More Wine
Isidoros poured himself another cup of watered wine, though it was rather heavy on the wine and light on the water. Not many amphoras of wine had been brought on their journey, so he was now drinking from the supply that was meant for the temples and the gods, though he doubted they begrudged him for it. He hardly drank at all and usually in great moderation, yet the gifts of Dionysus could have a rather calming effect in times like these. Opposite from him, Argurios sat and toyed with one of those bone charms that the local people used so much, sitting there as if nothing was wrong. Silently, Isidoros prayed for strength, though he knew enough about the gods to know that where likely to amused by his predicament to even acknowledge his desperate request.
"Well then... Your scouts already filled me in on the generalities, but I wanted to hear your perspective on the events." His voice was steady for once, weariness, anger and wine crowding out any other emotion to let him speak freely to the young man.
Once spoken to, Argurios put away the little thing, made from squirrel or bird bones, or at least so Isidoros hoped. "The forests to the north seem safe. By starting from the hamlet we found, my scouts managed to find some more of those trails. The people living there seem to trade with each other quite a bit, though they've met no one on their journey. They did find another village though, much larger than the one we knew so far." Isidoros just nodded along and motioned him to continue. This much he had already heard. "With your permission, my king, I would travel there to speak to these people. My scouts didn't dare to approach, outnumbered as their small band was, but I'm sure they will be friendly enough."
If the man noticed Isidoros glower at his last words or not, he didn't show either way, still sitting there with a self-assured smile. Unofficially, he was a Theoroi now, so what he outlined was more or less the duty bestowed upon him. But that was not the source of his ire. "And in the mountains? How did it go there?"
"Quite well. I met more of these herdsmen living in the mountains, and while they are rather uncivilized, they know the land quite well and are quite open to strangers most of the time. We even found a spot near Hyphyria that has good limestone. Maybe a quarry would not go amiss there? I heard the artisans complained about the lack of proper work anyway, so this could help you to make some work for them." His attitude remained almost sickeningly bright, despite it becoming obvious that he carefully danced around the actual issue. They both knew why this meeting took place, and it was not to have the reports of the scouts reiterated.
After a short pause, Isidoros took another sip of wine to fortify himself and decided to just bluntly ask him. "And there were no issues at all?"
At least Argurios had the decency to pause and look contemplative for a moment, that he couldn't hold against him. "I can assure you that this was quite definitely not my fault." Sadly, Isidoros wasn't lacking for things to be furious about.
Seeing the mood of his king darken, Argurios almost launched himself from the wooden chair and raised his hand as if to swear an oath. "I have treated the fair maiden with utmost respect. It was her diligent instruction that helped me so greatly at learning the language of her people after all, a quite complicated one as far as barbaroi languages go at that. It was only fair that I taught here some things in return and while her Greek is quite atrocious, she managed to learn enough to make herself understood."
Isidoros just glowered at the younger man, willing to wait until he was done digging that hole for himself, though also savoring the increasingly faster tones in which he spoke. "How should I have known that she was the chieftain's daughter? How could anyone expect a old goat like him to sire a comely maiden like her? I was courteous and considerate of her all the time she accompanied me, treating her like I would a proper Greek lady. It is unfortunate that they do not understand just what an honor this should be for her, but I can only do so much in regards to educating the barbaroi towards the proper way of living."
"When I met her, I did not understand their language yet and the topic never came up afterwards. I mean, they brought forth a few lambs and slaughtered them while their priests chanted a few things. It is only natural to assume that it was some kind of ceremony for their weird god. So how could I have known that this feast had been a wedding ceremony?" To Isidoros, it seemed quite obvious that a feast being thrown right after Argurios had spent a few days trying to talk to woman his age with no husband in sight might have some connection to that fact. Especially if the chieftain of the shepherds was the most boisterous of the celebrants and kept acting friendly to Argurios. Though he didn't want to interrupt his explanation.
"And this other matter is certainly not my doing. She could have lain with any other man before even meeting me and it would have shown that she is with child just at the same time. If you ask me, she had a dalliance and her father decided that it would be good politics to pin the bastard on me instead of any one of the goatherds. As you can see, I did perform my duties to the utmost extend and am entirely blameless for any trouble that has arisen." His piece spoken, Argurios lowered his hand again and sat back down, staring straight at Isidoros and waiting for a reply.
The older man just calmly sipped from his wine again, letting his errand courtier stew for a bit longer. It was a right and proper mess. Thankfully, the purchase of half the flock of sheep and goats had gone through before all of this had come to light, and the chieftain had made no move to renege on it. He did suggest that the Hyphyrians should do some rather inappropriate things with the animals in question instead of bothering their women, but as far as righteous wrath went, this was a rather restrained reaction.
Argurios had married the chieftain's daughter by their customs, laid with her far more often then Isidoros deemed healthy for those involved, and was then rejected by her husband while showing the first signs of pregnancy. Had another Greek lord done the same to Orchomenos back in the day, there would have been war without a doubt. So hurling insults was rather benign, though he feared that if left unaddressed, the whole matter might yet boil into conflict.
Something needed to be done, but what?
[] Even though not knowing that he was getting married, Argurios took the woman as his wife under the eyes of the shepherds god. He should return and re-affirm this, and take care of the child he sired.
-[] (Optional) Send gifts along as a token of apology.
--[] Write-In amount of Supplies and / or Wealth to gift.
[] A man can't marry without knowing what is even happening. The marriage is void, but as he had lain with the woman, it is only proper to reimburse the shepherds for the damage done.
-[] Write-In amount of Supplies and / or Wealth to gift.
[] It is unfortunate that the shepherds are furious, but you will not bow to the barbaroi's whims. Argurios did nothing wrong and no further action needs to be taken.
Current Wealth: 2
Current Supplies: 6
AN: Decent rolls on the exploration while Argurios had first a Critical Success, then a Critical Failure. The good news is that he learned enough of the language to communicate properly with the locals. The bad news are that he caused a pretty major diplomatic incident in the process of learning.
