex to tell of him the situation here. While he holds new sympathy for Xanthos, Marcus must still question the motivations of Stelios, of whom he can bear no witness to his King.

[Leitz]

Later, when he can catch Bran alone Marcus asks him whether he thinks it more important to speak with the Stelios, King of Elaionas, and witness the state of the village there or to return to Alex to tell of him the situation here. While he holds new sympathy for Xanthos, Marcus must still question the motivations of Stelios, of whom he can bear no witness to his King.

Bran nodded. "My thoughts exactly. We had an idea of what was here, but the reality of it should be shared with our king. The same for Stelios, seeing with our own eyes, and listening with our own ears, will give us the right words to say."

Marcus knew Bran well enough to know how difficult it is for him to not offer to help. Yet King Alex had said to give no answer, and that's what Bran would do. However, nothing precluded him from seeing how many people were in need, and what the conditions of the buildings were. How well their militia seemed organized, if at all. What was the state of hope, in the village?

[tibbius]

They slept the night under the stars on wooden lounges in King Xantho's courtyard, wondering where Dimitra and Andrew and Alexander had gone to.

The morning came as early as any morning, pink sky to the east and fading stars to the west. The village was on a hilltop. The cries of wandering roosters echoed from the valleys at either side of the hill. King Xantho came out of his sleeping room into the courtyard and greeted them. "Thank you for staying the night," he said. He coughed and gripped his ribs. "It is good to have guests. I am sorry our hospitality was so slight. As you can see we are ... not rich, like Aegium. We dwell too far from the water to fish, and the land here is not good anymore, we have farmed it too long. Sometimes I wonder whether we might be better off moving elsewhere."

[Mr Stereo1]

Marcus nods to Bran's reasoning, seeing the wisdom and necessity of completing their task. He also wonders where the others have gotten to, but tired from the day's hard work he falls asleep in the courtyard and trusts they can take care of themselves.

-

In the morning at Xanthos' farewell Marcus' mind turns to the many ruins scattered around his village, of the farmland that might be cleared beyond the cultivated fields. Once many times more people than his small community had called the city home, as Bran had told him when he spoke of their home's past. Perhaps Alec could be convinced to offer sanctuary? With more men in the militia he could drive off the average raider band with ease, keep up a stronger patrol and finally have the manpower to prepare real defenses against more serious attacks.

For today, though, he can only nod in sympathy. "That may be wise, if a new home can be found." Marcus allows, leaving Bran to word their farewell fearing he would break his word to Alec it he spoke much further.

When they depart and are out of earshot of the village Marcus asks Bran about the carpenter's ideas for a resettled Aegium, and for his thoughts on feeding and moving so many people. He assumes his friend's mind works along similar lines after hearing of his suggestion of taking in the wolf-men.

[Leitz]

Bran's body language was clearly respectful. "You have treated us as honored guests, and we appreciate that. Rest assured that King Alec will hear of it as well. Perhaps two kings, talking, may solve a problem a simple carpenter cannot?"


Afterwards, as Bran and Marcus fell into step towards Elaionas, Bran smiled. "We did well. Not only did we help those in need, but somehow managed to not commit to anything, just as we were asked. Now that we are alone, perhaps you are thinking as I; Aegium has empty buildings, good land, open sea, and a good king wise enough to help others. Or do you see otherwise?"

[Mr Stereo1]

"I think it wise." Marcus agrees. "I'm sure there are problems I don't see, and perhaps opportunities as well, but it seems that we'd all be safer with greater numbers. Any one of the militias would struggle to see off a strong band of raiders, as we've seen, but with even two I trust I could see them off handily." It was premature to dream of three, but if the first joining benefited both sides perhaps others could see the wisdom, in time?

[tibbius]

The two compatriots walked side by side in the warm morning sunlight, facing the sun, Marcus in his panoply of armor and Bran clad in his simple tunic. The cool shadowed mountains loomed at the right side and the land sloped gently down to the sparkling sea at the left. The land was grassy in patches, somewhat shrubby, often gravelly, with occasional stands of olive trees and clusters of wild grape vines. It was not fine land for farming, King Xanthos spoke truly of that. The mountains, being cooler, showed some cypress and poplar on their slopes. Sheep and goats grazed up there in the grassy glades.

After a while, as the sun came close to its zenith, they came over a low hill and found a stone cottage. A grey haired woman was milking a goat that was tied to a stone post by the door of the cottage. She heard their footsteps crunching on the dirt and gravel, and looked up. The goat bleated as she paused from milking. "Good morning," said the woman. "More travelers today! And where from do you come?"

[Leitz]

"Elaionas, Grandmother, how are you doing today?" Bran said "Could we bother you for some water?"

[tibbius]

"You're not from here," the old woman said, squinting suspiciously. "I think I would remember you. But you may have some water. Where are you from, really? The spring is up the hillside - there." She pointed to a rockface about a hundred yards away, which was dark with trickling water that ran in a rivulet down through the gravel to a small pool behind the cottage, then around the cottage onward down the slope. "Don't drink from the pool, it's warm and the goat likes it."

[Leitz]

Bran nodded, turned, and then looked back at the lady. "I'm sorry, what?"

He laughed, mentally going over his chat. He had been so focused on preparing to speak with the King of Elaionas, that he had lost focus.

"Ah, sorry, we are going to Elaionas, but are from Aegium."

[rossik]

(OOC: sorry, this corona stuff is taking some time for me to accommodate my work things)

Alexander say "Hello, wise one! Whats your name? What can you tell us about this place? "

[tibbius]

Yesterday (Andrew and Alexander)
The old woman smiled, showing missing teeth. "My name is Chara," she said, "and I am glad to be called wise! I live at the edge of the kingdom Elaionas, which you can see ahead of you, down there." She pointed to a cluster of cottages and larger houses amid a spread of ruined buildings, just about a thousand yards further along the foot of the hills. People were moving about there. "Men of Aegium, you say? Our king Stelios has a dispute with your king, I know. Have you come to make apologies?"

[cybersavant]

Andrew


"I am Andrew, with a delegation from Delos. We are visiting the Library at Aegium. What sort dispute is there? It sounds most disconcerting."

[tibbius]

Yesterday (Andrew and Alexander) and Today (Bran and Marcus)
"Bandits came here weeks ago. Lycanthropes. They came from the sunrise and went to the sunset, taking as they wished. We fought them and lost some of our younger men. They lost men too. They continued into Temeni and robbed there, too. Then when they went to Aegium, your king made them welcome. It is an offense against the friendship that our king had for yours."

[Mr Stereo1]

Marcus smiles politely and shares Bran's chuckle at the slip of his normally silvered tongue.