King of All These Ruins

[CharmedFan28]

Well one journey is at an end for the moment. Mourning for the Queen continues. I don’t know wha is going to happen but this is all very interesting to read about. Great writing and I look forward to more tomorrow!

 

[ChrisGibson]

I don't know what's going to happen either! Like, I really don't remember. All I know is Jocasta is about to meet her family and find out about the whole Mykon and Manaen business for the first time.

 

[ChrisGibson]

JOCASTA REACHES CHIO WITH HER NEW VISITORS AND MANAEN AND HIS CHILDREN STRATEGIZE



Marophon was singing:

“If I place it in a crossroads it will be taken
away by the passersby,
If I place it on the tree branches it
will be taken away by the little birds.”

And Pyramus was singing back:

“If it drops on the sea the ships will sink,
And if I keep it in my heart I will meet
you soon.”

Manaen took a puff from the long brass pipe of the hookah. It had come from the east, past Phrygia, the ancient land of the Goddess Cybele. The smoke was sweet to the taste and sweet when he exhaled it from his nose. Mykon opened his mouth to sing, and then, through the gate, entered new travelers. It took a moment for Manaen to know her, but then he came forward embracing her, “Jocasta. Home at last. And… the Princess Terpsichore? Lady,” Manaen bowed low, and then he said “and this man?”
“Lord Manaen,” Theon said, “Your mighty daughter captured me, and has brought me to your city. I am Theon, Prince of Pallas and heir to the throne of Attika.”



“And do you think Attika will begin to miss its prince?” Manaen said, though his eyes were on Theon, not his daughter.
“I thought the same thing, Father. But I also thought, ‘Well now I can’t return him.’”
“Only what do we do now?” Mykon said. “We sent you to bring back a princess.”
“And you have one,” Jocasta gestured to Terpsichore.
“That is a kindness,” Terpsichore said, “but I believe the lord Mykon meant a young one.”
“The young one is in Akxa by now, or close to it,” Mykon said. “And we are stuck with…. Well, how did we end up with Prince Theon?”
“I invited myself into their party to foil your sister and your grandmother’s plans.”
“He thought to surprise us, waylay us and Harmonia, and bring us back to Attika where, most likely, we would be prisoners.”
“But the Lady Jocasta waylaid me instead.”
“Well played, sister!” Mykon rose and clapped her on the back, roughly, despite his consternation over having the prince here.
“Well,” Manaen said at last, “no matter how we feel about how things ought to have turned out, this is how they have turned out, and it is from this position, with an abducted prince, a princess in Akxa, and a dying king that we must make our next step.”
“My Lord,” Theon said, “you have a step? I mean, you have a plan? Some grand plan?”
“No, only I have eyes, and in the north Ilyria is growing in power, and all the world knows they’ve made an alliance with Cyra. If they ever came together, the Two Lands of Ellix would be squeezed between them like a fish in a crab’s claw. Dakan, our ancient enemy to the north, holds converse with Illyria today, and tomorrow they will be a client kingdom and then we will be a province. That’s for certain.”
“As long as Creon is old and weak,” Marophon began, “Phocia is not strong, and as long as there is no true heir, and we have no real union with Attika, we can be swallowed up.”


MORE TOMORROW

 

[CharmedFan28]

Well Jocasta has reached her destination and things are becoming very interesting indeed for all concerned. I am as always looking forward to reading what is next and thanks for posting!

 

[ChrisGibson]

Jocasta is every bit the match for her brother and father, a true strategist in her own right.

 

[ChrisGibson]

“And do you think Attika will begin to miss its prince?” Manaen said, though his eyes were on Theon, not his daughter.
“I thought the same thing, Father. But I also thought, ‘Well now I can’t return him.’”
“Only what do we do now?” Mykon said. “We sent you to bring back a princess.”
“And you have one,” Jocasta gestured to Terpsichore.
“That is a kindness,” Terpsichore said, “but I believe the lord Mykon meant a young one.”
“The young one is in Akxa by now, or close to it,” Mykon said. “And we are stuck with…. Well, how did we end up with Prince Theon?”
“I invited myself into their party to foil your sister and your grandmother’s plans.”
“He thought to surprise us, waylay us and Harmonia, and bring us back to Attika where, most likely, we would be prisoners.”
“But the Lady Jocasta waylaid me instead.”
“Well played, sister!” Mykon rose and clapped her on the back, roughly, despite his consternation over having the prince here.
“Well,” Manaen said at last, “no matter how we feel about how things ought to have turned out, this is how they have turned out, and it is from this position, with an abducted prince, a princess in Akxa, and a dying king that we must make our next step.”
“My Lord,” Theon said, “you have a step? I mean, you have a plan? Some grand plan?”
“No, only I have eyes, and in the north Ilyria is growing in power, and all the world knows they’ve made an alliance with Cyra. If they ever came together, the Two Lands of Ellix would be squeezed between them like a fish in a crab’s claw. Dakan, our ancient enemy to the north, holds converse with Illyria today, and tomorrow they will be a client kingdom and then we will be a province. That’s for certain.”
“As long as Creon is old and weak,” Marophon began, “Phocia is not strong, and as long as there is no true heir, and we have no real union with Attika, we can be swallowed up.”
“My family came from Thais,” Pyramus said, “in the days before it was part of Illyria, and now it and Tracte and Masellon are all parts of the growing Illyrian empire. We will be next if we do not at least consider standing together.”
“Well, then we have to at least release the Prince,” Mykon said. “How can we have an ally if we are hold the prince of our most important neighbor?”
“I have a better idea,” Jocasta said.
The men turned to her, and Theon was surprised, for no men ever listened to women in Pallas, and Jocasta was barely past her girlhood.
“Let it be known,” Jocasta said. “Let it be known that Theon is here of his own will. Even that… he may be looking for a wife. And that Terpsichore has reappeared, and that Harmonia is in Akxa, that, at last a new union is being forged.”
Manaen nodded his head, but Jocasta saw doubt in his face and she said, “What, Father?”
“Phocia, momentarily kingless, Attika, with a prince on the verge of doing who knows what? And Akxa as yet unlinked to us. Against… two growing empires with mighty kings. If we are ever to come together it will have to be under one man I fear, and yet, not even Thebes can agree on who should rule it.”
Beside him, in white, Kybernets removed his white hood so that the light shone on his shaven head.
“What your father speaks of is the Holy Child, the Sacred King.”
Jocasta looked to the tall man with the strange accent who often seemed just like some funny creature, but who was a man of great power. Was he speaking of magic?
Terpsichore, though, said, “My father was that Sacred Child once, the one expected and prayed for. As was Cadmos. For the people of Thebes prayed for him to relieve them of the dragon.”
“Lady, you have it wrong,” Marophon said. “Cadmos founded this city.”
“Lord, I do not have it wrong,” Terpsichore said. “I am princess born, of a king and queen. How could I have it wrong?”
“Cadmos did not found the city. He refound it. Look at the walls, the very lowest ones with their wide stones, especially those of the Cadmea where I grew up. Cadmos came from Babalon with your ancestors, but there was already a city here. Everyone knows how the Pelasgo, those men who still live in Arcady, were the first men of this land, they who are related to the people of the East. But built his new city on the ruins of the old one and became king of the people already here. Or did you think that one man, a few of his companions, and some mythical serpent teeth could found an entire kingdom on their own?
“No,” Terpsichore said, “it does not matter. What matters is this business of the Sacred Child and how it tends to fall upon itself.”
“My lady,” Kybernets said, “Sometime, it is true, the Sacred Child is the promised king, but when people of magic come together in earnestness, the Sacred Child is any salvation they seek and by the power of their prayer produce. We have already been about it. It may be a king, or a queen. It may even be the spirit of union that holds our lands together.”
“Or a great monster sprung from the earth,” Theon murmured.
When Jocasta looked at him, he said, “Both the fathers of Attika were half serpents who sprung from the earth.”
“Wellz,” Kybernets said, “that maybeez so. However, while we work with our feets to save ourselves, let us work with our prayers and wills as well. This is the night when what is dead comes to life again. This is the night to raise up the things we needs.”

