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Blessed & Cursed (Yuna & Alvis Alendran's 1x1)

Thorsosn nodded as she spoke, taking in what she said. So Decton had people within the village that listened to him. That in and of itself was valuble to know at this point, though hard to properly know how to react. After all, starting a witch hunt throught eh village would do little to soothe nerves and tempers. He'd need to be careful, try and get her to be more specific in the future about this topic, but for right now, he had something to go off of. He sat on one of the empty chairs, not minding that Sophitia seemed t be hiding behind him. He was large enough to accomplish such a feat fr her. Decton raised his eyebrow at her.

"I don't know this face. Thorsson, who is she?" He asked. Before anyone else could speak, Thorson made sur eto deflect any further attention.
"A slave, captured recently. And is of no notice of yours Decton." He said calmly. The Greek raised his hands in acquiescence.
"Very well! Though i must say it is deisquieting to know you would make slaves of my people! What is she worth to you? I can offer you a...what did you call it? A mark? A mark of gold for her." Hargen smiled. This was interesting, adn not part of the normal deal. Thorsson shook his head.
"No Decton. I find her useful to me, so I have no wish to sell her."
"But she is one of my people, if I can provide her some freedom-"
"You decry her slavrey, and yet offer to pay for her as though she were a bundle of dry goods. No Decton, we have business to discuss. Let us get to that." The Greek nodded.

"Very well. What needs be done is that you burn some of the surrounding farms from Athens. Without them, the city must start to spend coin to bring in enough food to survive. Even perhaps from my own city. This will bring more and more coin to us, adn allow us to put you to bigger tasks." Decton explained. it was all very basic to Thorsson. Raze the countryside, and pillage along the way.
"How many farms?" he asked. It was essential to know what he'd be committing to. Decton spread out a map, running a finger across a fairly broad area.
"All across here, however might be there."
"That is a mighty task to set upon us."
"And I assume there will be a mighty cost."
"It will take all of my band. And three weeks of near constant raiding. That will call for all hundred and twelve ready warriors. Five marks of gold per man." Decton goggled.
"You would nearly bankrupt the city!"
"Then narrow the field of work. The codst is what it is. And we will need at least one fourth up front." Decton nodded reluctantly.
"But you are sure that this can be done?"
"Yes." Thorsson never hesitated for a second.
"Then it will be done."

Decton left quickly, needing to organize a large amount of gold to be delivered. Thorsson turned to Sophitia.
"So, Decton plots something in my own walls. Was there aything more? Speak freely, Hargen will do you no harm." He waved a hand at the aged man. Hargen smiled.
"He speaks true lass. You are no threat to me, and I wish you no ill will." He said calmly. Hargen seemed quite relaxed with the situation.
 
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Her head quickly shook no. "Though I heard it spoken, it was in your native tongue. And with my lack of having learned that ... I can't exactly pronounce or translate it. But ... there was a faster than usual breeze around me. That much I definitely noted." Her teeth found her lower lip as she grasped it slightly. This ... was worrying her. In the past, her visions had always been more .. direct, easy to understand and interpret. Now, it was getting more difficult. And it made her fear she truly wouldn't be able to go through with the task Thorsson had asked of her. And ... gods she didn't want to lose his graces just because he may be trying to test her too much or harshly. She could only do so much and in a certain amount of time. Surely he would understand that much .... wouldn't he?
 
Thorsson looked pensive, and then turned to Sophitia.
"Easy lad. She's not a goddess. Only a Seer." Hargen warned. Thorsson smiled at the elder.
"You don't know me quite that well old man. I remember well dealing with the Vikti bakc home. They could never speak plainly, and she's already managed that more than once. But wind? What in Hel's name is that about?" He said cally. Fortunately he didn't seem overly perturbed by her prophecy, and showed no ill will for her.
"An archer perhaps?" Hargen suggested.
"No, the wind is a nuisance to them more often. Who in this place is aspected to the blasted wind?"
"Canute? He tlks so cursed much he makes his own wind."
"I'm sure our skald will appreciate that Hargen. But again, doubtful. What is the wind known for mainly?"
"Moving quickly?" Thorsson frowned, rolling that around in his head.
"If you've any ideas, feel free to speak up Sophitia." He said to her off handedly.

The group was dispersing from the training field, and Herliefr was favouring the side of his face that had been savaged by the blow. It's what he got for not concentrating. He walked towards the longhouse he called home, but felt his hackles rising. SOmething was watching him. He looked around, but no one was paying him any attention. His face heat, as though he stood too close to a fire, but the feeling of being watched wouldn't dissipate. Something was wrong.
 
