"Except for the fact that we'll have turned up all the dirt. It will be obvious someone was digging. We're not going to cover this up. There is dirt everywhere! I think it would look less suspicious if it seems like someone dug to the rock and stopped when compared to digging everything up then a poor attempt to hide it." Raven says.
[tab][/tab] ''Are you done? Is it over? Is it safe?'' Dinos yells from the road while holding a squirming nephew, the kind trying to see what's going on. The grog turns to the knight and says ''Begging your pardon my Lord, but if the stories are true about that other one way east of here, on the other side of the mountain, these places are bad for people. Wouldn't want for something to happen to the priests, what?'' Dinos thinks it over ''Maybe... you could take a look at that other one one day soon? It would be good for the people...'' he finishes lamely.
Maia saysWhat are these stories specifically you didn't share earlier is what I would like to know!
Stares in the Magi's direction.
It looks like the enthusiasm to break into these mounds has waned.
Maybe things buried are better left undisturbed, Dinos! Yah, I am thinking that problems in those places start up because the mounds are dug up by would be grave robbers or nosy priests. Is that what happened in the one east of here?
"Come take a look, Dinos, see how well sealed this tomb is!" declares Pavo. "This is so well sealed nothing has entered or left! This is best left undisturbed. We shall put the earth back and leave it."
[tab][/tab] Though the child is eager to see whats going on, his uncle keeps him back with a warning, then comes closer and cranes his neck to see what has been done. Aristocles has 'shoveled' the clay back, which will eventually turn into rock again, sealing the entrance. It is a half-done job but at least you have checked for dangers and found none. It is obvious that this area has been tampered with and the two lion statues disturbed, but with luck the locals and visiting priests will not notice. Tired, sweaty and none-too-clean (most of you), your party takes the long walk home. Dinos says he will escort his nephew to his village and come by the covenant tomorrow, promising to share more information about the other site in the east. The grog seems to be in a better mood now, he was clearly worried. He bids you farewell and heads with the hyperactive boy towards the mountain.
[tab][/tab] It is more than an hour later on the way home that you come past the Imperial outpost of Aristi and you start seeing people returning from the fair in groups or pairs. Some of them are drunk and no above singing rowdy songs and all of them are in high spirits, including people that work for you. While the villagers respectfully avoid you while heading back to their homes in Papigo, your grogs are eager to share stories and songs and marvels they have seen at the fair, things that city people would certainly scoff at. Never the less it was a good day and you walk content towards the Rotunda with the sun setting behind you.
[tab][/tab] Next day the sun rises as always and things settle again in normal patterns, even though some people were late rising to work. You share tales of your adventure (or not) with people you trust and consider friends, things about the fair, the countryside, and your sigh-seeing of the sealed tomb you were called upon to deal with. Word passes around and comes back to you with more rumors:
-[tab][/tab] Tymvoi such as these are an uncommon occurrence. Indeed there is bad luck associated with them, but nothing usually happens. There are rumors of a haunting in the east though, halfway between Dobrinovo and Liasinitsa.
-[tab][/tab] Dimitris, Anastaj's man, has a thoughtful look on his face. He recalls that in the town of Ioannina there is a merchant that deals in antiquities. This summer the representatives sent to Delos tried to meet him but he seemed to be out of town till Autumn. Perhaps he has come back. He cautions though that this man is known to Miklos through his contacts, explaining that he probably also acts as a fence to not so-honest people. His shop is in the new commerce district.
-[tab][/tab] Asad, Raven's husband, is intrigued. Islam states that no edifice shall be built over a grave, only a marker as a remembrance of the person's passing. Hence all such tombs are torn down, and while looting is frowned upon as ghoulish, tomb raiding has been quite widespread in the east. Respect is to be shown to the dead at all times, but such misguided structures frequently become a focus of malevolent energies. Many tales of ghouls and ghosts are told, coming from such unclean places. The dead have no use of things to take to the other side.