Jocasta and Clio asked Terpsichore to come with them, but she said, “I must rest. I have not been home in almost twenty years, and I have not rested in a house. I long for bed and, perhaps, tomorrow, I will come into the city.”
“Lady,” Manaen rose, stretching out his hand, “come with me and I will show you rooms prepared for your coming.”
As they left the courtyard of the stone house, coming out into the town, and the drumming and music could be heard, Manaen said, “You will have your own home, of course, but I thought tonight you might not want to be alone. My cousin, Cleane, is old and likes to keep to herself, and I thought you would prefer rooms in her house for now. I thought, and this was presumptuous, that you might be a comfort to each other.”
“You are kind, and you are wise,” Terpsichore said. “Lord Manaen, I remember your father and his loyalty, and I learned how he lost his life and you lost your favor through your loyalty to our family. Your daughter and your mother show me who you are and the manner of family over which you preside. I am more grateful to the Anaxionade than I can say.”
As they entered the courtyard of Cleane’s small stone house, the music and conversation drifting over into it, Manaen lifted the princess’s hands, kissed them and bowed.
“It is all my pleasure,” he said.
But even as he said it, bowed, then turned to leave, he thought of his mother, Phocis, from whom he had rarely been parted, who was now on the other side of Ellix.

MORE TOMORROW

 

[CharmedFan28]

I must admit to be struggling to keep up with all the names in this story. I am still enjoying it and trying to keep up but sometimes I get a bit confused. It is good though to see more of Jocasta. Great writing and I look forward to more tomorrow!

 

[ChrisGibson]

HAVING MET THE NEW QUEEN OF AKXA, PHOCIS AND HARMONIA ARE SENT ON YET ANOTHER JOURNEY. MEANWHILE, IN THEBES, THE HIGH PRIESTESS OF THE GOD PREPARES FOR BUSINESS AS USUAL, AND CLIO DEVOTES HERSELF TO HER CALLING.


This was a strange lot and no doubt, Phocis thought. The white haired, grey eyed new queen in her lavender gown with her sword at her side, her sisters, the one green haired, the one blue robed and purple haired—Ao the Whitenail they called her for those white fingernails drumming at her side. And their mother, the Oread with her green hair, leaves in it, bare armed as was her sister the Lady Melyssa. Phocis had not seen the new queen take her throne, still draped in black, and she thought, in Akxa they must not take the throne until the coronation.
“My lady,” the Queen said, “what do you know about the isle of Cyra to the west, and not far to the west, and about Cona which is only a little to the south?”
“They have become mighty powers.”
“They were mighty powers,” the Queen said, “which have become one mighty power.
“The Cyrans are flush from their victory over Attika and Phocia only a few years before, a true sign that they can defeat the kingdoms to the north and take what they wish. And the Cyrans have never forgiven us or seen themselves as part of us, for they are descended from the people of Illium who were destroyed in that long ago war where all the Danaan and Achaen kingdoms made war on them for the sake of a southern princess. They never forgot it. When they circled us and founded themselves in Cyra, they never forgot, and when they were mighty enough, their armies raged across the south destroying Onesse and the old kingdom of Cona They destroyed the House of Cona, the descendants of Menalaos, and took Therapne for themselves. They destroyed the House of Agamemnon, Menalaos’ brother, and left the dukes of Onesse under their suzerainty.”
“All, this we know, Lady,” Phocis said.
“Well, then do you know,” said the woman in black with her pink hair, the sister of that strange man Eco, “that all that is between us and Onesse, Cona and Cyra is the wilderness of Arcady and what is left of Mykenae? And you would have us send an army behind your princess,” she gestured to Harmonia, “to make her Queen of Thebes? Which, by the way would make Thebes our client state, and a state too far to do us any good.”
“Princess Xian,” Phocis began, “I do not believe I asked you for an army, and I certainly did not ask a slip of a girl with hair the color of a tree to disrespect me. I have grandchildren your age, and I would thank you to remember it.”
“We have been remiss,” the Queen said.
“You have been very remiss,” Phocis said. “I may not be a queen, but I am a lady. We came to you because we had no other allies, and this is the strongest kingdom in the south, or indeed in all the two lands. Here women have always ruled and we, who seek to place a woman on the throne, thought you might have something more than scorn and a geography lesson to offer.”
“My lady—” the Queen began.
“I was bearing children when you were still on your mother’s breast,” Phocis continued, “and while you tell me of the south I tell you even now, Thebes, which you consider so useless, and Attika, which your probably care little for as well, are all that lie between you and Illyria, and no matter how insignificant we may seem to you, when we are gone, what will you do, caught between Cyra on one side and Illyria on the other?”

