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Sept. 29 - I like ship travel, when there's a decent cook. After giving
the best sermon I could manage and then traveling overland with, as usual,
Marathon's Prowess and no leisure to look about me, I was too tired to
write yesterday; but on the whole everything went well.
The captain took the pirates out to the island and arranged to stand off
shore, awaiting our signal, at a pre-arranged point some distance down the
coast. We proceeded to the point where Publius hoped to ambush the
halflings, making it clear to him that we were willing to negotiate for
the prisoners, but that we could not jeopardize the safety of our
civilians by antagonizing the halflings at this point. It did not become
an issue, because all the signs indicated that a large group of humans and
halflings had passed through the spot some days previously. We then
proceeded to the nearest of the coves marked "Pirates" on the southern
coast, where we saw cleared fields, guard towers, and other signs of
civilization. Decimus flew up invisibly, carrying Gaius to gain the
benefit of his sharper eyes, and reported a sizable town with everything a
pirate could want - central food preparation facilities, a careening
station, and a slave mart. Evidently, slaves are used as the basis of a
village economy where the pirates can winter in comfort and security. We
will see what we can do about that!
For now, however, we were not prepared to take on the lot of them, so
Robyn and Publius entered town, arranging to meet us at a rendezvous
point. Despite Tamara's dire predictions that they would be captured and
enslaved themselves, they negotiated a purchase without much difficulty,
probably because the chief slaver, a man improbably named Socrates, didn't
want an angry mage on his hands for any length of time. Giulia had
survived after all, though her imp had not, and the halflings had branded
her forehead with a rune that would temporarily suppress her ability to do
magic. They had also deprived her of her spell books. She looks harmless
enough at the moment, but once the brand wears off, a wizard makes an
uneasy slave. Five of the bodyguard were with her. After gaining
Giulia's word that she would not interfere with our operations on the
island and would reimburse him, Robyn bought her, the bodyguards, and a
score of sailors for 700 solidii. They have not been noticeably grateful,
and Giulia is not responding well to my friendly overtures. Well, she can
sulk all she likes. It has been a horrible waste of time from her point
of view, but perhaps she will rethink her life now.
I think Tamara may be taunting her when my back is turned; or she could
just be trying to drive me mad with the suspicion of it.
Oct. 2 - It took us quite some time, but yesterday morning the southern
coast of the island just south of point E came into view. There is no
beach here, just trees almost down to the water - old, old trees, judging
by the girth. We bade farewell to the Captain, leaving last minute
instructions and bidding Giulia to go with Orus, and after lunch he
dropped us as near as he could come to the estimated position of the lake
on the map. Robyn did what he could to ensure that Giulia would remember
ot pay the Captain what she owed for her freedom, and he also seems to
have made some arrangement with a member of the crew to sell a gaudy pair
of pirate's hooks to purchase more gemstones in Freeport, for later resale
back home.
The atmosphere here is very, very different than on other parts of the
island. It was so peaceful and pleasant that Tamara declared she was
growing nervous, that she felt too good! Robyn picked our way
circuitously among deer trails, at a normal pace for once. We attempted
to move more or less quietly, but most of us are not very good at it, and
we were feeling too peacable to refrain from conversation. Thus I was
only a little surprised when, on emerging into a clearing, we were greeted
in Tarantine. A pleasant, young-appearing woman named Alyssa advised us
that we were entering an area devoted to Gaia. She was interested to
learn of our scientific survey, but said we could not proceed unless we
answered her satisfactorily. She wished to assure herself that we would
respect the sacred area, to which I had no objection, since to disrespect
the wife is to disrespect the husband, and may well be resented more
fiercely. Tamara was more suspicious-minded, having been raised by
heathens, and demanded more details, but she seemed satisfied by the list
of requirements given her, which for the most part were simple and obvious
- not to kill except for food, not to pollute the water, not to hack down
these lovely trees, etc. Alyssa particularly wished to assure herself
that we are not crusaders, inclined to hack off heads for the glory of
Orus.
We had conversed with Alyssa on the presumption that she had powers of her
own and was covered by teammates in the trees, and this indeed proved to
be so. Her teammates seem to be mostly her children, grandchildren, and
even great-grandchildren. I believe I have heard that a sufficiently
powerful druid (as Gaians call their priests) will maintain a youthful
appearance for a lifetime, but this was more than appearance, for she
moves and speaks like one not much older than me. I complimented her on
her fine family - and it is a fine one. I never saw such a healthy set of
people in my life, and the limited resources they exercise in making their
clothes is amply compensated by their glow of good health. They served us
an excellent supper and then to business. I turned Gaius loose for the
evening and he went off with a boy. Alfredus asked for a tour of the area
and vanished with a woman named Melissa, who I don't think Greta would
like quite as much as Alfredus did. Since they were all family, and
apparantly mostly single, we were naturally of some interest to them.
I did my best to assure Alyssa that in assessing the magical and other
resources of the island we had no intention of disturbing any satisfactory
status quo, such as clearly exists here in Gaia's Grove. She expressed
concern, and I could not tell her it was unjustified, that if large
numbers of Tarantines came here to exploit the other nexii, Crusaders
might take it into their heads to meddle. She has traveled quite a bit,
via the "fay roads" that run through the nexii, and has kept abreast of
events, so she knew, not only about the various factions of the church,
but about many of the internal affairs of the Empire, and she is familiar
with Uncle by reputation. Decimus of course was very interested indeed in
the fay roads.