-[tab][/tab]Later that day, Dinos comes with a home made fig-pie as an offering for the magi's help. Well baked and slightly too sweet, it was made by Tolis' mother as a gift of thanks. The grog is very proud of this local delicacy (albeit meager peasant fare to some) and deftly divides the pie for the members of the 'rescue team'. Things went well, and nothing troubled the priest delegation. With luck and God's help, people will forget the tymvos there. As promised he shares some information about the one in the east. It is a small, wind torn hill between two small villages, its face blacked by a recent fire. People say that there are weird sounds coming at night, moans and curses, and they are afraid to use the road past sunset. Moreover, twice this year children went missing in those villages, then found dead near the tymvos, their dead bodies grey as new ash. If asked, Dinos says they seem to have been chocked to death. Though that part of the land is under the jurisdiction of that new noble at the Aoos castle, nothing has been done and the villagers are terrified.
<OOC Maia asks a bit about the new noble at Aoos, what's the rumor? OOC>
Raven relay's her husband's thoughts. Combined with the news about the children there is certainly something amiss with the area. Perhaps we should observe this area after nightfall? We might learn something. If we can banish a unclean spirit it would be well worth the effort.
[tab][/tab] There is precious little known about the new noble at Aoos. There was an old, dilapidated castle of early Byzantine construction situated at the upstream entrance of the river gorge, placed in a shadowed place. It started as a single guard tower, then periodically expanded as an outpost monitoring the old northern road to Grevena, and at some point it was abandoned and considered haunted. Michael Dukas had awarded the castle and its surrounding area, including the rights to two villages, to a noble of Slavic descend some years ago. There have been renovations seen these past seasons, but this year with the assassination of the ruler, it seems the noble finally took up residence there. Very little is known about him, except he has a weird, foreign name, it seems he spends most of his time in Arta.
[tab][/tab] What is known is that the castle has now people in it again, but not what of the sort expected. There are quite a few guards of slavic descent, but most of the folk working there seem to have gypsy blood in them, the characteristic darker skin tones and faces. Word spread between villages say that the noble plans to claim taxes from the surrounding villages this fall.
"I wonder if the new noble is at all connected with the deaths?" Raven asks out loud, but not particularly directed at anyone.
OOC: Anyone feel free to appear and respond to Raven
Maia answers Raven vehemently. "Can't say so for certain, but wherever there's a rich and mighty noble, there's someone who's stepped on many a skull to get there. Or their inept son or daughter, yeah? We'd all be better off without 'em, but here we are." It looks like Maia might continue her rant, but she goes silent and thoughtful.
Pavo joins in "While observing the area would seem a sensible idea to protect the local children, I'm not sure my strengths lie with banishing unquiet spirits or dealing with malevolent fae. What I can do is speak politely to the staff of the new noble, or even the man himself. Perhaps if we make a small expedition, with a few of the covenant going to check the tomb while I and one of our turb go to the castle pretending to be selling something. This way we can examine two different concerns at the same time."
<OOC Maia would love to join Pavo in his endeavors, but she'd probably be a liability in interacting with a nobleman. She is willing to help as a guide for traveling to the other tymvos, if diggers are brought, but will avoid the Gorge for the time being, and specially when the moon is full in the sky (assuming she survived adventure 1.1, which is looking less and less likely, might be an incognizant ghost at this point 
) OOC>
Pavo thinks for a minute. "Aristocles, you want to head south to the town of Ioannina. You will need help from someone who does not suffer from The Gift to help. Will you be needing money for purchases, or are you looking to trade with this mysterious merchant?" he asks.
"Now Aoos is north-west of our covenant site I believe, so an expedition to the castle and the two nearby villages would all be roughly in that direction. Judging by our progress last time, we will need tools for digging and possibly some grogs. We will need to check what we can do about potential threats like ghosts or malevolent faeries before we get there, so we don't run around aimlessly. I will also need to bring along smart clothes for presenting myself to the local lord as someone reputable - perhaps a merchant, or a steward?
Let me ask our smith if we have digging tools, and let me ask the turb how long the journeys to Aoos and Ioannina are. Let us begin planning, unless everyone is tired of travel this season. I suggest we travel to Ioannina to purchase any supplies the covenant needs for winter, and any digging tools if it turns out we're desperately short. While we're there Aristocles and an assistant meet with the merchant. We then either head back here or to the villages near the castle of Aoos, depending on which route makes sense. We look at the tymvos, ask villagers if anything unusual has happened and gently ask about the dead children, and see if we can do anything. We then head to the castle, I pretend to be a steward bringing supplies to a small community in the mountains and ask the staff how everything's going, and see if I can meet our esteemed noble neighbour?