From their rooms they looked down onto the main street where the torch bearing procession shuffled, carrying, in effigy, the body of Damuzi, taking him to the tomb.
There was a tap on the door and Harmonia called, “Come in.”
Phocis turned as the door opened and the princess and the lady saw the Queen enter.
“A word?” she said.
Harmonia looked to Phocis, and Phocis, by the window, nodded and came to take her seat beside the princess.
“Do you see what I hold in my hand?”
Harmonia saw a green, bulbous plant with delicate curling tendrils, but said, “I am no gardener, your Grace.”
“It’s a narthex,” Phocis said.
“Yes,” Xanthe said. “It was in the hollow stalk of the narthex that holy Prometheos bore the flame of life from the realm of the Gods down to mankind, and so it is that the narthex represents the moment of preparation, when the spirit of power is being drawn from beyond us into our midst.
“My mother and my aunt have long had the feeling something is about to happen. I have been worried about war, but my aunt is the Bee Priestess and she says it is more than that. I cannot loose myself of the feeling that your coming means heralds something. So why should I?”
“Then…” Phocis began without irony, “We are like Prometheos.”
“It is the men who say that the Titans were the old Gods, the gone Gods,” Xanthe said. “But we know they are the Gods who come from the outer place to shake up the inner order and, most certainly, Lady Phocis. This is what you and the Princess Harmonia have done. Perhaps what we need to do,” the Queen said, “is look at who our allies might be and what our strength is, instead of thinking of what it isn’t.”
“Lady, that is all we ask,” Harmonia said.
The Queen nodded.
“What had you heard when you first came to us?” Xanthe asked..
“That the Amazons were wild women,” Phocis said, “great warriors ruled only by women and suffering few men.”
Xanthe nodded and Phocis added, “It is also said they killed their male children and enslave their husbands.”
Harmonia added, “And that they have little respect for women outside of their lands.”
“Still,” Phocis said, “you are between us and Illyria and beggars cannot be… We are not beggers, but we are not exactly not beggars.”
“Well, you have come here,” Xanthe said. “And we may not be what you thought we were, but war is upon us and there is no hurt in rising up to oppose our mutual enemy.”
“Unless we die,” Harmonia refrained from saying. Though she said nothing, the Queen looked on her and said, “I can tell that you are troubled. I will send my sisters Xian and my cousin with you. They will school you in battle. You will remain here, but first I want you all to make a journey. Also, you must consider Makadakan.”
“Dakan is an old enemy. We recently defeated them,” Phocis said. “They pay us tribute but are not our friends.”
“If you can find a way to make them your friends,” the Queen said, “then you had better, and re establish your relationship with Attika. Attika, Helion and Phocia. If you are strong together, that is the beginning of things.”
“And you, Lady,” Phocis said. “As long as you are offering us council, do not discount Arcady. It is the homeland of your mother.”
“It is not a land of soldiers and kings, but of wood nymphs and river gods.”
“All the better,” Phocis said. “Whatever help we can find, we must find. Whatever we can do, we must.”
“But,” Harmonia leaned forward, “what journey are you speaking of, that I should make?”
“The one to Delphi,” Xanthe said. “The Pythia, the Great Priestess who serves not only the Ancient Mother, but your God in Thebes, will tell you all you need to know. Go there, then return to us here, and we will do all that we can.”


THAT EVENING, MEROPE DRESSED herself, combed her own hair, and combed it so that it fell straight down her back as if she were still a maiden. Tonight she was. She had taken the once a year bathing under the auspices of the priestess of Teleia, and now she rose up, unattached to any man, least of all her husband Telamon, a virgin again, for only a true virgin could be the High Priestess of Iacchus on the night of his mourning.
The house of Merope was one of those large, fortresslike affairs that made the oldest of homes around the Cadmea. Its young life was like that of any goodly house, two stories encircling a courtyard. Never had their been the balustrade running all along so that people could go from room to room on the second story. That house had always possessed corridors. The windows were long and narrow. Manaen’s home, further to the east gate had been like this, and expanded to be twice the size, but the Anaxionade were a young family in the city, and the house of Merope had passed that stage long ago. Long ago the Telemachi had removed the servants from that first courtyard and built a second courtyard and servant quarters and then they had added wings with rooms for sons and daughters who brought wives and husbands, and servants who raised up generations of servants possessed their own small houses, all of these linked together over time. Over time the original structure needed to be improved, and a new and finer central structure was build, the original courtyard tiled over, walls knocked down and set up again. In time the house next door, also wide, had been joined to this one so that, after centuries, the home of the Telemachi was a warren of halls, corridors and courtyards, built on top and then again on top of the the others, and in the evening, attended by her maidservants and with not a word from her husband, she crossed the gardened courtyard before the main hall, passed through a gate, down a long terraced stair and through another gate, then down another stair and onto the main street.
There she was met by Baucis, the old mother of Cyron. For a moment, she looked up at the Cadmea, with its mass of walls and towers and labrymthine terraces which rivaled even her great house, which was made of many great houses coming together, and as the burning sun descended, so the women descended into the lower city.



Very early this morning, Clio had risen, her heart light. She flung her arms around Lysander. Lysander, Lysander her love who was strong and long and handsome and cared not at all for the eccentricities of her family, nor for her own personal ones. She kissed him along time and then left him even as she contemplated his long brown body, covered in scars from battle. She held the babies to her breast. Her mother said three years of milking was good. She had stopped for a time, and that was when, in addition to Alexander, she had become pregnant with Cypris. The women of the city said, “Oh, how very hard it is to be a mother,” but when Clio came to Chio she realized she was a woman of means, a mother who did not carry water on her head or knead bread for the day. She bathed in simplicity but knew it was the simplicity of a moneyed woman, a lukewarm bath, but not a frigid one, in a tub, and then she rose from it, bathed in unbleached wool, combed her hair, took some water and a walking staff, and did what no poor married woman could do. She left. On the eve of this holy night, she went up to the slopes along Mount Cytherion and sat in the quiet, drinking cold water from the spring, and eating berries from the vine. In time she was left with only herself, her worries, and her boredom, and so she grew quiet, went within, went inside the little hut she kept for herself.
“I came to give myself to you,” she whispered.
This was why Iacchus had come to earth so long ago. had followed the trail of his sister from Babalon to this land, and named it after her, and here he had slain the serpent who plagued the land and sewn its teeth so that the Sparti had risen from them. Then he had been given in marriage Harmonia, the daughter of the God of War and Great Ashtaroth, who is the Goddess of Love and Beauty, but of war as well. Though she was never called a Goddess, what else could the daughter of a God and Goddess be, and so Harmonia was. Harmonia had born Cadmos four daughters, Semele, Agave, Ino, and Autonoe. All of these women had lost their sons, and often their lives, in tragedy, for what the great Wheel gives with one hand, it takes with another, but Semele was the first to experience horror. Lying in the fields, she was consumed by summer lightning. But later it was learned she was the lover of Theos, God of Heaven and this union of earth and fire was the birth of Iacchus.
“The story,” Clio remembered, “said that Teleia, full of jealousy, came to Semele and told her, you are not really loved by the God of Heaven. No, he is a fraud. Make him put on all his glory to convince you.” Semele had made Zeon vow to do whatever she asked and he did so, swearing by the mighty river of Death. When he learned her request, he tried to make her change her mind, but she would not. He put on the least of his glory, but still, it consumed her. From her burning body, Mercurio, arriving just in time, pulled up the fetus of Iacchus and sewed it in the very thigh of Zeon, there he was born again.
So the men say, but the tale makes little sense. Mercurio, the lightning messenger of the gods, Zeon, the very lightning. Unless Mercurio and Zeon are One. And how many other women were loved by Zeon, or rather raped? But Semele knew him, she loved him. What she longed for was more of him, and the more of him destroyed her. She wished for total love.
She offered herself in sacrifice.
There, below, was Fotia, the long plain that was yellowed by the heat of summer, but now was brown and blasted from winter, Fotia, the Field of Fire, where Semele had offered herself. There earth joined heaven, and a God was born, the God.
What can I give? What can I give, not for a moment of ease, or for a miracle, for a change in the boredom, but for absolute devotion? For only absolute devotion will do. We pray to the Gods for this, for that, offer a ram, a lamb. They say some offer their first born, but we can really only offer our lives. Make our lives a field of fire. Only then is earth joined to heaven. Only then can the God be born.


ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND

 

[CharmedFan28]

That was a great portion! I especially liked the last few lines. I am glad I have the weekend to fully contemplate this portion as there is a lot going on. Excellent writing and I look forward to reading more in a few days!

