A Tryst with Destiny

How come you didn't move the army where I told you to?

"One doesn't discover new lands without losing sight of the shore." - André Gide

William Sayer leaned on the side of the galley. The ocean surrounded all four sides of a ship and stretched into the horizon, into infinity. The smell of the sea permeated through the entire vessel. Except for the sounds of the crew and the water itself, nothing else made a peep. The crew spotted neither fish nor fowl in this oceanic desert. The fleet - two Indian ships, and a Roman trading galley - was truly alone and insignificant.

Behind William, the crew shouted orders to each other. They constantly ran around the ship to navigate the it by adjusting the sails, controlling the rudder, and so forth. Whenever they ran across the wooden deck, they always made a pit-pat noise with their bare feet.

Nicholas Bionat walked up to William. "Day one at sea, eh. So Bill, is this the first time being on a boat?"

"No," answered William. "I actually went on a cruise once. Or will go on one, from a certain point of view."

"Where?" asked Nicholas.

"Alaska," William said. "I went there with my parents. It was nice. We got to eat actual Alaskan salmon, saw glaciers cave, and enjoy seeing the sea like this." He extended his hand over the water in order to catch the wind. "Though when we went out into the open ocean, I was constantly sea sick. At that point I just wanted to stay in my room, where I could just stay in bed and vomit every so often."

A gust of wind blew from the north, sending the ship tilting to its starboard side. The tilt was steep enough to cause William to lose his balance and tumble down onto the deck.

"Well, this ain't any cruise ship," said Nicholas, laughing.

"Yeah," William said as he got back up. He chuckled too. "I mean, this ship doesn't have real toilets, let alone fancy cabins with chandeliers and satellite television or whatever they use to stabilize cruise ships."

A sailor climbed out onto the deck and interrupted the two. "Mrityunjay! Nikolasa!" he shouted.

"This isn't good," William commented as he turned around. He hastily walked to the opening to the deck below. "What is it?" he shouted.

"We found a stowaway!" the sailor shouted, his head poking out of the opening.

Stowaway! William thought. Dear god. Sebastian.

"We found him hiding in the wheat stores," the sailor continued, "subsisting on our provisions."

"Well, bring him up here!" William said. "I want to have a good talk with him!"

"Yes sir!" the sailor said. He turned his head around and motioned his fellow crew mates to bring the stowaway topside.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Sebastian," William said, shaking his head. Guided by a couple sailors, Sebastian climbed up the ladder with his hands bound behind his back with twine. His appearance was not dissimilar to what he had looked like when he first arrived at the royal palace - his shirt was tattered, his face was smeared with dust and grime, and his hair looked akin to a bird's nest.

"I...I...I am so sorry, Mrityunjay," Sebastian said, his head lowered in shame.

William looked at the sailors. "I know this guy. He is of no harm. Return to your duties as I talk to him in private."

Obediently, the sailors dispersed as they returned to their various duties. Sebastian meanwhile followed William to the front of the ship.

"So, Sebastian," William said as he rolled a barrel to the bow. He carefully set it upright and sat on it. "it has come to this. You know, if you were some random peasant or something, then I would've immediately tied you to a bunch of rocks and throw you overboard, where you then sink all the way to the bottom of the sea."

"I knew this was a bad idea," Sebastian said. "I'm sorry. You're not going to do anything horrible to me, like actually throwing me overboard, right?"

"No, no. I knew that you were going to do such things. I just knew it."

"Let me guess," Sebastian said. "You had your own dream."

"No, oh no," William said. "I just know based on the fact that you were so desperate to see your wife. Whenever I saw you in the palace after our...um...meeting, you always seemed despondent. You always were sulking around like this." William made a face by pouting his lips and trying to make his eyes look big.

"Oh wow," Sebastian said, not finding William's face funny at all.

"Yeah, heh," William said. "So I knew that you would come, and because of my OCD and all that, I prepared for that. I ensured that we have food and space for one extra person - two extra people, actually, since I'm that prepared."

"Thanks, I guess," Sebastian said.

