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Warriors adorned in bearskins and wielding a variety of weapons are snuck into the city of Athens in a stolen boat. Upon arriving in the city, they spread out throughout the city, going to key positions. Most of them, however, stay around the harbor, waiting stealthly in the taverns and warehouses near the dock.

Drunken messengers from Rhunnic Qarir accidentally head to Sparta to deliver a message at Muscos. They ride around, causing a ruckus.

The diplomat was prepared for this, preparing for all possible outcomes was a key part of the worship of the Mother. The 40 men presented the passports, all which are valid and up to date.

Before the men can stroll off, the guard motions for 10 men to come into the boat and tell the other 30 to wait here for a little while. If they make any suspicious movements they will be sunk.

The men would calmly say that they simply carry wines from Italy, iron from the Iberian Peninsula, tin from distant Britain, and luxury productions they bought in a Danish port, and that they came to Athens to take these productions north towards Constantinople or Odessos. The weapons each of them carried were purchased due to raiders being spotted near Gibilitar, and the bear-skins were gifts from their captain's friend. If the guards were to search the hull of the ship, they would find all these products in the hull.

"We don't want to use the quicker way, we desire to take the coastal route. We follow the commands of the Captain, and he desires for us to pass through Athens." one man says. "We got the skins up in the North-lands, and we like them, so we are keeping them." another says. And lastly, "Aye, they are, but in this day and age, we can't be too careful. Especially with those wolf-men about and such." Each man says they were born in isolated villages in the northern reaches of Spain, or in southern Gaul/Germania. Their birth dates are varied, but most are born around late spring or early fall. This was their first voyage outside of Iberia and Italia, but they have all traveled to modern-day Denmark, Britain, Italy, Tunisia, Spain, Portugal, and Turkey. It was part of a three part voyage. The captain requests that the guards go a bit faster, saying that he was to meet his wife by the Acropolis in a few hours, and he didn't want to be late.

"We stopped in a small port in the south of the peninsula, heard about the murders and that wolf-man on Cyprus. It is a truly terrible thing, such an act should be punished with death for whatever thing caused it." the captain says mournfully.

"We said we HEARD about the wolf-man, not that we went to Cyprus." the Captain said, "Her name I shall not give you, for she is from the land of the Bloodsworn, and in the Clan she is part of, to give their true name to someone is to give all their trust to someone. If she wasn't part of Clan Isenblood, I would tell you."

"Word travels quickly among merchants, sir, especially when it could affect profit. Our journey began in the Nile Delta, we followed the coast to Tunis, then to Spain, up to Britannia, and lastly to the Norse-lands, where we turned and headed south. We stopped in Morocco, then headed to Tunis, then to the port in Italy. It was in Italy where I sent to message to my wife, who was then living with family near the Crimea, and it was there that we picked up the wines. It took longer than expected due to a stubborn Greek merchant's refusal to give us the fourth quarter of wine. She has been here for a few days, I believe." the Captain says.

"I simply have a question: Why, in Ologor's name, are we in a prison for being merchants? We bear a rather important mark, straight from a close friend of Russia, and imprisoning his servants would do much to upset the Bloodsworn."

"Attack? Attack?! By Viktor, you are mistaken. We do not plan any attack! The only thing we plan to make profit from selling these goods!" the Captain says.