 

[ChrisGibson]

She slept and woke, and when she had been sleeping she had dreamed of a pain in her jaw. All the time her jaw ached, and all the time she was looking for someone. Was it Lysander? Was it one of the children? Perhaps her Grandmother and Jocasta, gone so long? But as she stretched out her arm, there was no arm. She looked about, but had no eyes. The bizarreness of it had awaken her, but in the last moments of dream she had seen her body, her limbs all scattered, such perfection.


They said when Iacchus had been born, the Titans were so enraged by his beauty they ripped him apart and scattered him. But he was the vine. He was the very principal of growth, and so he had grown right back up into a tall youth. So he was not twice but thrice born and born and born again.
“And again and again and again.”
As she was murmuring this, walking in the small copse by the setting sun, it seemed she was singing and singing with someone else, and so she was not surprised when she saw him, led by a boy, all in tattered and stained robes which had once been white, his hair a tangle of white naps, his eyes hollowed out in his dark face.
“Sister,” he said, “is it not a fair night?”
“It is,” she said, bowing a little, convinced that, though he could not see, he could know. “Would you stay a while? Share some water with me?”
“Bless you, Little Sister,” his voice was a rasp. “I have a while to go, and then I will return. I wanted to… lay eyes on you,” he smiled, and his teeth were broken, “before I return, before your glory, for glory is coming to you. But also judgment.”
“Judgment?” Clio said.
“Why fear? Judgment is for as well as against, and your heart if pure. At this time the City of must be purified. Bless you sister,” the Old Man said.
The boy guiding him said nothing, and though they had made no noise coming into the small glade, leaving it, their feet crunched over dead leaves. She watched for a while, until she could be sure he was no apparition, until she still saw him, some way off, his greyed robes through the dark branches of trees as he descended the slopes and headed south east.



She heard and saw them at a distance, the line of torches below Cytherion, and now, wrapping a cloak about herself, Clio came down to join them, She was surprised that she yawned. As she approached she heard:

“Behold, God's Son is come unto this land
Of Thebes, even I, Dionysus, whom the brand
Of heaven's hot splendour lit to life, when she
Who bore me, Cadmos' daughter Semelê,
Died here. So, changed in shape from God to man,
I walk again by Dirce's streams and scan
Ismenus' shore.”

Dio Nyssus. The God from Nyssa. The chanting of the women was like a drum striking the earth. Three days before they had borne on their shoulders the effigy of the Dead God, bound all in wool, and now they made their way across the Fotia to the stone where they had placed him.
Merope’s voice rose above them all, almost too icy for such a night.

“There by the castle side
I see her place, the Tomb of the
Lightning's Bride,
The wreck of smouldering chambers,
and the great
Faint wreaths of fire undying—as the hate
Dies not, that Teleia held for Semelê.”

The hate of the Goddess of Heaven for the Princess of Earth, the hatred of those who loved pure spirit for the necessary love between heaven and earth.
As Clio joined them, hands clasped hers. Procris, Niobe, Jessera the granddaughter of Phocis’s sister. Old friends, but then we were all friends here tonight. Then she saw Jocasta seeing her, and they both slowed so that they could come together without cutting through the other women. They embraced and Jocasta said, “There is so much to tell you.”
“I want to hear it all. Sister, I have missed you.”
Clio looked around, “Where is Alexandra?”
“Beside Merope. She will stay with her tonight.”
The women clasped hands and continued walking.


“From Nyssa, from Phrygia, from the dayspring
uprising,
To Bromios ever glorying we came.
We laboured for our Lord in many guises;
We toiled, but the toil is as the prize is;
Thou Mystery, we hail thee by thy name!”

They had passed the Tomb of Semele, the first of the daughters of and Harmonia to leave this world in tragedy. In time, after the loss of so many, the Gods had taken pity on the couple and given them a son, Polydorus, and so it was from the the ruins of the descendants of the three daughters and one son that the four rival Houses had arisen. Those houses, intermarrying with the Agae and the Sparti, had created an endless permutation of carefully numbered heirs, but after so many centuries, the number was less careful, and now there were several with the blood of who looked to the soon to be vacant Throne. But that was not holy, that was not sacred. It was politics, and best to put that aside tonight.
They should never have been speaking politics but, gradually, Jocasta had told Clio all.
“But can you be sure that the existence of Terpsichore, so close, right here, can be kept a secret?”
Jocasta could not. She said, “It will have to be a secret as long as possible.”


As the night deepened, so did the quiet in the village. It was a holy quiet, an expectant quiet, and the men sat before the fires, drinking the golden ale until they were numb with meditation and mild drunkenness. Pyramus and Marophon passed a long cigar back and forth, and then the long sweet cigarillo came to Mykon as he drank the strong, fizzy beer. Beside Kybernets, in the village square, Manaen touched the drum, like a slow giant’s heartbeat, the drummers playing in the red gold firelight, under the darkness of the sky.
Most of the women had gone, but some remained, and to the drum music, Manaen’s slim young cousin, Oenone sang with her brother

“Dambatta toukan mwen
Ayida maitress Kay
Dambatta Weod toukan mwen
Ayida matiress Kay
M’prale nan so
Le ma retournen sa ka resevwa mwen
M’prale nan so
La ma retouren sa ka resevwa mwen
My Dambatta Vedo toucan.”

This was not a song to the Rising and Dying God, but to Serpent Mother and Father, the Two who wrapped about the Great Egg and came from the South.
Kybernets stopped his drumming as a ragged old man came beside them, and there was boy with him. The man’s eyes were dark pits, but the boy’s were shining, catching all the firelight. Manaen saw them, but played on, and the old man said, “Do you know me?”
“I do, Father of my Fathers,” Kybernets said, his sibilant voice low. “Do you come for prophecy or for Judgment.”
“Long ago men drove God away. But God is Two, the Younger and Older, Mother and Father, the Twins. The tale varies. One fled to heaven, but the other roamed the Earth. They say tonight Demeter receives her daughter from the Underworld. But others say that she is the Wanderer and all humankind is her daughter. To be like the Goddess, we must be homeless, and so I am wandering so that I may wander with God.”
Kybernets only nodded his head and closed his eyes, and now Manaen stopped playing.
“But,” the Old Man said, “soon I will return, and my returning will be prophecy and judgment will be in that prophecy. I say only this, for my sight is dim, inner and outer, guard what you believe to be secret. For this is a time of treachery, when secrets you thought you held will not last long. Guard well, and keep vigilance well. Pray for the Holy Child, and let your magic be unflagging.”
With that the Old Man turned his head and, led by the boy, headed down the street and into the darkness.
“I have seen him only once,” Kybernets said, “and only here.”
“I saw him the year the Old King, Terpsichore’s father, took out his eyes. I was scarcely a baby then. He was the prophet who told him the city was under sin, but that he should not ask too closely. He is the eternal prophet of our city, the mage wrapped in mystery. The stories say he was ancient even in the days of , that in those times he came to warn men to revere Iacchus, but the king then, Pentheos grandson of , would not, and so he died and all the daughters of suffered.”
“Can one be so old?” Kybernets wondered, placing his hands on the drum again and again slowly taking up the beat.
“He can,” Manaen said, looking away from the darkness where the Old Man had disappeared and beginning to drum again. “All his words are true.”
Kybernet’s thrust out his lower lip and gave a little grunt.
“Then we must take them seriously.”