"Yeah. So as you can see, I'm a pretty nice guy. But just because I spared you doesn't mean that you can just go about and turn Rome upside down in search of your wife. First, you have to stick with the rest of the envoy at all times. No going off into Rome by yourself. Second, you have to not do anything stupid in front of anyone, important people like consuls and senators in particular, but also in front of the common people. I know that we're basically treating you like a child, but listen. This is a diplomatic mission that will determine the fate of Indo-Roman relations. Doing something stupid could quite easily result in war. Even talking with the local women - even your wife, if she happens to be in Rome - could get us in some deep trouble. Do you understand?"

Sebastian, unable to come up with a rebuttal, nodded obediently.

"Good. Now I hope that you're patient, because this trip is going to take a long, long time. And I hope that you have a strong stomach."

A gust from the south side tilted the ship to its port side.

"Unlike...me..." William said as his barrel tilted off-balance, ensuing that William falls on his bottom again.

DKVM said:

How come you didn't move the army where I told you to?

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I did, to the middle of the river where the crossing is at. I noted also while discussing the proposal I think that Takshashila is the middle point. I moved the army one South of that where the five rivers of the Punjab converge IRL.

I was talking about in or near the swamps and coast as the central part I was talking about. If you thought I was telling you to move the army 1 tile south of it's current position, you really should have questioned it considering I would just say 1S if that's what I meant. Also, moving the army one tile south makes no strategic sense whatsoever.

Samrat Apilaka did not leave a great legacy, it was his mother, the dowager empress Naganika who was more renowned for ruling the realm after Samrat Mallakarni. In opposition to earlier tradition, his heir, Vedistri did not seat beside him in a diarchy, nor was he trained or appointed to any administrative position to learn the rules of statecraft.

All in all, he was unqualified for the post that he would come to command. It was a strange time, when the realm seemed at peace yet each passing monarch seemed more incapable than the last. In this time of weak kings, it was the ministry that had held the realm together. But the clouds of war seemed to be nearing, along the western sea, the pirates of Sindh wreak havoc on the peaceful fishing communities along the Persian gulf and the coasts of Avanti, further North across the Kubha valley fierce horsemen of the Kushana tribes raid into Herat exacting tribute. They had not declared war on us ... yet.

Within the ministry, fissures started to appear. The erstwhile Senapati found his orders not being followed. The position of the domestic minister seemed ever vacant, and confusion reigned on the project planning in the cities of the empire. After the death of empress Naganika, the reigning samrat had taken the ministry under his care. He proved to be average at best in matters of administration. With the terms of the different ministers at an end, new ministers had to be appointed. And so they were :


Minister of Domestic Affairs : Amatya Gajanana (Grifguz)

Minister of Foreign Affairs : Amatya Chiranjeevi (Caterpillarking)

Minister for explorations : Amatya Chitragupt (Spirictum)

Commander-in-chief : Senapati Vasudeva (DKVM)

Minister for Finance : Amatya Brihadrath (Baseballpie)

Minister for protectorates and colonies : Raja Karikaalan (Dumanios)


As was the practice since Samrat Satakarni's reign, the ministers would draft their proposals and plans for the future of the realm and steer it into the future.

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All ministers are requested to come to the 'Ministers of Magadh' group and await ministerial reports with pictures and description of the state of the empire on the basis of which they must draft their proposals.

Wow, nice.

Oh yeah and we just hit 15,000 views .

Good luck at the job adhiraj. Congratulations!

May you protect all of India with your law skills

Sorry I was away for so long, and good on you! I hope you enjoy this firm.

Good luck Adhiraj!

I have just got to make a site for a small company some friends are running, so actually I have an informal job for the time. Getting paid for some work is really satisfactory

Good luck!