[tab][/tab] In your discussions you have included the opinions of both companions and magi, and anyone who has knowledge and can help. You have decided that you should meet with the noble at Aoos gorge and on the way look into the eastern villages and the Tymvos there. You have also decided to meet with that shady merchant in Ioannina, whether that is as a separate expedition or while going to the Tymvos is debatable. Your resident blacksmith gruffly searches and procures digging implements (shovels and pickaxes, a long crowbar and a single wheel-cart) so you can take with you a group of four to do manual work. Asking Dimitris about provisions, money and things the covenant needs for winter, the acting steward raises an eyebrow and explains that all supplies needed for winter are being taken care of and brought by mules and teamsters in the appropriate time, would you like to oversee them? (a subtle question that, perhaps one of the magi would like to take on the mundane running of the covenant. He is not offended). He does give a pouch of money for whatever purchases you want to make at the merchant, stoically nodding at the explanations. He also provides a crude map of the area, drawn on an old, used piece of cured leather, which you promptly unfold in the council room. The distance to Ioannina with a teamster team is slightly less that one day, starting out in the morning and arriving before sunset. One though could go faster by walking without a whole team of mules (around 3 / 4 of a day) or faster still by horse. On the other hand access to the eastern parts of Tymfi is more problematic: The villages and castle are diametrically on the opposite side of the mountains. There are three ways to reach them. The fastest route is to go directly south east, round the southern end of the massif and through the Tsepelovo road skirt the eastern mountain flanks into the wooded area of the two villages and then to the castle. That would take half a day but you will need to traverse the whole length of Vikos gorge (and once more when returning). The other route takes you north to Konita, through the Aoos gorge and the first to the castle, then the villages beyond it. Slightly more than three quarters of daytime, you will arrive in the late afternoon at the Tymvos, earlier at the castle. Again though you will have to traverse a gorge. The last route is longer as it takes you around the whole massif. Your party would have to go to the Aristi station, down to that valley the tombs you visited today were, round the Vikos gorge from the southern edge, then join the Tsepelovo road. It will take a full day to reach the villages, and you would probably need to stay the night and visit the castle the next day.
[tab][/tab] It would make sense to split into two parties. Aristocles with some companion or glib magi would go to Ioannina and try to find the merchant. Should they be lucky, the whole endeavor could take a whole day. Pavo would take a team of grogs with the equipment and chose one of the three ways to reach the Eastern Tymvos and the castle. With him will go Maia for guiding them through the passes and wilderness (not that she hides her interest in Pavo). Sir Georgios and Raven have yet to choose where to go....
Raven will go to meet with the merchant. She's married to a merchant so maybe she'll have some expertise in the area? Probably not, but that's as good as any other reason. Plus she doesn't want to get tied up with a noble. There is that non-interference thing.
[tab][/tab] After some brief conference, you have decided to split into two groups an d cover as many bases as you can. In a flurry of activity Pavo and Maia organize a group of grogs to help them with the Tomb excavation, loading a pair of mules with the supplies and tools needed. Dimitris adds a third mule for Pavo, reasoning that since he will dress for meeting a noble he should probably keep the attire clean (unless he would prefer riding a horse). A group of six will accompany them to the villages in the East, so this party of eight will include Pavo, Maya, a scout, a teamster and four brawny men who will do the actual digging. The other group is less organized and much smaller. The two magi, Aristocles and Raven will go visit the town of Ioannina and the supposed dealer in antiquities. Armed with a solid knowledge of where the shop is (Aristocles and Scylax had tried to visit the trader in summer) and some spotty information (mainly from Miklos report on the underhanded dealings in Ioannina) the two discuss how many people they should commandeer, whether Raven will bring her familiar with her and whether they would accept the last minute offer by Asad, Raven's husband, to join them. It is next morning that both groups start on the road out the Gorge towards Aristi, then down the imperial road for a bit, before splitting up. The two group moving on the road around the mountains and down to the Ioannina valley in speed, while the larger tomb group cutting through the valleys in a slow pace and around Tymfi to reach the eastern side.