 

[CharmedFan28]

Well I may not be able to keep up with everything but I am getting a lot of enjoyment out of this story! It is good to see so many of the characters come together in the last few portions. Great writing and I look forward to more soon!

 

[ChrisGibson]

Yes, I imagine in a cleaned up version it will be easier, but it may not ever be easy. This is the way I've felt like in a lot of stories. I don't really get all the stuff, but what I do is worth it. And I do love seeing everyone come together right here too.

 

[ChrisGibson]

THE ANAXIONADE MAY FIND THEMSELVES IN TROUBLE AS WE COME TO THE CONCLUSION OF OUR LAST CHAPTER AND A TRAITOR FROM WITHIN REVEALS THEIR VULNERABILITY


Kybernets stopped his drumming as a ragged old man came beside them, and there was boy with him. The man’s eyes were dark pits, but the boy’s were shining, catching all the firelight. Manaen saw them, but played on, and the old man said, “Do you know me?”
“I do, Father of my Fathers,” Kybernets said, his sibilant voice low. “Do you come for prophecy or for Judgment.”
“Long ago men drove God away. But God is Two, the Younger and Older, Mother and Father, the Twins. The tale varies. One fled to heaven, but the other roamed the Earth. They say tonight Demeter receives her daughter from the Underworld. But others say that she is the Wanderer and all humankind is her daughter. To be like the Goddess, we must be homeless, and so I am wandering so that I may wander with God.”
Kybernets only nodded his head and closed his eyes, and now Manaen stopped playing.
“But,” the Old Man said, “soon I will return, and my returning will be prophecy and judgment will be in that prophecy. I say only this, for my sight is dim, inner and outer, guard what you believe to be secret. For this is a time of treachery, when secrets you thought you held will not last long. Guard well, and keep vigilance well. Pray for the Holy Child, and let your magic be unflagging.”
With that the Old Man turned his head and, led by the boy, headed down the street and into the darkness.
“I have seen him only once,” Kybernets said, “and only here.”
“I saw him the year the Old King, Terpsichore’s father, took out his eyes. I was scarcely a baby then. He was the prophet who told him the city was under sin, but that he should not ask too closely. He is the eternal prophet of our city, the mage wrapped in mystery. The stories say he was ancient even in the days of , that in those times he came to warn men to revere Iacchus, but the king then, Pentheos grandson of , would not, and so he died and all the daughters of suffered.”
“Can one be so old?” Kybernets wondered, placing his hands on the drum again and again slowly taking up the beat.
“He can,” Manaen said, looking away from the darkness where the Old Man had disappeared and beginning to drum again. “All his words are true.”
Kybernet’s thrust out his lower lip and gave a little grunt.
“Then we must take them seriously.”



Later, while the women sat eating cakes and drinking wine, not ready to return home, not ready for the garish festivals of the day, Merope, knees pulled to her chest like a girl, wiped crumbs from her mouth and said, “Really? And are you sure?”

“Thou now wert sitting chained amid thy crew
Of raving damsels, for this evil dream

Thou now wert sitting chained amid thy crew
Of raving damsels, for this evil dream.”

Alexandra, a girl of twelve, said, “Yes. I heard Father say it very clearly. The woman living in his cousin’s house is the Princess Terpsichore.”
“Interesting,” Merope said.
“Do you think she will come back to be Queen?”

“Thou now wert sitting chained amid thy crew
Of raving damsels, for this evil dream
Thou hast brought us, of new Gods!
When once the gleam
Of grapes hath lit a Woman's Festival,
In all their prayers is no more health at all!”


“No,” Merope said as the woman sang. “No, I do not. But I think her coming back is… opportune.”



Doubtless you think us a proud people,” Aeon said, coming to sit beside the two women who had left their chambers and now sat in the empty throne room.
“There is nothing wrong with being proud,” Harmonia said. “I am proud myself, and you come from a noble lineage.”
She had turned to look at the great Gorgon’s head leering over the throne and Aeon said, “Do you wonder at it?”
“I only wonder at seeing it so openly. It is Medusa.”
“Yes, that’s right. She is the Goddess of our city, of our household.”
“It is said that Pallas the Goddess of my city, gave Perseos the future king of Argos, the ability to kill Medusa, and with her head he won great victories, and that, in the end, her gave the head to her. Medusa had been her high priestess, but raped by the God of the Sea in her temple, the priestess she should have pitied became her enemy.”
“The story is a lie,” Aeon said.
“Yes, I know,” Harmonia told him, “for in the very depths of our Acropolis, where men no longer go, is the oldest image of Pallas, and in that image she is Medusa. They are one. Here in Akxa you bear openly what we keep hidden.”
“Perseos was the son of Zeon and the Princess Danae. Her father was Acrys, for whom this very palace is named. He received a prophecy that if his daughter bore a child the child would kill him and so, loving his life, but unable to slay his only daughter, he locked her in a high tower, the highest tower, still called the Danalae in her honor, and there were no doors to it save one to let in food and a shoot for refuse. The tower was resplendid, but there was no way out. Save the narrow window which looked high over the sea.”
“And so the lord Zeon came to her in a shower of gold,” Harmonia said.
“Some say this,” Aeon said, “but others say it was Phoebus in a ray of golden sunlight, and I believe it. She gave birth, and when news of the infant’s crying was heard, King Acrys shut her and the baby in a chest and tossed them into the sea.”
“But,” Phocis finally spoke, “the chest was blown to an isle.”
“To Maesa in fact,” Aeon said, “and there Perseos grew up.
“Now, when Perseos was grown, the king of Maesa fell in love with the beautiful Danaë. Perseos thought the king dishonorable, and protected his mother from him; then King Polydectes plotted to send Perseos away. He held a large banquet where each guest was expected to bring a gift. But Perseos had no gift to give, so he asked Polydectes to name the gift; he would not refuse it. Polydectes held Perseos to his rash promise and demanded the head of the Goddess Medusa, whose gaze turned people to stone.
“In a dream, Hermes instructed Perseos to find the Maidens of Mist, who were entrusted with weapons needed to defeat the Gorgon. Following the vision, he went to the Hesperides, he returned what he had taken who gave him a knapsack to safely contain Medusa's head. Zeon gave him an adamantine sword and Hades' helm of darkness to hide. Mercurio lent Perseos winged sandals to fly and a polished shield, and then Perseos proceeded to the Gorgons' cave.
“In the cave he came upon Medusa. She was not sleeping as some tales say, but fully awake.
“‘No man’s eyes can gaze upon me, therefore hold forth your shield and take my head. In so taking my head, you will learn a great mystery.’
“And now that she was alive and offering her head, Perseos protested once, and then twice and again a third time. But, in the end, by viewing Medusa's reflection in his polished shield, he safely approached and cut off her head. From her neck sprang Pegasus and Chrysaor. But her mouth spoke and her eyes burned.
“‘Behold I am alive and slain, still I live. See, then, that the head you have taken you again restore, for I have offered my head and my blood and so shall offer it again. If ever I shall be your Goddess and your house do me and the serpents honor, then ever will I guide you. Now follow me.’