Amatya Buddhaputra sat in his office in the grand palace of Pataliputra and reminisced. It would be his last day in office, and he had submitted his last reports before the reigning samrat. His memory took him to that day 35 years ago. He remembered the day as if it were yesterday. .."In these maps and scrolls, I pass on to you, a great burden. One which could potentially decide the fate of mankind." Amatya Buddhagupt said, still cloaked with a ragged robe, his face and hands a scarred ruin, but there was no mistaking the fierce gaze of the amatya, "Hidden in these documents is the secret of the nine unknown men.""The nine unknown men are nothing but rumor.." Amatya Buddhaputra replied "The rumors are true!" Amatya Buddhagupt retorted grasping his son's hand. A feeling of fright ran through him. "Everything you thought was false is true. My son.. I am here to warn you, to take utmost care of yourself. There are men out there, dangerous men, who want to use the knowledge and power of the nine unknown for terrible purposes. They would stop at nothing to attain the secret of the Nine Unknown men. I only narrowly escaped with my life" "What happened to you father?" it was then that the Amatya narrated the harrowing story of his escape from Ashoka's hell and that was when Amatya Buddhaputra had learnt for the first time, of the guild known as the minions of death.

In the final leg of the war in the South, Senapati Pushyamitra Sunga led the siege of Tanjavur. He personally led the courageous death battalion to face the defending troops. The death battalion fought till the last man, there were no survivors in the suicidal charge. The city was taken, but at great cost. Of the five thousand men of the battalion it was said that a dozen had survived, but there was no trace of them. From this dozen, emerged the cult known as the minions of death. These were men who had named themselves for death and who had seen death all around them, for them life was an illusion and death was the only truth and the only true salvation. This death cult committed itself to acquire the knowledge of the Nine Unknown men.

Samrat Ashok knew of the dangers the Nine Unknown would be subjected to, and so had committed the Nine Unknown to secrecy sending them to the farthest corners of the known world and training a hundred lookalikes for each of the Nine men. Each of the Nine Unknown would be entrusted with one work of knowledge to be guarded by them till death. Upon their death, the knowledge would pass on to their kin. "I must now depart my son" Buddhagupt was about to leave "No father, you must stay, mother has been grieving ever since you left us. You cannot abandon your family" Buddhaputra had seen his grieving mother, whose grief had driven her near the point of madness, he would not let his father leave "Understand this my son, I have devoted myself to a task far greater than me. It is my sacrifice. If I do not leave now, you and your mother would be put in grave danger. I cannot bear to see any harm befall my family. This task, that I must undertake is mine and mine alone. To you I assign only one duty, to preserve the secret that I have entrusted to you." the father and son embraced one another for one last time. "Before leaving, I will tell you one thing" "What is that father?" "There are those in the palace who are under the influence of the minions of death". At the time, those words had left Amatya Buddhaputra both startled and confused, but he saw the wisdom in them soon afterwards when he had warned Empress Naganika against the opposition of Amatya Gautama Gyanbhakt.

"I could not let you take the entire burden upon yourself father. There are some duties that are entirely mine own" the amatya reminisced as he organized his office, for one last time.

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35 years ago

The pain was unbearable. Every breath that was taken, every muscle that was moved seemed to start a writhing pain. His limbs felt numb and he could taste blood on his lips. The robed man had tortued the amatya using a flaying knife and burning tongs. It must have been hours.. or maybe days, he could not know for in the chamber all was dark and the Amatya lost all track of time. "Why are you doing this ? What do you want to know ? Please let me go .. I won't tell... Aaaaaahhh" Amatya Buddhagupt's pleas went unanswered, this mysterious cloaked man simply went on with his torture. He could hear the others in his company screaming in agony, but as time passed, he heard fewer and fewer screams.

"Are we being tortured to death.. no it cannot end like this" the amatya thought to himself. With the last bit of strength he struggled against his binds, but it was no use. The more he tried to struggle against the ropes binding his arms and legs, the more it hurt. Like a nightmare, the cloaked man came again emerging from the darkness in one hand he held a torch and in another... another instrument of death. Every time he came, he came with a new more horrific instrument to torture. Amatya Buddhagupt took in a deep breath and spoke to him, "If you are a human being, and if you have any mercy left in you.. then find that mercy and kill me!" unexpectedly, the cloaked figure broke his silence and spoke, "but you are no use to me dead". The man was frightening as it is, but when he spoke, he felt like a demon. His voice was low and rough and deep, it indeed felt as though it were inhuman. He revealed the instruments that he had brought with him, a sharp hook and a pincer, he took these and threw them on the slab.

