Pressburg

Anton opens his eyes, and the first thing he sees is Thorvik's grim face.

Thorvik recoils slightly and says, "Is he having a cosmic seizure?"

Göll covers Thorvik's mouth. "Wait until he wakes up again."

Anton looks at the group in confusion and shouts, "I'm here! Hello? HELLO?"

He sees himself, his eyes flashing green, and his whole body trembling. Anton panics and tries to look around.

Thorvik looks at Göll, and an uncomfortable atmosphere hangs between them. "Hmmh..."

Göll takes his hand from his face and asks, puzzled, "What?"

Thorvik says with a disgusted curl of his lip, "Your hand is covered in boar fat..."

Thorvik goes to the nearest horse trough and washes his face.

Anton looks at Tiwaz and waves in front of his face. No reaction comes from Tiwaz.

The children of Tiwaz and Altasa are worried about Anton, and Gerald shouts at Anton with tears in his eyes, "WAKE UP!"

A presence approaches Anton, and he sees the blonde warrior.

"FUTHARK! Why are you spying on me and my warriors?! SPEAK!"

Anton's heart races with adrenaline as the sign of Eihwaz glows a green light. At that moment, Anton exudes calmness, and his thoughts seem to focus. Anton looks at the Futhark, and his gaze shifts to the glowing sign on the warrior's hand. Anton doesn't remember the meaning of this sign. His thoughts circle around his situation, and he decides to answer cautiously.

"I am Anton of Lombard. I didn't intend to spy. I was pulled into this situation because I still have little control over my rune..." The blonde Futhark looks authoritatively at Anton and speaks, "Now that you have told me the truth, I will release you from this place... but first, I will tell you my name." He looks coldly at Anton and says, "I am Rodvik from Liegnitz." With a violet snap, he releases the blockade, and Anton wakes up with a start.

"Anton! Are you okay?"

Anton turns around and sees Frijja with a serious tone. "An unpleasant vision pulled me out of sleep. My dream was about a burned village, then a blonde man with violet glowing eyes and the sign of Tyr, and lastly... Tiwaz, who succumbs to a spear."

Anton looks at Frijja and says in bewilderment, "I spoke with this Futhark. His name is Rodvik from Liegnitz."

Frijja says in horror, "Those are terrible news... He is from the enemy tribe of the Burgundians. Additionally, he has a bad reputation as the Butcher of Engern. He is said to have executed the entire tribe of Engern. The neighboring tribes were horrified and called the area of the former Engern a grayland because nothing existed there anymore except gray ashes and the souls of the Engern. We should move on as quickly as possible, Anton."

A shadow disappears behind one of the tents after the conversation ends. The night passes quietly, and after some time, most of the camp falls asleep.

The next morning breaks, and the caravan sets off towards Sandez to invade Dacia and claim the Carpathians for themselves. Frijja gives a signal resembling a fox and the Skirians increase their distance from the Goths. From that point on, Anton, as Futhark, had to take the lead and determine the route.

Alone, they resolutely head towards Pressburg in Kontinien. Due to the mountainous terrain, it takes four days. As they cross the border of the land over the valleys between the mountains Risi and Bistra, they notice how the language and culture are completely different. Many of the villages are plundered, and the people live in complete poverty.

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Two months earlier

In the Byzantine-Dacian border town of Strogos on the river Dounávis. A large caravan of refugees was trying to enter the country. They were crying and wearing only rags on their bodies, which were once clothes. They knelt and begged for mercy, but their lamentations and mourning fell on deaf ears. Once twelve thousand, their numbers had dwindled to eight thousand. Some had strayed from the caravan, others had succumbed to disease, exhaustion, or accidents.

The Byzantines left the refugees no choice but to head to the Western Roman Empire. With only their clothes and little food, the refugees traveled westward along the mythical Danube. They crossed the Iazyges territories of Békés, Szolnok, and were able to cross the Danube in Pest. During the journey, half of them went north. In the Western Roman Empire, the refugees tried to settle in Aquincum, but fate had other plans for them. Like in Byzantium, the refugees could not stay in the Western Roman Empire and were even violently expelled. Their options were running out.

They went to Pressburg, and a young man with dirty, torn clothes, an unkempt beard, brown eyes, and brown curly hair knelt before a man on a throne. The room was dimly lit, and the torches illuminated the room in a soft orange glow.

"My name is Kýros Theodoro. I come from the Kingdom of Bosporus, from the Taurica Peninsula. My people and I crossed the sea of Euxina towards Byzantium, but we were turned away. Our homeland was tragically taken from us by the Sarmatian riders. They plundered our capital Chersonesos and left scorched earth behind. Please take us in!"