They slept in the fields, and early the next morning, in their small parties, the women headed back across the Fotia.
“The Fotia did not seem as large last night,” Jocasta noted. “This morning I feel we should have taken a horse.”
They stopped at the Tomb of Semele and then at the small temple of Iacchus.
“If he is truly God of the City,” Alexandra said, “then why is his temple so small, and outside the gates?”
“Because the Maenads knew,” Clio said, “what some priests never learn, that the moment the religion becomes the religion of the city, inside the city, it ceases to be true. Iacchus came to free men from the oppression of their lords, not to make men the tools of them. So his priesthood and his worship will, in some ways, always be outside of the bounds of men, and outside of their walls.”
They came in through the Iacchus gate, and made their way to the Anaxionade house on Kirrus Street. Manaen and the other men were already home, for they had agreed that since the feasting would be in the city that day, it made no since for the women to return to Chio, but for all of them to meet here. Even that strange Kybernets was here. Jocasta did not dislike the baldheaded man with his southern features, his dark brows, his trimmed beard around the mouth. She only found him strange and almost funny despite the power she knew he had. As they all dressed for the feasting, Jocasta observed the men, the closeness Pyramus and Maro had for each other, the evident love between Mykon and Father, and the love of those men all for each other. How lovely, she thought, it must be to be a man. Not that there was no communion in being a woman as well, and not that she was unloved by her father or her brother. But still, how lovely it must be. Her thoughts turned to marriage, not because she was romantic, but because she was fifteen and the time was near. Pyramus, had he not been married with three children, would have been a wonderful choice. What man would have her, or rather what man she would bear? Her eyes passed over Theon.
“How was your stay in Chio?”
“Pleasant,” he said, smiling at her. “I barely felt like a prisoner at all. And yet, I missed your fierce presence.”
“Fierce?” Jocasta said. “Now there’s a word.”
“Jo, the baths are ready!” Clio called from where she stood beside Antha.
“Well,” Theon bowed to her, “happy bathing.”
Jocasta observed him with a raised eyebrow.
“I always feel like you’re mocking me.”
“That’s funny,” Theon said. “I always feel like it’s your who’s mocking me.”



There, in the baths, Clio combed out her hair, and Antha sang in a low voice while she undressed for the bath. Her aunt and her cousin had been lucky in love. Uncle Memnon was a gruff but good man who loved his wife and her strange family, and Lysander who had brought such fame to their family, was long and tall and handsome like Apollyon. It had been three years since her first bleeding, and though her grandmother had stopped talking about marriage, the very absence of her grandmother made her think of what Phocis would say.
At first she thought she had heard a horn, and then she put it out of her head. But after a while, Clio said, “Do you hear that? It must be from the Citadel.”
Antha was stepping from the bath, her servant girl, Dorcas, who had once belong to their household, wrapping a towel about her.
“Perhaps it is to signal the parade.”
“No, Mother,” Clio said, and Jocasta sensed that Antha had known her idea was wishful thinking.
It was as she was stepping from the bath that the Manera, Sycharos’ wife, entered the bathroom, bowing quickly.
“Ladies, the Lord Manaen wishes you all to come as soon as possible to the main room. We are headed to the Cadmea.”
“Manera, do you know what the horn means?” Jocasta asked.
“No, my lady,” Manera bowed, and left the room.
They dressed quickly, and out the in the atrium the men, including Father, all had swords at their sides. There was no time to discuss anything, but by the time they were headed out of the house, the men on horses, the women in litters, and all surrounded by troops, the city was already abuzz. They had not made it out of their neighborhood when Jocasta and Clio, jostled in their litter, heard, “The King is dead. King Creon is dead.”
As they approached the Cadmea, the streets were more quiet and, pushing back the green curtain, Jocasta saw that Mykon and Pyramus had to rely on their swords and their troops. Across from them, the blue curtained litter opened and Jocasta could see Charis and Antha looking out as well.
As they rode up into the Cadmea’s flagstone court, Jocasta moved to step out of the litter, but her brother was at her side.
“You stay in there. In fact, all of the women stay here surrounded by the troops.”
“Get back on that horse!” Jocasta heard Marophon bark, but it was not to her. It was to Father, robed and mantled in his usual black trimmed with gold.
“I am the head of the Anaxionade!”
“Don’t you dare get off that horse!” Marophon said. He jerked his head to Pyramus.
“In fact, put him in the litter with Jocasta.”
While Jocasta watched, Mykon and Pyramus bodily hauled her father into the litter where he spluttered and demanded to be let out.
“Sorry, I can’t let you do that, sir.” one of the guards said, and Manaen, eyes wide, prepared to swear and then viciously shut the curtain and left him, his daughter and niece in the darkness.
“They do it because the love you,” Clio said.
“Fuck them!” Manaen opened the curtain to spit, but now the noise in the Cadmea was dying down ,and they heard the voice of Cyron declaring:
“Early this morning, Creon Menoekeos, who has been the stability of our city for five decades, was found dead, on this the holy feast of Iacchus. Now our city enters into a time of deep reflection where, after our mourning, we will turn to the Assembly to choose our new king. But Merope, the great lady of the city and high priestess of our holy Iacchus has words to say.”
“This should be interesting,” Manaen murmured and opened the curtain. When a guard looked up at him, Manaen smacked him in the back of his head.
“My people!” Merope called out. “My people. My Thebans. People of Phocia. Hear me! Our King has died. Old but still full of health. However, I would say this, we must not take it on faith that he died merely of old age.”
All through the square there came a collective gasp that turned into a long, suspicious moaning.
“Let me down,” Manaen commanded, and the guards did so, letting out Jocasta and Clio as well. If Marophon saw it. He said nothing.
“I repeat,” Merope’s voice rang out from the steps of the Hall of Assembly, “We must not take it on faith that he died merely of old age.”
Now there was silence.
She continued, “For some time now, the armies of the city have been dominated by the Anaxionade,”
“What is that bitch saying?” Manaen fumed.
Maro had turned to Pyramus. There was a jerk of his head, and this time when Mykon made a movement for Manaen, Jocasta and Clio to be put back in the litter, and Lysander rode slowly to them, none of them argued.
“And it is no secret,” Merope was saying, “that Manaen has used his son and his lovers to control the capital as best he can. But it has come to my attention that in his household he is hiding the one person who would seek vengeance against our dead king, who would benefit from his death, and be happy to sit in his place. After so long an absence, the Princess Terpsichore has returned to Thebes, and having murdered the King, she bides her time before returning.”
As voice in the crowd rose in disbelief, and some in anger. As the confused hum of denial became louder, and more violent, people all around them looking up, Merope’s voice rang out.
“Let us not allow the Anaxionade, traitors since the time they supported her father Polyneices, a final victory. She must be brought before us, and they must be punished!
“Now.”