[tab][/tab]-[tab][/tab] Town Group 1 (Aristocles, Raven)
[tab][/tab] The advantage of a small group is speed. Your group managed to make good time reaching Ioannina, entering the town's proper well before afternoon. Tired, you spend some minutes
freshening up near a public fountain, then head for the new quarter where the smiths and copper mongers are now holding shops. Aristocles guides your group having recently visited the place, until your group finds what is looking for in a byway. The seedy looking shop has a cavernous front door in garish green, now open, and is in a two storey building with a stout staircase next door going up. All buildings are packed against each other forming blocks and none of them have windows facing the street. The upper storey bulges out over the street in an overhang that makes a small promenade in front of the shop itself. A large sign with stylized letters proclaims this shop 'Antiquities'. There are people in this street, most of them shop owners. However there are also idles that watch the traffic go by, unsavory characters that take interest in passer-bys.
[tab][/tab] After a brief conference you decide to enter, the front porch step loudly creaking from your weight. There is a faint aroma of incense, not the heavy eastern stuff, but something more exotic and light. Visibility is poor, and it takes you some minutes to adjust to the darkness, the only light coming in from the door. The place is packed wall to wall with old items and nick-knacks: rusted brass lamps and stylized iron pokers, old steel weapons and rotten shields of a bygone era barely usable. Canes and broken furniture and odd pieces of carpentry on one side, metal objects of little value hanging on the walls, censers and tripods, chipped bowls and china on shelves. This looks more like a junk-yard than a quality shop. Small, cramped and with little space left to roam, this room is devoid of human presence. In fact there is not even a counter or chair. In the back an arched doorway with a heavy beaded screen offers an opening further. The mantle piece is an old purplish marble and sculpted with representations of tree branches coiled with snakes. The beaded screen is a red background in Minoan style, depicting a half naked man en guard, with long flowing hair down his back holding some kind of flower. Beyond in semi light space with tantalizing glimpses of white marble and shimmering metal, illuminated by several skylights open above....
[tab][/tab]-[tab][/tab]Tomb Group 1 (Pavo, Maia)
[tab][/tab] The route you have chosen takes you past the valley you found the first tombs, the villages you passed by, round the mountain and out the southern end into a second similar valley. This time though you follow the goat path on the northern side making your way past the south-western part of the mountain the split village of Vezitsa, a scattering of Vlach residences and goat-stables up and down the mountain. You cross the eastern part of the river at the Misiou crossing (a shallow ford covered in rough planks just outside the southern end of the Gorge) then take the long, arduous climb back up the slopes of the mountain. Your guides explain that you could go further down and take the path through Vikaki, another gorge formed by a river flowing into Voidomatis, but eventually you will have to still make a steep climb to Tsepelovo. Your route must go through the southern mountain road, however rough that is, or you would have to cut through wilderness and forest, a much slower prospect.
[tab][/tab] The southern part of Tymfi is rugged, sun-blasted, with sparse vegetation after the hot summer and a panoramic view of the smaller gorge formed bellow. You pass two villages, Tsepelovo and Skamneli, both whitewashed affairs made of mortared stone, filled with energetic people. Most residents here are greeks and vlachs, dealing with animals or forestry. Tsepelovo is quite large in fact and has its own stone church. People are friendly and greet you passing by, asking for news or to trade. In remote places you catch glimpses of secluded buildings, monasteries and nunneries, religious retreats that dot this whole mountainside. This part of Tymfi is firmly in the hands of the Lord.
