A mariner’s new companions

(Penned by Gyasi to his mother in Alexandria)

Greetings to the most exalted and wonderful person in the world my own dearest mother,

It’s been a few days since I wrote, my apologies. I, as you know, tend to lose track of time when I’m at loose ends in harbor. As I wrote earlier, I was able to get Orestes, his sister, and the statue safely to port and escorted them to the temple of Artemis near Attica. They were nice folks, though the lady was a bit stern and difficult to get to know. By the time I was done seeing them settled, the ship I was working on had moved on. That turned out to be alright as father let me know I had another task to do, but first I needed to find the largest ship in Athens and join its crew before they set sail for Sparta.

He isn’t the best of explainers. As it turns out finding the ship in question was remarkably easy. I’ve never seen a vessel of this magnificence in my life. I have seen villas smaller than this ship. I introduced myself to the ship’s mate Theos. He said the captains were ashore and would be back in he hoped a few days’ time. He was good enough to direct me to their villa, so little Halima and I wandered that way. We got a bit turned around, but apparently not many with the mark of Bastet have been to Athens, so it made it easy to find people to ask. Once I got there, some of the locals said I’d not be able to miss them when the heroes returned. They would always chuckle before moving on.

As happens they were not wrong. Two days later, in the evening I spy a giant of man clad in armor that I didn’t recognize with several companions. He was like the bull men I told you about I caught glimpses of on Crete. Of course, I introduced myself like you taught me, he seemed perplexed for a moment then was able to catch up. Perhaps I talk to fast. His name was Nicolos. He seemed friendly. His companions were nearly as striking. Normally you’d figure one massive person would be sufficient for any group of people, but apparently not for the heroes. There was another large but quiet man. Nicolos introduced him as Ouroboros. He said not a word to me, perhaps he doesn’t like cats?

In addition to the taciturn Ouroboros there was also a lovely lady named Thalia. She was quite striking and very friendly. I think she must be of some noble descent, she her manner and dress seem to want to be noticed, but in the don’t let me catch you sort of way. Much like how little Halima plays with mice. We met another couple companions the following morning at the ship. Enroute, we chanced upon lady Alex. She is an odd mix, looks very young, but speaks with great intelligence. Dresses simply but carries a staff of some sort that looks more like a badge of office than a tool or weapon. Once on board I also met lady Irene. Interestingly she is studying to learn navigation. This is something I know and on the first day of our journey I spent time learning what she knew and sharing my own hard-won knowledge; again, as you taught me.

These must be some special folks as we were boarding the ship, they were met by a man from the Athenian army, who put 24 soldiers into their service. Lady Thalia gave them a solid once over before marching them onto the ship. She or this entire company must be terribly important as they were all anxious as a pack of cats with a bird on a nearby branch.

I’ll write more soon I promise. I love you and miss you. I’ll send little Halima to see you as soon as she gets used to the new ship. She’s having fun exploring and climbing everything in sight. Good night.

 Gyasi