She answered all of our questions with every appearance of freedom and
sincerity. She says that Theodosius was not a priest at all (there is my
bias showing, and I hadn't even known I had one!), but a mage who came to
convert the archmagi, which was braver than it was wise.
Point A is an enclave of fundamentalists, which Alyssa regards as the most
compatible of the church factions. No doubt these fundamentalists are
very different from that man who used to harangue the crowd at the corner
of the Forum. Point B is presently held by goblins. Point C is the Elven
Tree of Life, and is presently in the possession of a green dragon. Since
the Elven Tree of Life is likely to be of little use to humans, it strikes
me that that particular game would not be worth the candle, and I noticed
a marked tendency for the others to move on to the next question at this
point. Point D is a surface village of humans enslaved by ogres and ogre
magi, who answer to a lich - the apprentice or assistant of one of the
Archmages, who prefers to keep a low profile. The Gaians do not trouble
with their neighbors much, but there is a small village, about 100 years
old, of slaves escaped from the pirate plantation with whom they are
friendly, and they have a general awareness of what goes on. They dismiss
the halflings as "land pirates," too cowardly to attack a well-armed foe.
They say the hobgoblin king has captured an Elvish emissary from the west,
which might be interesting, and in any case it is always good politics to
have amassadors in your debt. The "vicious crazy elfs" are the remnant of
the original elven invaders who crushed the humans, leaving only the
ancestors of the Gaians. These elves regard humans as on a par with
ogres, hobgoblins, and uncivilized or monstrous races, and would no more
hesitate to lop off our heads than a Crusader would hesitate to lop off
theirs. Altogether, I am very pleased with where we decided to come
ashore!
After this information was acquired, Robyn spent most of the day in
discussion with an older gentleman with extensive knowledge of island
geography to update the maps, but was later seen in the company of a pair
of attractive young ladies; Decimus went to the grove with Alyssa to learn
the secrets of the fay roads, Tamara set up a flirtation with two or three
young men and vanished, and I had some very pleasant conversation with
some of the younger druids and young men. The fay roads evidentally allow
the family to get around quite a bit, as two of the young men,
independently, took a stab at the sort of conversational opener I thought
only patricians ever used. They did it slightly clumsily, but it was
sweet of them to try and make me feel at home. These are very friendly
and charming people, and they give excellent neck rubs, though I don't
remember precisely how I got talked into the neck rub. They even showed
me the best place to bathe. I was having a lovely conversation about the
practice of Gaiaism when Decimus came back from the grove with my Uncle in
tow!
I was as pleased to see him as startled. Mother, all the sisters, and the
war are doing well, though things have not improved much in Greta's
country. The enemy agents we uncovered in Brigantium did indeed have
fellows, but the conspiracy was not as widespread as we had feared and now
seems to have been rooted out. Uncle had not been familiar with the fay
roads, and was naturally very interested when Decimus appeared at his door
in Tarantium. The fay roads go from one specific point to another,
generally being routed through nexii, and it requires specialized
knowledge to find one. Once you have found one, you must then persuade
the Guardian of the Road, a fay spirit, to let you through, and if it
refuses you, no way can be forced past them. Either you, or the road
itself, perishes in the conflict; a lesson, Alyssa says, the Archmagi
refused to learn, resulting in the loss of many fay roads on the island.
When Decimus learned there was a road leading near Tarnatium of course he
went at once to visit Uncle, who at first feared he might be a
doppleganger or shape-changed assassin, so little did he expect to see us.
Uncle teleported home, leaving a message for Alyssa, who was already
retired. We expect him back some time in the near future. He has left a
spell book for Decimus, which includes the fly spell that he has been so
anxious to learn. Having been assured many times today, that we are
welcome to stay, I told him we would linger here until he learned it,
which would bring our total stay to five days.
Gaius seems very happy here. He can't get over how many people there are
in this family. Tamara didn't come to the shelter we were supposedly
sharing last night, and I don't suppose I'll hear a word about that in
confession. Robyn and Alfredus have both made friends - with astonishing
quickness in Robyn's case. Decimus, being in possession of a new spell
book and with time to study it, would be happy in a dungeon. As for me, I
enjoy myself a great deal so far, and I hope to learn a great deal more
about this neglected aspect of Orus's world. They have some quaint and
naive beliefs that seem to be the result of taking symbolic language
literally, such as the notion that souls "reincarnate;" however, I find
that, when they restate some orthodox beliefs after I explain them, I am
not completely free of quaintness and naivete myself. Some of these
people have startlingly cogent ideas, and of couse the proof is in the
pudding. Gaiaism might not be a practical religion in Tarantium, but it
certainly works well in the middle of an old growth forest on the banks of
a beautiful lake and - (blot; Sofia has been called away to go swimming by
the young man who does the neckrubs.)
Oct. 7 - Once more racing across the hills, under the effects of Marathon
Prowess, we leave the Gaian sacred grove headed for Point D.
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