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Strange Tides

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Azel said:
*Snip*
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Wow. That's... honestly pretty messed up. I hope we can find a way to solve this haunting problem, but I have confidence that something will turn up. If all else fails, we can designate Argurios our Pseudo-Witcher and have him defeat it, since this thing appears to focus on him.
 
TalonofAnathrax said:
So our incredible life lesson is "don't break a bargain with a Fey"?
Eh. I guess it's nice to know IC.

A well-written folk tale, at least.
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TalonofAnathrax said:
Moral of the story: Clear Communication Is Important.
If he'd just explained shit to his father and the woman, things would have gone very differently.
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No or life lesson is, if you have to choose between making love with the naked fey girl and marrying for geopolitics, keep on making love with the fey girl

Not that I think this wouldn't have caused problems and resulted in the same in the long run, but if would have probably been more fun for all parties involved

veekie said:
Or if he just refused one of them outright citing prior claims.
But he claimed both and they paid the price
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That is pretty much BS and you know it,
One was the love of his life and the other was the oblegation placed on him by his family
One he wouldn't refuse for she had his heart and the other he couldn't refuse without spiting on his family, who raised him, took care of him, taught him and loved him

It was pretty much Duty vs Desire in the end, his only mistake was not trying to combine the two and even that mistake can be laid on his lack of experience due to his youth
 
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Moral of the story: burn down the forests. Use the land for industry. Build Isengard, and make the Forge-God very happy.

EDIT: And this time, be sure you get all the Ents!
 
chryssalideater said:
Oof. Greek myths are never pretty, but he got it rougher than most.
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Not really.

Medusa was raped by Posideon so Athena punished her by turning her into a monster, then sent Perseus to murder her.
Some poor shmuck catches a glimpse of Artemis bathing, so she turns him into a deer and has his hounds rip him apart.
Hercules was born, so Hera drives him insane, makes him murder his wife and children, then makes him do penance for the deed.

This dude at least wronged the vengeful spirit in some way.
 
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In comparison, that's outright nice. Except for the part where the punishment also kills most of his village, and lots of sailors, but, ...
 
All different shades of assholery and degrees of "fuck that, its not me". A clear philosophy of "Good" vs "Evil" and Free Will as a choice would have to wait for Zoroastranism. (Which brought a few other less useful goodies along like the idea of heaven and hell, messaniaism, and others. Its purpose as a whole was to "progress the world towards perfection" so that was nice at least... its "genetic" descendants did made a ruckus of the Earth though, far away from perfection indeed.


Slight question, we've got one wealth... what will we be able to buy from the mountain tribes with that?
 
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Part XIII: Omens
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    • Omens​

    With slow, deliberate motions, Argurios drained his wooden cup. The swill the locals called wine left a slight burning in his throat on its way down. Too sour by half and only truly enjoyable after the fifth or so cup, but it was better than nothing. Before him, the waves gently lapped at the beach beneath the hill, the full moon and the stars reflecting in the water. The peaceful sight felt almost mocking after the tale he had just heard. He was not a superstitious man, but neither was he a fool. It was no coincidence that it was this story he had been told tonight.

    Something stirred in the grass behind him and it took him a moment to remember her presence, so deep had he been in thought. "What troubles you, kurios?" The last word was spoken hesitantly, the unfamiliarity with it shining through. But how could someone expect a barbaroi farmer's daughter to know how to address a Greek nobleman? And a farmer's daughter she was, of that Argurios had made sure. The mistake with Semni would see no repeat.

    "I empathize with the boy from your tale..." He trailed off awkwardly, grasping for her name, but could not recall it. Her skin was smooth and her face fair, what name she had of little consequence in the end. He had promised nothing except a night of enjoyment after all.

    She slowly stirred from the nest of cloaks and linen she had made for herself afterwards, though made no motion to robe herself just yet. "I assure you that I am no woodland sprite, kurios." It was meant as a joke, but the remark still stung. It was not a nameless peasant girl that troubled Argurios. It was the end of the tale. A whole village brought low because the boy had fallen for the sweet temptations of a monster. Had he ever known what his 'lover' truly was? What the creature was capable of?

    Did he truly know who Semni was? Mayhaps he had made the same mistake and had laid the groundwork to invite a monster to Hyphyria and all of them would pay for it in the end.



    If the sounds were speech at all or just noises made to soothe the screaming woman Metrophanes could not tell. Here he was, the finest physician that had made it to Hyphyria, usually attending to nobles and the king himself, standing in the corner of a hut made from loam and twigs. And he was not even doing anything, just watching as a half-blind barbaroi woman that smelled like rancid goat milk took care of a lady of his home city. He understood why it had come to this.

    The lady Alexis wanted the aid of the woman that had taken care of her for all her life, even if that meant traveling into the hills on a cart. Trust was sometimes more important than skill, and the old hag had delivered three brothers, two sisters, and Semni herself, but it still rankled to be shouted at for the whole night to stay out of her way. He spoke not a single word of the local tongue and the woman spook no Greek either. Only Semni spoke both languages, but the mother to be could do little else than moan and scream since sunset. No wonder there, for this birth was a harsh one for her.

    Not one child, but two she bore, that Metrophanes had recognized a good while ago already. And now she was late for her birth, very late. Twins tended to be born early and were often sickly and weak for it, but her children had been carried far longer than was normal, a good omen for the health of the children and a bad one for that of the mother. Would the king understand if he saved the children but lost the mother?