Buddhagupt took several deep breaths, his eyes were wide open and though the darkness hid it, his skin had turned pale with fear. "I am the guardian of this hell, I have been so for forty years and there have been many before me. For more than two hundred years we have guarded the secrets of Ashoka's hell.. or was it three hundred years ?..I can't quite tell, you see time passes oddly in the darkness of this chamber". The guardian walked closer, "Every now and then some creature or some fool manages to wander into this forsaken place, we feast on their bodies taking pleasure in the kill. For them, it was but an innocent mistake, but we swore to protect the secrecy of this place. We kill any and all who come in here, but you seem to have come here on your own volition. So why Amatya Buddhagupt .. would you come to this hell on earth ?" The Amatya gulped down to clear his throat before explaining himself "I followed a map, from the time of Samrat Ashok, to find this place. I had uncovered the hidden code in his ledgers which led me to find this place and has led me to believe that the Nine Unknown Men .." "What did you say !.." the guardian was purturbed by the Amatya's mention of the Nine unknown men, just as he was about to finish his sentence, he drew a dagger at his throat "Please, I mean no ill. I had discussed with Mahant Yogesh before entering this place with my search party, about the Nine Unknown men, this place.. Ashoka's hell, and of a mission to prevent civilization from collapsing".

The Guardian seemed strangely satisfied with this explanation, he withdrew his dagger. He nodded and walked away back into the darkness. Buddhagupt felt relief at this. Some moments later, he felt his hands and legs being untied and then a blindfold tied over his eyes. There was a faint glow suggesting a torch was lit before him as he was being walked by two people carrying him by his shoulders. After about half an hour of walking, he was made to sit on a rock.

From somewhere in the corner of this chamber, he could hear the sound of running river and felt the atmosphere being more dank and humid than elsewhere. A voice sounded from before him, this time it was low but not as rough, "We will let you go, but your men must die." The amatya was shocked "These men are not to blame for coming here, I brought them here. They are innocent of any crime" the amatya pleas would not be heeded "We have decided to let you go only because we must. You are a chosen one, who can break the code. Your men must die for they have seen the location of this place". Buddhagupt went silent and drooped his head for the shame of killing eight loyal men. "We are leaving you with a task. We guardians of Ashoka's hell, did not have any skill in unravelling the location of the Nine Unknown Men. This box, contains the locations of all the Nine Unknown Men and knowledge of the cult known as the minions of death. Meet no one when you leave, speak to no one, not even those close to you, till you have unravelled the code of the box. Know this, Buddhagupt, that while we may live under the soil, we have eyes and ears on the ground, we will come after your family, if you dare to divulge anything you know".

The Guardians handed to him, a wooden box. "In this, you will find your answers." it was a strange box, it was designed more as a puzzle with revolving sides. Scribbled on its sides were words in the same coded language as in the ledgers. The blindfolded Amatya Buddhagupt could not read it, but felt his hands on the sculpted surface, "We will lead you out of this hell". He was walked to the edge of the water where he could hear the flow of the river the loudest. As he progressed, he could hear familiar sounds from the forest, of birds chirping and monkeys screeching. The sunlight fell on his blindfolded face giving him warmth and light after hours in darkness. Once he was thrown on the muddy soil of the forest near the Ganga. He opened his blindfold to see himself in the middle of the forests near Pataliputra, only this section of the forest was on the other side of the Ganga.

Buddhagupt picked himself up and balanced himself. He saw his clothes a ragged ruin and scars all over his limbs. When he walked to the river to clean himself, he saw his face had been turned into a nearly unrecognizable ruin of scars and dirt. His eyes and long beard were the only recognizable feature left. He picked up the box, and began inspecting it. It was a hexagonal wooden block with six parts where each part could rotated horizontally or vertically. He twisted the two halves of the block which made the box spring open, revealing a folded parchment. The parchment contained a set of directions, and names. There were nine names and nine locations, the first of which would take him to Persia.

Oh man, this is getting intense.

baseballpie said:

Oh man, this is getting intense.

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