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As the exchange continued, it only made poor Sophitia more and more tense. And finally when the suggestion of the wind representing something that moved quickly was heard, she couldn't help but whimper softly. She gave a slow nod, her hands barely staying stable to keep from shaking. ".... Likely, you're fastest person in this ... encampment of sorts. So unless there is another I've not met that can beat him .... " Her eyes lowered more towards the ground. By the time she forced the sentence to be completed, her voice had lowered -- but not so much it couldn't be heard. "Herliefr .... "
 
Thorsson looked to Hargen.
"How well do we know Herliefr? Really?" The younger man asked.
"Not as well as we should. Recent intake, with us for only a few months before we came here. Served in a few bands before coming to us. Good reputation." Hargen supplied.
"But certainly not as loyal as the Old Guard."
"Maybe, maybe not. But if he's involved in a plot..."
"We need to be watchful of him. To say the least." Hargen nodded his agreement, and then Thorsson turned to look at Sophitia.

"You've been helpful Sophitia. You have my gratitude." He tolld her, and stood up. "Now come along. I've plans to lay out if we're going to make this new contract work for us. And you might prove helpful with knowing some of the terrain." he told her, heading back to the door. He wasn't lying, they'd not had much time to scout all oft he farms in the area to know how many were around, adn if an of them were defended.
 
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Oh thank gods, they didn't accuse her of being insane or something of the like. She supposed that would be one thing Sophitia would never miss of Athens; all the people giving her odd looks, laughing, something along those lines. And especially when she'd been damn honest; it really did get annoying after a bit to continue to endure such treatments. At least here with the Norse, that didn't appear to be an issue. She still missed home ... somewhat. But then again, how much of it was even left? Still strong at this point? She hated to admit it, but probably not as much as she last saw. Though Sophitia hadn't seen much in terms of the damage, she could have sworn the scent of fire or something burning had been something else she noted before being carried and dragged away. And if that had been true ... it made her inwardly sigh.

Why did things always have to be so damn complicated? She'd give anything by this point to have one day to be rid of fears and anxieties. But if that hadn't happened thus far, Sophitia didn't expect that anytime soon ... maybe never even.

The command to follow Thorsson snapped her out of the thoughts, the compliment unable to help but allow a small smile cross her face. If nothing else, the staying in his good graces part of this long-term assignment she'd been given was going damn well. "Thank you ... " She replied softly, getting up to her feet as she followed behind. Although ... she hoped he didn't mean any terrain nearby because ... she'd just gotten here a couple days ago. She definitely didn't know any of the immediate areas. As much as she wanted to inquire, those answers would likely be revealed, verbally or otherwise.
 
Thorsson led Sophitia back to teh main hall, and to a large table. A map was already spread out, in anticipation that Thorsson would either have a contract, or be wanting to plan a raid anyway. The map showed Athens, and the area around it. THere were a lot of outlying farms that had been labelled, but there were larger swathes of empty terrain that they hadn't had the chance to adequately scout. He was hoping that Sophitia would have some knowledge of the surrounding area, even an idea. This was supposed to be a fast raid, leaving a trail of death and fire behind them, not something that tested the response time of the Athenian military. He leaned onto teh table, mind already starting to turn to the matters of the raid. He turned to look at Sophitia.
"Well then Seer. What can you tell me of the area around Athens? Is the map right? Are there hills, wodds, or streams that we don't have on the map? Do you know any more than we do about it?" He asked her. It wasn't a challenge, but a question that he wanted to have answered. It was hard to say exactly what he was really hunting for. Though if Thorsson was being honest with himself, he was wondering what the girl was going to useful for outside of her Sight.
 
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Upon arriving in the hall, Sophitia's hand shook as her eyes easily recognized what the map was of. This .. was pushing it, even for her. And thus far, she'd cooperated with everything else, even listing off the temples all the deities protecting her were located at. Taking another glance upon the map, her back soon faced Thorsson as Sophitia's head shook no. "This ... is too much. I've been doing all you've asked of me. This ... I can't, though. All the gods you've gotten hints about haven't turned their back on me and I'm not about to do that back. Military knowledge may not be my forte ... but I understand enough what the map's for. No ... "

The sentence trailed off at that, her head continuing to slowly move from side to side. It wasn't just her loyalties to her hometown that had helped her make up her mind. No, Sophitia hadn't forgotten all the blessings Athena had given her. Normally, it was dangerous to even risk testing such things out. But she had more than enough faith within the gods and goddesses above, that her purity would remain no matter what and no weapon would harm her. In a sense, it made her close to immortal, a demi-goddess basically. And she was both flattered and anxious on the new status.

Her head bowed slightly as she swallowed. Sophitia wouldn't begin to regret her choice of words; just that it'd come down to this. But there was no way in any of the layers of Hell that Thorsson had seriously expected her to honestly reply to that, did he? After all, despite all the other requirements he asked from her, loyalty to the Norse ways and citizenship had not been one. Then again, even if that had been one, she'd likely have declined that too.

This way of life wasn't overly horrible ... but it certainly wasn't one that Sophitia would want to fully devote herself to either. She couldn't just forget of Athens, even if most of the citizens had done so to her already by now.
 
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