sir Georgios
Assuming stress roll, sir Georgios has Epirus lore 21 (die roll 1, then 9; skill 3, int 0).
Artes liberales fails (11).
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Pondering about what he knows of the area, sir Georgios looks towards the others, especially Raven, watching their reaction.
•Maia has Int 0 + Area Lore Theban Trib(geography) 3, don't know if that works, roll it anyway: _: 1D10 = [9] = 9 = 12, success if allowed
•Int 0 + Artes Lib 2 _: 1D10 = [7] = 7 = 9, fail.
This seems to concern mountainous regions, so her Way of the Mountains may apply. Did not add it, but first roll is still a success without, and second a failure even with WoM.
Pavo is from the other side of the Aegean mainland (Area Lore: Thessaly, specialised in villages)
Area Lore(2)+Int(2)+Stress(0)=potential botch, how many dice? otherwise a fail
Artes Lib(1)+Int(2)+Stress(5)=8
Philosophiae(1)+Int(2)+Stress(6)=9
Pavo is completely unaware of the stone lions and any associated traditions, and indeed may have a misunderstanding about their nature if they're different to what Thessalians know.
Aristocles states "With the lion statues outside, that sounds like an Ancient Greek tomb monument called a Tymvos. It must be worth a look?".
(ST EDIT) Tymvi plural, Tymvos singular
Maia says: Sometimes you see these mounds in the country side, I have myself, over on the Thessalian side. Always with a bare top, there's all sort of beliefs on what they really are: abodes of ghosts, faeries, you name it. An old wife would warn you not to climb them, and not to circle them with your sinister towards them! Bad luck!
She smiles at Aristocles and says playfully: "Of course adventurous souls don't let old wives' tales deter them, do they!
«They are burial mounds!?» sir Georgios says, looking at Aristocles with a mixture of curiosity and surprise. «I didn't know, but that would of course explain a great deal. There is handful of them around Tymfi, and they are known to be riddled with ghosts and faeries, and whatever else one would expect after a pagan burial. Have the priest bless the place must be the right thing to do, but I won't shun an adventure if the rest of you want to explore.»
"Yes we will explore this if my fellow Council members, Pavo and Raven, agree" says Aristocles looking at Sir Georgios when he says Council. "Forgive my lack of formality in my address sodales but we are in public" he says apologetically to the two Magi.
The knight looks at Aristocles with revulsion, and goes to talk to the grog. «Can you tell me more about those lions? You speak as if you have encountered many of them, and seen all sorts of events.»
"I can see we are going to have problems with this one" states Aristocles to Pavo and Raven, "evidently he forgets his place"
Turning his good ear towards the grog, it just so happens that he turns the hole-y side towards Aristocles, and the knight does not hear a word.
"Please, explain what you can about these tombs. This may be a complete coincidence, but is the area near our covenant and these tombs related, one being Tymphi and one Tymvi? Or is that my Thessalian ears making me think of linked words when there is nothing to hear?"
[tab][/tab] Dinos knows very little about the mounds. He gulps and crosses himself when he hears Aristocles say that they are burial sites, then nods to himself as things make sense. He answers the knight: '' Well... there have been seen in these parts. Not that common I'd say my Lord. They be, like bright white rocks all over, with gashes and gouges. Most miss a paw or a head, or are just completely broken. To be honest I have only seen them in two places, and one of them is in Delos'' He thinks a bit ''The island ones are different, larger. Ours are small, like big dogs? Yee high? Or twice that? The other I saw when I was little, at the ruins near Tservari. The elders say that one was moved from its place to guard the ruins'' He makes a face ''I'd still hate to have the priest and folks face something untoward, sirs. Better safe than sorry''.
