The City States of Greece

A man of many nations
I woke up in a dark room. I did not know where I was. My arm was killing me and my head felt like it could explode. I could hear the sounds of warriors outside. The spoke a language that was fast. Where on earth am I? I got out of my bed and walked outside. The view was amazing. A mountain range in view with a crystal clear lake next to it. These people’s houses looked beautiful. Their clothing was simple and they wore big hats. A lady came up to me and spoke very fast. I could not understand. She looked at me funnily for a while. “Who are you?” she said. “You…You speak Greek?” “Yes, now answer” Her hat covered her face but her voice sound like the Kingdom of Zeus. “My name is Marios Mickzter Agisilaos. Where am I?” “You are in the Kingdom of the great Japanese Empire. We found you lying in the snow. You were brutally battered and your arm was broken. But I am not a doctor for no reason. Our emperor wants to see you immediately. Go!” I walked down from the house and into the city streets. “By the way, what’s your name?” “Yumi... and welcome to Kyoto.” Her face was visible for the first time, and it was so beautiful that not even Medusa can stone her to death.

“You look the same as the others” the deep, assertive voice said. “Are you a spy? I do not trust you Gaijins.” “Others?” I was shocked… were there other Greeks? “Yes, others. They look like you. He said he was a Prinkpas or something. You look surprised. Banished were you?” He seemed calmer. “Yes I was, but that is a long story. Do you know where these others came from?” “Hasty one you are. Yes I do know. But you will have to do something for me first. Then I shall tell you.” His moustache was very long. He did not speak so fast like the others. I thought about it. I had to do it. “Fine. I will do what you want.” “You are to travel to India, and give Maharajah Rajesh this letter. It is of up most importance. Come back and I shall tell you the direction of the Gaijins. Go, those Egyptians are going to pay.” I was given a horse and set off to India. Can Zeus please just get me home?

Two sunsets passed and I think I am lost. In the middle of the jungle with nowhere to go. As I walked along, giving my horse a rest, I saw many exotic things. Long curved yellow things hanged from bushes. It felt smooth. I opened one and took a bite. It tasted sweet and soft. I looked around and I saw the very hair of Medusa. A long, brown snake hissed in-front of me. Its ears stretched from the sides, and looked me in the eyes. Out of nowhere it spat, and its venom went straight into my throat. I struggled to breathe as my body started to shake and I could not control my body. I fell and once again I was in another sleep.

“Welcome to India my friend. I see you recovered nicely.” His voice was very friendly and he seemed nice. “Where's Rajesh. I need to give something to him.” “Do not call him Rajesh you pardesi. He is Maharajah to you. Give me the letter, you won’t be leaving soon. You are a prisoner of India now. Hope you enjoy your stay. Your sacrifice to the gods is in 3 days.” Could this get any worse?

You send forth the militia of Athens to find out what had happened in the Fotismenos house before their fall from power. They find remnants of a training ground for fighting, and they find evidence that Ainos was studying other languages. Their last discovery, and the most interesting, was that Ainos had ordered some kind of personal work done for him by a mysterious man. It was said he payed a hefty sum for this work, and even dipped into the treasury to do so.

I am Ekvallei. I am Cast Out. My real name is not important, as my tale will show. My real name is something of my past, that I shall only answer to upon my death. I am Ekvallei. I once was a member of a great tribe to the north. I was happy in my time with them, my native people. My native land was beautiful. It was a land of verdant green forests and hills, and on one of the rolling slopes we grew the grapes with which we made daru pivo. The grapes were luscious, and filled with sweet nectar. I remember harvest time, the small purple orbs contrasting wonderfully with the dark green of the vines. I remember the laughing children stealing grapes from the baskets of the gatherers, and running away with their mouths stained purple. I remember the parents laughing and joking at the children’s antics, and then pretending to not notice when more children scampered up behind them. I truly believe to this day that the children believed that the parents did not know what was happening. These were the days when Ghara was still a happy place. These were the days before Vartana.

I had grown up in Ghara, and had rarely traveled more than a hundred hills from the village. Even then, it was only to gather the grapes for the annual Festival. I was born the child of a prosperous and jolly fisherman and a kind and considerate mother of five. I was her sixth and last child. My siblings were jealous of me from the beginning, because my mother and father seemed to dote on me. What I asked for, I got, while they were told they had to earn what they wanted. I was lucky in another way, although at the time I did not know it. Unlike my older brothers, my father did not try to groom me to be a fisherman and follow in his footsteps. Instead, he allowed me to choose what I wanted to do with my life. I went through many phases, one time even thinking of becoming a seamstress! Naturally I became the laughingstock of the village, and I promptly dropped that as a career choice.