"I have heard you, Kührôsh, and I pity you and your fellow sufferers. There is nothing worse than fleeing from one's homeland. I can understand your situation, especially since the same thing happened to us. Unfortunately, I cannot take in and provide for four thousand people while my land has been devastated and gutted by the last war against the Iazyges. You will have to either head north or cross the Alps. However, I am willing to take in five hundred of you. The others must move on."

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In the Present

The Skirians crossed the rivers Raba and Waag and arrived at a small palisade town called Pressburg. Kontinien is a country where the ruling elites are Germanic, the population is Pannonian, and the state religion is Druidic. It is a small land considered a melting pot of various cultures. The state of the capital is dreadful, with beggars visible everywhere on the streets. The sun reflects off the beautiful Danube, and an envoy of the local ruler approaches the caravan and opens a simple scroll.

"My name is Såmiu Turiscë. I speak on behalf of King Dràcëtu Blinishtë. Please leave Kontinien by sunset. We have no capacity for more refugees. Trade is possible within reasonable limits."

Once the message was delivered, he returned behind the palisade. The Skirians, exhausted and weary, took a break and Anton began gathering a lot of birch bark, which puzzled the others. Anton went deeper into the forest and continued gathering birch bark. He then heard a panicked scream. He ran in that direction and saw two people. One person was on the ground while the other was trying to fend off two wild boars with a torch. One of the people was a brown-haired girl with silvery-blue eyes. She wore simple, torn clothes and had no shoes. The other seemed to be a man whose face was barely visible under a hood.

The animals were stomping on the ground when Anton threw a stone at one of the wild boars and shouted, "HEY!" One of the wild boars charged at Anton, and his eyes glowed green again. Anton smiled and tried to use his powers, but they didn't work, and he had to dodge.

"What? Why?" Anton asked, slowly becoming panicked. The animal charged at the girl, but Anton was too far away. Before the wild boar could properly attack, Anton shouted "NO" and disappeared into the earth. Anton rushed towards her with the roots at high speed, emerged from the ground, and pushed the attacking animal aside. The animal, knocked off course, brushed against the girl's clothes and ran straight into a tree. Anton went to the two people and noticed that the man looked quite young and had hardly any external injuries.

The girl tugged at Anton's clothes and said:

"Ποίος είσαι."

"Hello, little one. I am Anton Lombardi."

"Τιδέν Κ'εγροικώ."

Clearly clueless about what the girl was saying, Anton comforted her.

"Don't worry, I'll take you to Frijja. She's a healer." Anton returned to the camp with a basket full of birch bark and an injured person. Eirik, the guard, came and supported the unconscious man on the other side.

"Who is this? What happened?" Eirik asked, puzzled.

"These two were attacked by wild boars. The girl is unharmed, but I can't say the same for him."

Upon reaching Frijja, she immediately began treating the man and asked Anton about the birch bark.

"What do you need the bark for?" Anton asked Frijja.

"You can make Birkol from it. It helps with inflammation and relieves pain."

Frijja dug a hole and placed a wooden container in it, then a copper container with a small hole in the bottom over the wooden container. She buried everything except for a quarter of the copper container. She stuffed birch bark into it, placed firewood around the container, and covered it with a pot lid. She took the existing fire from the nearby campfire and now "cooked" the birch bark.

After some time, the man woke up with pain in his right arm and found himself among strangers.

"Πνεύμα!" he cried out in panic when he saw Frijja.

Anton asked the man, "What does Pnäwma mean? Can you speak Germanic?"

The injured man calmed down a bit and said in a weak voice, "Kýros is my name. I assume I am still in Pressburg?"

The three talked for a while, and Kýros told his story about what his people had experienced in the Bosporus. Anton thought for a while as Frijja and Kýros talked, and then an idea came to him.

"Why don't we take in the refugees? We are too few settlers anyway."

Frijja was visibly confused and asked, "They're not even Germanic. Why do you want to take them in?"

This time Anton was confused and said to Frijja, "They are mainly people who need help... Besides, we are going to invade the Western Roman Empire. Many Italians, Celts, and other peoples live there. We can't slaughter or drive these people away. No, I don't want to disadvantage these people..."

Kýros stood up and knelt down. "If there is a chance to save my people, we will do everything to start anew peacefully. Please talk to your people."

Anton thought about it and concluded that he should discuss it with the others.

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Pontic Phrases

Ποίος είσαι (Who are you)

Τιδέν Κ'εγροικώ (I don't understand)

This is Pontic and hard to translate.

Google Translate also can't translate Pontic language.

Crimea was called Taurica.

The Black Sea was called Euxine.