[tab][/tab] The grog joins his relative and respectfully awaits your decision. The kid is looking at you wide-eyed with a mug smudged with dirt, and while his eyes avoid direct contact with the magi, he is certainly taken by the rough aspect of the knight. ''Its in the fig filled ditch behind the hill'' the child whispers '' I can take you there. Don't tell ma though, she will think we are cursed and make me drink bitter medicine from our folk healer'', he scrounges his face at the memory. Pavo in meanwhile turns over the Greek words in his mind and finds them unrelated. Tymphi seems to come from an ancient Greek tribe that lived around here centuries ago, fierce warriors that used massive dogs in war. Tymvos is an ancient Greek word describing a man made hill used as a monument. The Bjornaer remembers reading about the battle of Marathon in ancient history texts about the Peloponnesian wars, and that after the victory against the Persians, a great hill was erected in honor of the warriors lost. The word 'Tomb' derives from that. It seems Greeks buried their worthy dead in such places with ceremony. Dinos says there are two hills in that area, opposite each other on different sides of a dry gulch, while he has heard of a another one, a cursed one on the other side of the mountain.
Aristocles states keenly "Lets go and explore these ruins, who knows what we may uncover".
Raven isn't particularly pleased about in-fighting between one of the covenant's guards and a magi. Plus she thought Sir Georgios at least meant well. Wanting to move the conversation onto productive things Raven says in Latin <<"I agree? They've dealt with this sort of thing long before we arrived, so we could probably ignore it, but maybe we'll find something worthy? At the very least if a priest deals with it, I would support being on hand to deal with any trouble."
Pavo smiles at the young boy and says "come, show us this fig-filled ditch. We would love to see this"
Maia is intent on deciphering the interactions between the Magi. She finds them strange and suspicious, but has been taught that this is part and parcel of the Gift. The Raven woman does appear so very normal...for a woman in a harem! Of course, it is mostly Pavo that is in her thoughts.
"We are going there, now? She looks down at her clothes, which are simple but clean, nearly her best. Maia approaches sir Georgios Ser? Are you well? she speaks quietly.
The knight is fully focused on the grog's story. «How far is it?» he asks, «can we make it there and back home today?»
It takes a while before he realises that Raven's words in Latin can only be meant for him. «Sorry, Raven, you were talking to me?» He excuses himself, and lets her repeat, before he answers. «Yes, that was what I said, wasn't it? We don't have to find anything to have a jolly good time in this season.»
To Maia's question he answers, «yes, of course.»
[tab][/tab] Smiling an excited, gap toothed smile to Pavo the kid runs off yelling ''This way sirs!'', while his uncle shakes his head and apologises. ''Its an hour or two by foot following the road, sir. We can definitely go there today and return. It would be good to, you know... make sure things are ok before the priests and my kin go there tomorrow', Dinos says to the Knight before running to catch up to his wayward nephew. Your party decides not to take too many people with them, as that can cause a commotion. Besides most of the grogs and covenfolk are slightly inebriated and having a jolly time, it would be a shame to spoil their fun.
[tab][/tab] Sir Georgios takes his warhorse and mounts... only to somehow slip and fall on his face. Fortunately no-one besides your party was a witness to this unfortunate event, though Dinos is hard containing his laughter. Tolis is openly laughing, then starts running ahead. Some curses later, the knight having saved some of his dignity, you start on the trade road going south, skirting the Tymfi mountains until you reach the outpost of Aristi. The trade road heads west, but your guides follow a lesser traveled path south and up part of the mountain, cutting through the hilly terrain and going into the valley behind your massif. The going is easy, except that sir Georgios horse went lame twice with pebbles in its hoof! It seems it will need to be re-shod back at the covenant.
[tab][/tab] From the ridge, the valley looks like a long loaf of bread, quartered into small parcels of cultivated land, with a village in the south end and Tservari way up on the north mountain side. The road takes you on the western side of the valley, heading towards the alley village, but early on, your guides take a turn left. There is a small, wooden church dedicated to saint Barbara (the grogs cross themselves) and on the other side a small path going into the fields. You quickly cross the valley floor, going towards the mountain and the terrain starts showing ditches and dry ravines that divide parcels of land, bordered by deciduous trees. Ahead you can see two hills in front of the slopes, one of them should be your destination.
Maia walks along in a foul mood. There's something going on but she can't quite grasp what. She is watching the Magi like a hawk, is one of them playing a prank on ser Giorgios? The simpler answer is that the man is drunk. And who could blame him if he downed a cup or three? She will walk ahead to the lead to watch out for dangers and signs on the roads.