TOMORROW A SPECIAL POSTING: THE INTERLUDE AND THE APPENDIX TO KING OF ALL THESE RUINS

 

[CharmedFan28]

A great conclusion to The King Of All These Ruins and a shocking cliffhanger at the end! I am glad there is more of this story and I look forward to the special posting tomorrow!

 

[ChrisGibson]

INTERLUDE
διάλειμμα

HIGH IN CASTLE ACRYS, Aeon continued:
“‘No man’s eyes can gaze upon me, therefore hold forth your shield and take my head. In so taking my head, you will learn a great mystery.’
“And now that she was alive and offering her head, Perseos protested once, and then twice and again a third time. But, in the end, by viewing Medusa's reflection in his polished shield, he safely approached and cut off her head. From her neck sprang Pegasus and Chrysaor. But her mouth spoke and her eyes burned.
“‘Behold I am alive and slain, still I live. See, then, that the head you have taken you again restore, for I have offered my head and my blood and so shall offer it again. If ever I shall be your Goddess and your house do me and the serpents honor, then ever will I guide you. Now follow me.’
“And so she led him to the kingdom of Aethiopia, which is southeast of Nyssa, and south of Kemet and was ruled by Queen Kassiopeia. That queen, having boasted her daughter Andromeda equal in beauty to the Sea Goddess Tethys, drew the vengeance of Eidon, who sent a flood on the land and a sea serpent, the many armed Kracken, which destroyed man and beast.
“The oracle announced that no relief would be found until the Queen exposed her daughter Andromeda to the monster, and so she was fastened naked to a rock on the shore. Flying over head on Pegasus, Perseos slew the monster and, setting her free, claiming her in marriage.
“She fell for him at once,” Harmonia said.
“Yes,” said Aeon. “Perseos married Andromeda, but at the wedding a quarrel took place between Perseos and the Aethiopians, but again Perseos raised Medusa’s head, and his rivals were turned to stone. Andromeda followed her husband to Maesa where, showing the head to the court, the king and all his men became stone. Here they founded the House of Tiryns which are our kinsman to this day.”
“But what of the beginning tale,” Harmonia asked, “of Perseos being responsible for the death of his grandfather?”
“Oh yes, I forgot that.”
“I always forget it too,” Harmonia said.
“Perseos then returned his magical loans and gave Medusa's head back to her body, but caused an image to be made of her in Tiryns, and this he consulted and gave votive offerings. Her priesteshood is strong there even now. The fulfillment of the oracle is told several ways, but I will give the one I like best. Danae found a mighty man to marry, and Perseos refused to go to Argos, but went instead to Mykenae and Daurs which his children would also rule. There, athletic games were being held. He had just invented the quoit of all things, and was making a public display of them when Acrysios, who happened to be visiting, stepped into the trajectory of the quoit and was killed: Thus the oracle was fulfilled.”
“Serves him right.” Harmonia murmured.
“And so comes the lesson,” Aeon said, “that you cannot avoid fate.”
Phocis cleared her throat.
Harmonia turned to her, and Aeon raised an eyebrow.
“I beg to differ,” Phocis said to him. “I would say the lesson is: watch your head.”



APPENDIX


IN THEBES


Alexandra Αλεχανδρα (Anaxionade Οικοσ Αναχιον)- the younger daughter of Manaen Anaxionade and sole issue of his marriage to Ianthe Dione.

*Ajax Anaxion, Aiax (Αιοχ Αναχιον)- the firstborn son of Titus Anaxion and Phocis Heklade and original heir to the Anaxionade. He died in the Battle of Seven Gates and was feted as a hero though Manaen noted that, had he lived, he would have probably been executed or exiled. While Phocis Heklade mourned the death of her son, she had often admitted that Manaen was the preferred and more clever of her children.

Antha Αντα (Anaxionade Οικοσ Αναχιον)- daughter of Titus Anaxion and Phocis Heklade, sister to Manaen and the deceased Ajax. Her husband is Memnon Astrikion and her oldest child is Clio Astrikion. Her son by marriage is the Commander Lysander Eutrache.

Charis (pronounced like the word Care+iss) Ξαρισ (Cleomanes Οικοσ Ξλεομανεσ)- the next to youngest child of Megacles Cleomanes and Polyxena Marophonides. She is the wife of Pyramus Aktade and the mother of Thalia, Hemnos and Eurealos.

Clio (pronounced Cly-O) Ξλιο (Astrikion Αραβατιτυσ) the daughter of Memnon Arabitus and Antha Anaxion. Under Axum law, she is counted as a member of the Anaxionade through the female line, though this does not apply in Thebes. She is a devotee of Iacchus, a close companion of her cousin Jocasta and her sister by marriage, Procris. Famed for her wisdom, she is high in the council of her uncle Manaen, which is counted as unseemly by the men of Thebes. Her husband is Lysander Eutrache.

Harmonia Labdokos (pronounced Har-MON-ia) Harmony (Ἁρμονία Λαβδοξοσ)- the daughter of Prince Polynieces and Princess of Thebes. She was raised by her aunt after her father died at the Battle of Seven Gates and her mother leapt to her death from the walls of Athene.

Jocasta Iocaste Ιοξαστε- (Anaxionade Οικοσ Αναχιον)- second child of Manaen Anaxionade by Phoebe Eumenaes, named for Iocaste, the former Queen of Thebes. Noted for unusual prowess in fighting, she holds unusual influence in her family for a woman of Theban society. Along with her grandmother, Phocis, she undertook a mission to bring back Harmonia, the heir to the Theban throne from her exile in Attika.

Kybernets Κψβερνετοσ- A traveling Axumi witch priest of the Old Rites, teacher and sometime lover of Manaen.

Manaen Manahen Μαναεν- (Anaxionade Οικοσ Αναχιον)- the youngest issue and second born son of Titus Anaxion (Titus the Traitor) and his widow Phocis Heklade. After the death of his father and brother (Ajax) at the Battle of Seven Gates, he becomes the head of the Anaxionade at the age of eighteen, inheriting the shame and poverty visited upon the family after the civil war. In his youth he was approached by Cyron Axatides, but chose Marophon Cleomanes as lover. By his first wife, Phoebe Eumenaes his children are Mykon and Jocasta, and with Phoebe and her family, he strengthened his wealth and influence as a merchant through out Ellix and the Isles. By his second wife, Ianthe Dione, his issue is Alexandra. After the defeat of the Theban army at Cyra, he rebuilt the Sacred Band and reconstituted a private army from the rejected army of Thebes, rebuilding his power base and bringing the Anaxionade back into influence throughout Phocia. He primary lovers are Marophon Cleomanes and Pyramus Aktade. His sister is Antha Anaxion.


Marophon, Marophonos, Μαροπηονοσ (Cleomanes Οικοσ Ξλεομανεσ)- first born of the Soarti Megacles Cleomanes and his wife, the Agae born Polyxena Marophonides for which he is named, he is the one time Primary General Emeritus of the Sacred Band, famed for his victories in the Civil War and the Dakan Campaign, though with Pyramus Aktade, he met defeat in the Cyran War and was afterward disgraced. He is the head not only of his nuclear family, but of the entire clan of the Cleomanes and his primary lover is Manaen Anaxionade though he is known also as lover to the two Generals of the Sacred Band, Mykon Anaxionade and Pyramus Aktade.

