Blasius' envoy

7

Three days into 'Hammer town' Joas took a trip towards the West. They followed a highway that led towards Berigos. The journey to Berigos took two days. At Berigos there was a  small Greek village where they lodged. There was a elder named Stelios, he is retired physician from Crete who lived for 20 years at the Fjords. Stelios received the Romans for eight days. During these days the men took notes of all they saw in the town. The population was relatively young and there were many wealthy farmers that were trading their livestock in the town. The town also had a small industrial region where ships from Britain and Gaul were ready to ship the export to their destinations. After the 8th day Joas decided that they had to move on. The group moved via a small ship to an extended village between the North and South of the country. The extended village was simply known was ''the Market place''. They lodged for five days in that place. Because there was nothing interesting to be found and because the cold weather they decided to return to 'Hammer town'. There was a broad road through the mountains that led to 'Hammer town'. But, the civilians warned them for raiders and robbers on their way. 

Within 18 hours they arrived at a tiny village on the crossing of two roads. The way to 'Hammer town' was still 10 hours away. The horses, however, were exhausted. The men parked their horses at something that looked like a barn. When they knocked on the doors of the houses - nobody answered. Two of the Romans broke into the houses. There was nobody there. The furniture and even the food supplies were still there. There was no sign of any human activity. Furthermore, there were spiderwebs and dust layers in all the houses. This implied that the houses had been empty for months or maybe even years. The men found the scene extremely suspicious. There was stored grain, raisins, honey and fresh water in the houses. Joas proposed to bake bread and give the horses. Also they should make some cookies for themselves also. The others agreed with his proposal. During that evening, after they ate and gave to the horses, one of the men noticed a book on a shelf. The book was written in the Gaulish language. The book was given to Joas. He was the one who understood the Gaulish language. The page where he opened the document was here 

''We have sailed to Berigos from the kingdom of the Paris people in Central Britain. The Parisians warned us for the hostility of these people to foreigners. We, despite their warnings, wanted to voyage to this could and isolated kingdom in the far north. In Berigos we were not received well. We decided to travel on the Norwegian highways. We arrived at a small village of 140 people. The head of the village was a shaman named Björn and his wife was the leader in the religious rites. Björn spoke Gaulish and he welcomed us in one of the farmhouses. We paid 14 Denarii to Björn and his wife for food and the usage of the water supply. We were told that this village was build 110 years ago, after that the two major highways were constructed (which each took five years). The highways crossed over here and a sailor build this village as a lodging place for sojourners and as a place to temporarily store merchandise that came from the coastal towns, which were to be further transported or sold to tribes from the East. There is a small town named 'Hammers town' down the road to the south. The town is constructed a a big lake. The town is the home of many blacksmiths and those that trade in jewelry. One of the daughters of Björn, Sveta, warned us that there were dark shadow figures that haunted 'Hammers town'. She highly recommended us to travel through another route towards the Bay district. Sveta told us a story of a young couple that ventured towards 'Hammers town'. They disappeared and never returned. Five years later their bones were found, spread around a farmland of whom the owners were missing for 2 years. There were also frequent children going missing in 'Hammers town'. I'm quite thrilled by these stories, but I don't necessarily believe they are true. Nevertheless, the young woman seemed sincere. And I couldn't think of any reason why the people would lie to us about something like this. We paid them almost two months of wages for just staying at their village and they treated us with great hospitality. My sons Stelios, Karolos and Philipos are all still in Greece. I've been away for almost eight months. I would surely want to take them to this country soon''

At this sentence Joas stops. The others also look quite surprised.

''Stelios. Isn't that the name of that Greek that received us in Berigos?''

''Yes! That's correct!''

''Well, In this document it clearly talks about a Greek father that ventures through the North Sea and ended up here. He had a son with the same name''

''You think they are related?''

''Why not? You don't meet many Greeks up here!''

''Sure! Why would they come? They have many warm lands in the Mediterranean!''

''By the way... in this story the writer also speaks of the farmland where the farmers had been missing..''

''So?''

''Well, isn't there a Roman villa in Hammer's town that has been abandoned?''

The group is shocked

''Hold on! Even if we are right - Let's say that this theory is correct - there's a Greek merchant that ventures to Gaul, Britain and Norway. He is stuck here at this village. He hears of a haunted town. Later, his son ends up living in the same city where his father and his friends were rejected. He ends up living there for 20 years after his 40's. Then what is the link with that Roman villa?''

''We will have to visit that villa to find out''

''Jaos.. read further''

He reads in Greek [translating from the Gaulish text]

''Sveta also has a weird look in her eyes. Her pupils tend to fill the whole circles of her iris. This is creeping us out! Sometimes her voice also changes into a semi-male voice. Even some of the other civilians in the village tend to avoid her. I asked one of the civilians, an elder lady, what's going on with this family. She explained: When the village was founded by the nephew of a chieftain, he was permitted to marry and settle as landlord of the village. He married the daughter of a successful blacksmith in Hammers town. This led to him receiving financial compensation due to his family-in-law. The couple had only one child: a son named Doeg. Doeg was an unhappy child and he became a frustrated and violent adult. EVen his parents kept him at a distant. Doeg when he was 25 got involved with a witch from a mountain clan and they had 14 children. One of those children was molested by her elder brother and give birth to a son named Björn. He is the current head of the village. The father of Björn, who is also his uncle, was executed for the rape and murder of at least 17 women in different villages. 30 years ago Björn disappeared for 10 years and he returned as if nothing happened. He did display some weird behaviour. He got involved with a teenage girl and started a family, while he himself was in his late 30s. Björns family is plagued with sexual violence and suicide. Some people in the village even suspected that Sveta was a hidden predator of younger kids. But those are rumours and she elder lady didn't want to get into those folk tales. After I found out about this I began to understand why I felt unease with Sveta. I'm not sure, but she might have some kind of devil inside of her''

He stops because the writing ended.

''We need to investigate this!''

''Why?''

''That villa in Hammers Town is a Roman villa. So, Roman citizens lived there. It is our duty to figure out what happened to our countrymen. That's the duty of every good Roman: to look after other Romans. We ought to behave civilised in this country to promote the values and relevance of our Empire''

''He is right. We should figure this thing out''

''But not tonight'' Joas reminded them ''We will leave tomorrow towards Hammer's town where also the Cimbrians and the rest of the troops are. Then we will get into the villa and look deeper into this case. For now, I need some good sleep! It will be a long day tomorrow!''