[tab][/tab] Things change though when you leave the goat track rounding the massif and enter the old forest road to the east. Still in the lee of the mountain side, the forest surrounds you with a mix of conifers, evergreens and deciduous trees entering their autumnal phase. The change is abrupt and unnerving, it is clear you have entered a mountain forest, all sounds muffled and visibility limited. Distantly you can hear the rhythmic fall of lumbering axes and the calls of forest birds. But a feeling of oppression is there, very different than the western part of Tymfi, like someone constantly watching over your shoulder. Travelers are few and far between, always in groups and suspicious of your party, local people who work the forest most of them of superstitious slavic stock. Marks of the wilderness of the place are found frequently in the falling light: animals tracks cross the path, wolf imprints and bear marks attest to the dangers of the deep forest. At some point your scout holds back and points to a recent clearing on the side of the path. Some years past, two trees broke, leaving rugged stumps and fallen logs that were not carried off by loggers, like toothpicks snapped in half. This small clearing is now filled with green vegetation taking advantage of the sudden light, belladonna and foxgloves. Your scout points under a bush on the other side, a dirty looking stick of ivory white, the remains of a lost soul. Old and badly weathered, with tattered strips of clothing, leather or corded flesh, this poor traveler has been dead and un-buried for years, its skull smashed in and broken in a hundred pieces, its bones picked clean and scattered by scavengers. Maia recognizes the broken trees and smashed skull as blows by the Drakoi. It is evidence that this country is raided by the brutes, coming down the mountains.
[tab][/tab] Evening comes faster in this part of the countryside, the huge massif hiding the sun hours before sunset. You have covered much distance, but still you are inside the forest. The two villages are close, so is the location of the Tomb itself. The castle is some hours away, it will be traveling at night to reach it. Remember, you can always turn back.....
Pavo declares "Let us head for the nearest village. We should be able to find shelter for the night, if only in a barn. It will be much safer than this forest. We will not observe the tomb tonight - we will ask the villagers for any stories of what is happening, then look at the tomb in daylight tomorrow. We are certainly only going to approach the castle by daylight."
Maia is a little listless and ill-tempered during the day, she is Nocturnal after all. Normally blunt and outspoken, she is a little shy and nervous in the presence of Pavo.
"I like the outdoors and the night, Magu...er scholar, but these places are dangerous. The other realms are too close, you understand? I thought I knew strangeness, but walking in these places near the gorge has been harrowing. she says earnestly Suddenly slaps her legs Ha! I do carry on, of course you know your business. again more distant, in thought Could have used your help with those wolves, I screwed that one royally. Thought I had him cold, like in Aesop, you know?
You really think talking to this noble is a good idea, Pavo? Because, you know, uhmm, you kinda make an impression on a person. If you, ahh, know what I mean. very shyly, going red. Don't wanna tell you what to do, you understand, just, you know, he might wanna closer look, and we don't want that! Pause Closer look at Meru Mudi, is what I meant! Trouble with the Order if that happens, or so I was told over and over. Not that I'd tattle. she trails off as she realizes she's babbling a bit.
[tab][/tab]-[tab][/tab] Tomb Group 2
[tab][/tab] Closest to you is Dobrinovo, a tiny slavic settlement in the middle of the forest. Situated on a incline and watching over the Vikos river, you can see as you exit the side-path that half the buildings in this village are slate-covered sorry affairs of stone buildings, while the other half are made of wood... and most of those look more like huts than proper homes. Your group is spotted by some children, dirty little kids dressed in rags, who immediately run away. Soon people come out carrying farming implements and sticks in their hands, clearly fearful that you are a raiding party or bandits. Women rush children indoors and bar whatever windows they can. Clearly this is a place not used to strangers in such numbers.
[tab][/tab] Most of the villagers are gaunt with a desperate look to them, dressed in traditional slavic weaves and speaking Greek only haltingly. A representative steps out, hands clutched on his chest, an old man more like a timid Elder than an village overseer. In halting Greek he greets you and states that this is a poor village with nothing to offer...
Outside the village, Pavo will have reassured Maia "Don't worry, it's interfering with mundanes that would get me in trouble. Politely speaking to nearby people and trying to sort out any problems by diplomacy is not interfering. If they turn out to be hostile and I have to defend myself, I may well end up having to explain myself. Don't worry, I will be careful."
On reaching the village, Pavo will wonder who has terrorised these people so. He will turn to the old man and say "Don't be afraid, we mean no harm. We are travelling and would like to shelter in the village for the night, as it seems far safer than the woods. We will be happy with any place to stay, and can offer a little silver for your generosity."