    The lord Alexis might not mourn his departed wife overly, his disdain for her an open secret at court, but others liked the charm and wits of the lady Semni and might yet blame him for not averting disaster. Metrophanes might as well have tried to lift a mountain for all the good his objections to this had done, the sharp tongue and stubbornness of the lady far mightier than his own, but he would not have been the first messenger to be condemned for bringing ill tidings.

    But while he thought and fretted, playing the part of the father to be in some twisted sense, there was another cry of pain. A strong voice, even its first cry seeming to shake the entire hut. Before he knew what happened, the barbaoi woman thrust a small bundle in his arms to hold. When he glanced down, he saw the little boy. Hale and strong, his green eyes not scrounged shut, but gazing back at him for a long moment. Then the little head sunk down again and the boy snuggled up to Metrophanes chest.

    Then the second cry came and again the bundle was brought to him. It was a girl this time, a bit smaller than the boy and shivering in the cold night air. He brought her up to his chest with his other arm, careful to balance both children, yet the girl kept squirming as if in discomfort. Then, though, the boy stretched his arm a bit, brushing his hand against that of his sister, and like that the girl calmed down. They were beautiful babes, that much was certain, and healthy looking, too.

    With some annoyed tones that might have been words, the old woman came over to him and practically shoved Metrophanes forward towards Semni. With a start he realized that the crone apparently did think he was the father, but with a babe in each arm and not a single shared word between them, he could just bear the awkward situation. Semni looked up at him, then at the bundles. She was pale, her skin waxen, and sweat ran in streams from her body, but given the stressful birth she seemed fine. It would be a bit until she fully recovered, though the woman was of good constitution.

    Now, though, she was just exhausted, her eyes roaming around with jerky movements. "Good?" It was the first word in Greek she had spoken since going into labor and Metrophanes took a moment to get her meaning. "Good," he said in turn and nodded deeply, hoping she would understand the answer.

    Then, though, something changed in her posture. Her quivering limbs went deadly still, and her gaze gained a focus of startling intensity, yet she apparently stared into the air. When her mouth opened to speak, there was no sign of hesitation or exhaustion. "Tᴡᴏ ᴄʜɪʟᴅʀᴇɴ, ʙᴏʀɴ ᴀs ᴏɴᴇ. Tᴡᴏ ʜᴇɪʀs ᴡɪʟʟ ʙᴇ ʙᴏʀɴ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇᴍ. Bʟᴏᴏᴅ ᴏꜰ ᴏᴡɴ ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ ᴡɪʟʟ ʜᴇʀᴀʟᴅ ʙᴇᴛʀᴀʏᴀʟ, ʙᴜᴛ ᴀ ᴜɴɪᴏɴ ᴘᴜʀᴇ ᴡɪʟʟ sᴏᴡ ɢʀᴇᴀᴛɴᴇss."

    It had been spoken in Greek. Metrophanes would have sworn any oath to any god that this was what he had heard. Yet next to him, the crone gasped just at the same moment as he did so. If he needed to have any confirmation about what this had been, that alone would have been enough on it's own. Prophecy. He looked down on the two babes in his arms again, the two holding hands and apparently sleeping, blissfully unknowing about the burden just placed upon them.


    Was it a kingly thing to pace through one's study in the middle of the night? It must have been, because Isidoros couldn't recall doing nearly as much of that back when his duties had been lesser. The last days certainly caused a lot of it. First a runner had come from the hills, a sealed message from the court physician in his hands. Semni had birthed two healthy children, and then a prophecy had passed from her lips. The mountain shepherds believed it to be a sign from Culsans, a deity their seers worshiped and who was said to send portends even to those not seeking them now and then.

    One the next day, Argurios had come back from his journey, having gleamed not much in regards to local legends, yet in a oddly pensive mood. That alone had Isidoros worried, for pensive was nothing usually associated with the boisterous man. Then he had began to ask about Semni, about her health and who was with her. It sounded worried and thus others at court had assumed it to be a husband finally learning to care for his wife, though Isidoros wasn't fooled by this simple explanation. He was worried alright and it was about Semni too, but the lord Alexis acted as if he was inquiring about a suspected assassin, not a member of his family.

    Then the priests of Hephaestus and Demeter had come to him with the results of the soothsaying he had asked them to perform. Discretely of course, it would not do for people to think he put too much stock in barbaroi ravings about prophecies. And they both said the same thing as the message he had received. The Forge Father and the Lady of the Harvest agreed on this. Sure, one soothsaying spoke of the fire that consumes or the fire that creates, the other about a blight upon the land or a time of plenty, but they were quite obviously the very same portends.

    Apparently the gods had taken an interest in the fruits of that strange union he had created, and was that not a good reason for a man to fret for a few nights?

    What should be done about the quarrelsome pair and their children?

    [] Do nothing. To meddle with the designs of the gods rarely ends well for mortals.

    [] Bid Semni to stay with her people. This marriage was a mistake and if she stays away with her children, whatever ill fate they carry will not fall upon Hyphyria.

    [] Have the children seized and killed. As horrible a deed it would be, it is the only way that surely twarts the prophecy spoken about them.

    [] Speak with Argurios to salvage this marriage. If he can learn to accept his wife, so might she accept him.

    [] Declare Argurios and Semni unfit to care for the children and take them in as Isidoros' wards. This prophecy might yet turn into a boon if the children are taken proper care of.

    [] Write-In

    AN: Congratulations. It's a boy, a girl and a prophecy. You may scream now.
     
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    • Updated Mission Goal: Kill the gods even more thoroughly than originally planned.
     
    Calling it now: the twins will found a city, and one will kill the other.
    But as a last-minute fake-out, it won't be Rome!
     
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