Blasius' envoy

4

Within 19 hours the rest of the crew is transported to a small settlement, around 40 houses, inhabited by around 2500 people. They name this place the ''hammers town'', due to the industry of minting coins. The town also has a large prison complex and two castles, inhabited by the two powerful landlords in the region. Those landlords were cousins of the King of Nerigos. They are dependent upon the peasants and blacksmiths for their income. Without the taxes from the towns in the region (inhabited by 80 thousand people) they cannot pay their tribute to the King. Most people in the region are peasants, fishermen, hunters and musicians. The Cimbrians were send into an abandoned Villa, which was founded by a Norse soldier who served in the Roman army. After his 25 years of military service he returned to his home town and build a Roman style villa. After his death, his family disappeared and nobody found them again. The villa, which also contained a small bath house, and several basements, remained intact. According to the local shamans the house had a curse upon it. The officers reported the envoy to the two landlords. Both obeyed the order of the chieftain. The two females slaves that were brought with the envoy were: Frogertha and Karna. Karna was born of a female maidservant, who lived at the field of a wealthy farmer. She joined the envoy because a nephew of the farmer was a part of the envoy. He asked for Karna as a help to carry his supplies. Frogertha was part of a Dianic cult, which was ended by the King of Cimbria, with the aid of Roman troops. Some of the cult members were prosecuted and shortly afterwards executed. The younger members, teenage girls who were lured into the cult, were sold as slaves [and the money of the sale was used to pay off the troops]. Why did the Cimbrian rulers end the cult? Because it was threatening the traditional expectations of the young women in the region. The older leaders of the cult often inspired wives to rebel against their husbands, some even abandoned their families to join the cult. The cult frequently kidnapped children of newly wed couples for human sacrifices. After years of complaint and investigation the Cimbrian government ended the drama. They also feared that if they wouldn't act out against the cult, that the population might betray them by walking over to the Romans - who certainly would take advantage of the situation in order to annex Cimbria!  Frogertha was bought by a noble woman who's husband is a money changer and tax collector. He is also a part of the envoy and he took Frogertha with him to cook and do the laundry. He also had another motive; he noticed the abusive tendencies of his wife towards Frogertha. This grieved him. To prevent the violence from escalating he decided to take her away from there. Even he himself doesn't like being around his spouse. 

In the villa the two young women receive a private room all for themselves. The room is also heated by the floor heating mechanism, that's also used at the bath. Inside the room there were old wine bottles which were not opened for years. It was written on a note that the wine comes from a celtic region Rhaetia, which is also a Roman province, at the northwest of Italy. There were also small bottles with olive oil. Furthermore, the room was decorated with wall paintings and there was a large couch and a long bed with a thick blanket. The room, according to a local who knew the Norse veteran, was used as a guestroom for wealthy visitors.