The dragon ship slides gently into the sandy beach of the agreed upon meeting point. Miroslav is the first out of the ship to greet those who were part of the expedition. He is surprised to see them with what looks like the equipment to arm a small troupe of soldiers.

Nodding first to Zmija he hands the holy man the scroll tube given to him by the messenger from the Knyaz.

The members of the group who are on the beach notice that the ship seems to have picked up a few extra passengers, two female and one child or teenager by the looks of him.

With a wry smile Loukas speaks to Miroslav, "It is good to see you again, Captain... It appears as if in splitting in twain we have come back together a larger, even better armed crew, eh?"

We need to get word to the Knyaz...  I suspect that we have won the battle."

The big Rus smiles Loukas greets him..."A battle at sea has been won for sure. We come there but what is it that you mean?"

Zmija looks up from reading the scroll with a broad grin covering his face...I'll tell you Miroslav! The Knyaz writes that he has gained word from inside the city to destroy the aqueduct and deprive the city of water! We have already done this! Evidently an unhappy cleric by the name of Anastasius shot an arrow with a message to the Knyaz at some time yesterday. The message stated that the water line was under repair when we landed upon them and that the water main had been shut down for almost a week as they were repairing the lines. They only just returned the water flow yesterday!"

He pauses a moment to flake some of the dried blood off of his forehead then continues..."A'kos scouted ahead and discovered the whereabouts of the aqueduct, Loukas wanted to destroy in immediately but we had some heated discussion over this but decided to investigate. We met and defeated a patrol of Or and half orc Pecheneg before destroying the aqueduct and now here we are."

"'Twas a fun romp," A'kos grins.  "I'd as soon stay shorebound, as I think most would agree, but will not abandon my agreement w/ the Knyaz so soon into it.  What next for our happy troupe?"

Looking at the newcomers with eyebrow raised he adds, "And who are our new...fellows?"

"I too am curious to meet them. As well I wonder what we are to do with these captured mounts. There does not seem to be space for them on the Heart with the extra crew and that...curtain."

"It seems that we will have time for you to get your wish Sir Jean, The Knyaz instructs us to take a force from the crew and destroy the duct and return here. He is sending reinforcements so that we may lead the charge against the North Gate of the city.

"With these horses we can double-mount and move quickly with most of the crew, no? Leave a small band to watch the Heart of Oak and with the remainder we can meet the reinforcements and head to the North Gate."

Jean's only reply is to smile his best "I love leading charges" smile.

Miroslav nods his head at Loukas..."Those are my thoughts exactly! Oleg is mre than capable of watching over the ship with some of the Greek sailors...too be honest, they are just getting used to handling an oar, they have even less skill at warfare but still they are getting better as sailors."

A'kos shares the Frank's enthusiasm.

"Nothing to test one's mettle than a cavalry charge," he laughs to the others.  "When do we start?"

Alyna steps forward when people are inquiring about the newcomers. Those who did not see her yet are in for a treat, as she smiles her angelic smile when she aproaches. The wind is playing with her hair and dress, and her beauty is very obvious. "Greetings. I am Alyna, first dancer of the Blue."

Her face then gets more serious. "After the ship I was on was sunk by your fleet, noone has told me yet what your intentions are. Why are you attacking a Roman fleet and a Roman city?"

Alyna wants to add: "Don't you barbarians know the power of Constantinople? What do you hope to gain?", but she keeps that to herself.

Dyanna watches the long-lived step forward and stays in the background, near Pyotr.  She looks out toward the horseman, particularly the Frank and the Magyar who seem unconscious rivals despite sitting their horses near one another.

The odd monkish looking priest she finds...opaque.  Of him she'll have to be aware, and she files this away for future reference.

Then she notes the little, dark skinned woman sitting a dainty horse.

"Lovely lines," she thinks to herself of the mount...of the woman she is unsure.  There is a core of steel there that the others seem not to notice.

"Interesting," she thinks as she notices the woman's glance toward the Magyar.

Grinning she looks down to Pyotr and says something in a low voice.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:15, Sat 23 Jan 2010.

Loukas leans forward in his saddle as the discussion upon tactics begins, taking in the new crew members, who all seem to quite charming. Alyna's question seems most relevant, "Greetings, Alyna of the Blue. I am Loukas Ouranus and I am sorry that your vessel was sunk and you have been caught up by this nastiness. We are former servants of the John Tzimiskes, who were trapped and nearly murdered by him despite our loyal service. So, we have turned our backs on him. Some of us looking forward to the day a more noble man replaces him on the throne, others simply out of justified anger at his treachery."

As he spoke he found himself becoming angry as he described what had occurred in the past months. Clearing his throat and taking a breath to calm himself down, "We have seen the Knyaz in action and I have every reason to believe that yon city will be better off under his rule than that of John Tzimiskes."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:31, Fri 05 Feb 2010.