Jean brightens noticeably at the idea of going ashore.

"I will join the mounted scouting party of course."

"I will go...and from the look on the Falcon's face it seems you have your answer there as well," says Jaleh, listening to the exchange.

"I will be part of the expedition as well." says the young byzantine knight.

"As will I," replies Conn, one hand resting comfortably on the hilt of his longsword.

"HA!" shouts A'kos.  "This should be fun!  Let us make ready, then!"

"Fun, he says," smiles Jaleh.  "We shall see...but it will be good to test our mettle as we approach the coming battle.  Come, Falcon, help me see to my horse."

         Upon having summarily dismissed his idea to climb the nearby
mountains, Gultunga no longer feels obligated to accompany the landbound
expedition.  Gultunga loudly announces his decision . . .

         "The only mount that Gultunga rides be a steed of the sea.  A
crew will be needed to man the oars, or our vessel will be dead in the
water.  Gultunga shall stay aboard to man the oars."

"That's too bad, I found your earlier song remarkably well lyricized.  I shall go with Sir Jean, Jaleh, Roderychus and the rest."

Edit: And I guess that means Michael comes with us, too.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:24, Tue 08 Dec 2009.

"Most excellent!" exclaims the squat Rus.

"A'kos, Balthazar, Michael, Conn, Jaleh, Loukas, Roderychus and Sir Jean will join Zmija on this expedition. I will send message for one of the Knarrs carrying the mounts to follow the Heart of Oak northwest. We will leave you in the hands of the Gods and meet you on the other side of the city in a day or two."

He looks to the rest of the crew and says..."The rest of us will have enough to do in the meantime."

The Heart of Oak moves under oar and sail to the Northwest for a few hours followed closely by one of the knarrs.

Once a suitable place to land is found both men and beast of let off for the expedition. A mount has been provided for those who do not have one. Strangely, Zmija does not accept a mount and claims that he will jog alongside those mounted.

The sun is now low in the sky and the terrain is mostly foothills with large hills then mountains looming to the South. These are not huge mountains though so travel while slow is not impossible.

Zmija seems to know his way around this area as well, perhaps he has scouted this region before?


For those on the expedition go to the thread titled expedition:) For those staying behind, well stay behind:)

"We will stay here until the party vanishes from our view, then it is back to join the main fleet."

Jean rides his horse into Zmija's path.

"Explain yourself. Why do you request a mounted patrol and then insist on slowing us with a man afoot?"

I moved this to the Expedition thread.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:28, Tue 08 Dec 2009.

The scouting party is large enough and Barmak is worried how well it will be able to move undetected.

He stays aboard the ship and cajoles the men into preparing netting to repel boarders.

When Miroslav appears less busy, he asks him "Are the men of this region no friends to the city, then?  Will they not send warning of our scouts' coming to the defenders behind the walls?"

"Outside the city walls, there are but a hand full of dwellings. I would imagine all of their inhabitants are now within the safety of the city proper though. Around most cities this size it would be normal for there to be  large population but here, up until recently the raids by the Pechenegs and their inhuman allies have been so frequent that no one dares live outside the walls for long."

He then leans against the rail and says..."I have been meaning to ask you if you were of the Zoroastrian faith rather than Islam...I have not seen you pray to your god in Mecca yet. My short visit into Persia had me in the homes of a several Zoroastrian folk.""

        Gultungas icey blue orbs look closely upon their craft and  how well   its outfitted whilst their companions ride off.

As Miroslav waits for an answer from Barmak, he motions for Gultunga to come and work with Oleg in piloting the ship..."Oleg, let us get Gultunga here up to speed on how to pilot this particular ship...at least while the winds hold out and he can be spared from the oars."

The wind indeed is nice and strong and the Heart of Oak cuts through the waves speeding on it's way to rejoin the fleet.

Barmak thinks a moment before replying to Miroslav.

"I worship Allah - with the help of the Imams.  However in my city there are many followers of Zarathustra, as long as the laws are respected and the deals honoured, then each man is his own man.  We have too many other troubles these past years to worry overmuch about our neighbour's religion".

He turns to admire the wake of the ship as she cuts back towards the rest of the fleet.

         The Stridesman countenance brightens with a smile before he replies
 . . .
         "Aye, tis an honor for Gultunga to take the tiller!"

         Gultunga aptly listens to Olegs directions on how to pilot the craft
so that he may properly apply what he's just been taught.

Once the stridesman get a hold on the tiller and begins to follow Oleg's instructions the Rus says to him..."I suggested to Miroslav that we let you take a turn at piloting the ship. I have seen you, from back here, on your bench paying close attention to how we do this."

        Gultunga follows Olegs instructions to the letter and attempts to
keep the crafts sail full as he navigates it towards the fleet and hope-
fully a full crew compliment.  Whilst performing his duty, his icey blue
orbs constantly peruse his surroundings for any threats or possible sur-
vivors that may yet be in the water.

The man from the Baltic coast watches the Varangian and Norseman working at the tiller. He smiles and says with a laugh to Mirosalv..."Why is it you never trusted me enough to pilot the ship?"

He looks out over the waves as he waits for the sarcastic answer from the Rus.

"I have seen some of the women you have lain with while drunk and even while sober Radvila! There is no way I can bring myself to trust your judgment after that!"

As the sun goes down, the Heart of Oak rejoins the main fleet. Gultunga has piloted the ship all the way back and has done a fine job. Miroslav announces that the ship will head for the eastern shore with the rising of the sun.

        Once the Heart of the Oak has returned to the fleet Gultunga returns
the tiller into Olegs able hands, thus allowing him to eat and get some sleep
before having to sail to the eastern shore early in the morning.

Miroslav's question remained on Barmak's mind the remainder of the day.  Even as he busied himself about the Heart of Oak, giving advice to crew when warranted or tending the sails, he could not escape the looming shadow before them, represented by the Roman city the Rus ruler had willed to take.  The Persian had the salt water in his veins since the tender days of his youth, and had survived his share of boarding attempts by some of the most ruthless, bloodthirsty pirates the world could offer.  But this was war, and he had never been a warmaker.

As the ship rejoins the fleet and the sun sets beyond the rim of the world, Barmak finds a place out of the way of the others, faces the southern sky, and kneels to pray in Arabic, "Praise be to Allah, Lord of Creation, the compassionate, the merciful..."