When I reached the age of fourteen, though, I had settled on one thing. I wanted to be an explorer! I could use the sea skills that my father had taught me, as he had all of his sons, and even recruit some of my brothers to come along. The sea and the lands that must lie beyond it seemed to whisper to me, drawing me towards them like a desert animal to water. I wanted to travel the world, and see everything that lay beyond the horizon. Explorers in my village were rare, however. Most of the people of Ghara were happy with their life, and I only managed to find 3 other young men to follow me out into the unknown. They were Eka, my navigator, Be, my sail expert, and Trana, my mapmaker and cargo master. We left Ghara on a small fishing dirigible that we had managed to buy when I was 18.

I had promised to marry my sweetheart, Prema, when we got back. I wanted to make a good husband, and to do that I had to stay put. I decided that I should satisfy my wanderlust before settling down, and Prema agreed with me. Prema was a tall young woman, 17 years of age. Her piercing green eyes were perfectly accented by her dark olive skin and wavy dark brown hair. Her favorite dress was checkered turquoise and white, and stretched all the way down to her ankles. She was beautiful.

The day when my world began to unravel began like any other. We had been sailing south for about three days, and by then we had settled into a routine. We would get up, Eka would check our position, Be would check the sails and make any adjustments needed, and Trana would catalogue our supplies. When that was done, Trana would bring out some dried grapes and a glass of daru pivo for everyone. On this day we took a long time finishing our breakfast. We should have looked at the sky. It is common knowledge that storms approach quickly at see. Regardless, we did see the storm when Be got up to relieve himself. He shouted out, and we all started. When we saw the storm, we began to panic.

It was close, somewhere around 200 hills. We could also tell that it was a bad one. Flashes emanated from the front of the storm, and the black clouds moved menacingly closer. Within minutes we noticed that the sea was rising behind our boat, and realized that it was too late. The only thing we could do was tie everything down, tie ourselves to the ship, and pray that we would survive. When the storm reached us, it became clear that this was no ordinary disturbance.

It was a janjavata, one of the worst storms possible. Storms like this could produce walls of water 50 hill heights tall that would crash upon the mainland to help the winds erase whatever stood in its way. Janjavatas had been known to destroy much larger ships than these, and were the inhabitants of fishermen’s nightmares. It was one of the scariest experiences of my life. The winds began to pick up as we moved further into the storm, and the rain began to feel like nails hitting our face. We had to screw our eyes shut to protect them from the water that had become our enemy. We didn’t see the wave heading towards us. Even if we had, it wouldn’t have mattered. We could never have maneuvered our way out of this situation. All we felt was the boat tilting, and the water washing over the deck. I heard a scream before I was engulfed by the ocean.

Escape from a hell within a paradise
Another sunset comes to Delhi. Another day I am kept in captivity. For what reason, I do not know. I came here 3 sunsets ago, on a mission for the Emperor of Japan. All I had to do was deliver a stupid message. All I want to do is find Athens. I do not think that will happen anymore. Besides all the aggressiveness towards me, Delhi is a very wonderful city. Its people work hard, and they have fascinating monuments that honour their many Gods. Its city booms with activity and life. It has communal pools, gorgeous temples and brilliant markets. They sell everything here. From clothes to gold to silk (this is very soft and smooth). Everything except for cows. The cow is a very holy thing here. No one eats a cow. Even if you hurt a cow, they will sentence you to death. All in all, this is a very wonderful city. Today is the last time I will see though. They are going to kill me today. But I plan on escaping and running away to Athens. Where Athens is, I do not know. But I will find it. I will not die. I will escape from this hell in paradise.

“Prisoner 16. Where is prisoner 16? Where are you? Show yourself you scum.” He had a deep voice, which did not sound Indian. I had a knife in my hand, which I crafted out of my bed frames. I did not have a plan, but I knew one thing. That I will kill every single person in this city if I have to. I touched the end of my knife. It was sharp. A trickle of blood came down the side. Good I thought. I heard his footsteps come down the hall. “Hey, how many times do I have to call you?” he said as he opened the gate. “You are a mader ch…” he stopped half way. “What’s wrong? Looks like you have seen ghost.” I grinned. It what seemed like a split second, I jumped at him, wrapped my left arm around his neck and started to choke him. “This is for my father” I stabbed him in heart, and made sure it went deep. He fell down like a rock. I took his axe and left. He was an Indian warrior. Not a very good one though. Looking at my surroundings, i thought to myself. How do I get out of here?

Getting out of the prison was like getting out of a maze. Except there were guards in every corner. To make it worse there were archers outside standing on walls. This is impossible. There is no way I will get out of here. I walked like a butterfly. Swift and quiet. “Hey you, get back here now!” Oh no, now they are going to sound the alarm. “Guards! Guards! We have a loose prisoner!” I ran like the wind. I did not know where to but I ran. I saw a window in front of me and head straight for it. The sounds of breaking glass alerted the city. The entire city of Delhi was after me. I fell two stories down and landed on some hay. I smiled, because in front of me were horses. One in particular was white. A stunning, beautiful white that made me think of Eresos. I got on it and we rode away. She was faster than any other horse I have rode before. We ran across grasslands, plains, hills and deserts. For days we rode. I had escaped the hell within a paradise. I was free, and I was on route to Athens. My safe haven. My new home.