Merope Dionead (Οικοσ Διονε)- leading woman of the city off Thebes both through birth and through her marriage to Telamon Telamachos. She is the high priestess of the God Iacchus and the older sister of Ianthe, Manaen’s second wife. For the first ten years of her life, Manaen’s daughter, Alexandra, was raised in her house.

Mykon, Mykonos Μύκονος (Anaxionade Οικοσ Αναχιον)- known as Mykonos the Fair and Mykonos Swordshield, is the oldest child, and only son of Manaen head of the House of Anaxion. At the age of fourteen he is given to Marophon Cleomanes as lover who sends him to battle college. Some time later, when the Sacred Band is resurrected as part of the private army of Manaen Anaxionade, Maro eventually joins, now united through formal ceremony to Pyramus Aktade the senior general.

Phocis Heklade (Πηοξισ Ηεκλαδε)- The younger daughter of Mykonos Heklade and Hermione Lykentis, widow of Titus Anaxionade and the mother of Ajax, Antha and Manaen. She is, effectively, the matriarch of the Heklade and responsible for both of her son’s Manaen’s marriages. Famed for her beauty and for her tongue. Grandmother to Clio, her siblings, Jocasta, Mykon and Alexandra.

Pyramus Aktade, Pyramos (Πψραμοσ Αξταδε)- first the Junior General and then the Senior General of the Sacred Band and Great General of the Army of Thebes. Known for his beauty and sexual prowess as well as his prowess in battle, Pyramus has been chief lover to both his brother by marriage, Marophon Cleomanes and Mykon Anaxionade. He is also known to be a companion to Mykon’s father, Manaen Anaxionade. His wife is the equally amorous Charis Cleomanes.

Terpsichore Labdokos (Τερψιχόρη Λαβδοξοσ) – last re-maining issue of the unfortune pairing between Queen Iocaste and King Oedipus. Though technically the closest heir to the Theban Throne, due to her age and childlessness,she agreed that her niece, Harmonia, she be declared heir and Princess to the City of Seven Gates.

Theon of Athene (Θέων Ατενι)- the Prince of Athens, abducted by Jocasta and her grandmother and brought to Thebes.

*Titus Anaxion, Titos (Τιτοσ Αναχιον) head of the Anaxionade until he was executed for treason after the Civil War in which he fought for Prince Polynieces. His father was the immigrant Axumi merchant, Epicharos Anaxion who moved with his nephews and nieces first to the town of Chio and then inside the city of Thebes where their household is established till this day. Epicharos wed his son to the half Axumi, Agae born Phocis Heklade, and their children are Ajax, Antha and Manaen.





THE HOUSE OF ACRYS



Aeon Αεον - Xanthe’s youngest sibling and sole brother, famed for his pale green hair.

Xanthe Χαντηε - Queen of Akxa and Maesa, daughter of Prince Eumenaios and the Oread Maia. Her brother is Aeon, and her sisters are Xian and Ao.

Eco Αεξο - the son of Maia. He is most known for his almond eyes, shocking pink hair and his repudation for wisdom and magic. He was close in the councils of his grandmother, Queen Camiro.

Maia Μαια - an Oread who lives on Mount Kyllene named for the Goddess of that Mountain. She wed Prince Eumenaios, the only child of Queen Camiro of Akxa and bore him Xanthe, Ao, Xian and, posthumously, Aeon.

Melyssa Μελψσσα- the Bee Priestess whose temple is west of Mykenae and on the northern entrance to Arcady. She, like her sister Maia, is half Oread, a trait which, having shown up in her children, does not show up in her.

Aramache Αραμαξηε - the daughter of Melyssa, a general in Akxa and councilor to her cousin, Queen Xanthe. Her younger brother is Eco.

Xian- Χιαν a great warrior, Xanthe’s youngest sister.




THE GODS



Ashtaroth- called, Cypris, Astarte- the Eastern Star, the Morning and the Evening Star, the Goddess of Love, Beauty and Battle. She is counted as one of the twelve under the name Venus. Ωενοσ

Ares Αρεσ- the God of War. His daughter with the Lady Ashtaroth is Harmonia.

Apollyon Απολλψον - The God of the Sun, one of the Twelve, reputed to have destroyed Python. His place of prophecy is Pythia, though others say Pythia once belonged to and still belongs to Phoebus, the Titan of the Sun.
Dis, Aides, Admetis- Αιδεσ as Aides he is the brother of Zeon and Eidon and one of the Twelve. He is conflated with Dis and Admetis, older forms of the Lord of the Underworld, wealth and Death. His home is alternatively Hades or Thessaly, and his Queen is Proserpina or even Demeter. By some tales he abducted her into the Underworld, and by others it was the other way around.

Eidon Ειδον- called Pos- Eidon or Passa Weidon- the brother of Zeon, master of the Seas and of Earthquakes. Allied with Horses. One of the lovers of his sister, Demeter.

Gaea ΓΕ - The Earth Herself. She is the mother of the Titans, but also of the Monsters, as well as several strange people, such as the first kings of Athene, Python, and anything which springs to life out of the Earth. She is the Mother of All.

Harmon Ἁρμονία - daughter of Ares and Ashtaroth who wed Cadmos after he slew Ares’s serpent. She is the mother of the royal line of Thebes and she is revered as a face of the Serpent Goddess.

Herakles Ερακλεσ- the Hero God of Thebes, reputed to, by his many sexual conquest, fathered the Heraklids, the last race to invade and settle in Ellix.

Hermes Ερμεσ- called one of the Twelve and the Messenger God, he is personified by a boy with winged sandals, and yet most of what is said to him points to a far older deity. His mother is the Titaness Maia. Manaen and others refer to him as Mercurio and he seems to be close in mystery and power to Iacchus.

Iacchus Ιαξξηυσ - The God of the Vine, the one who dies and is reborn, the Turner and the Subject of the Wheel, called the God From Nyssa. The Rising and Dying One. According to conservative religion he is the son of Zeon by Semele, daughter of Cadmos, but his devotees say he is older, from the time of the Titans and has little to do with the Twelve. He is God of the City of Thebes. As one of the Twelve he is referred to as Dio Nyssus, the God from Nyssa.

Kronos Ξρονοσ - ruler of the Titans and of Heaven and Earth in the Golden Age. His wife is Rhea. He had the unfortunate habit of eating his children, convinced that they would supplant him. Other versions say he took them in his mouth, implying some form of incestuous sexual initiation. According to Hesiod, Zeon escaped being swallowed and was able to rescue his siblings, Eidon, Aides, Teleia, Demeter and Hestia, who rebelled and overthrew the Titans (The Titanomachy), taking over Mount Orthys and ushering in the present age. Kronos was then imprisoned in Tartaros, though other tell that he simply went to live in the west, and in the winter time he returns to remind men that once there was a golden world where Zeon and the present condition did not reign and one day things will be different again. According to those traditions, especially in the south and in Cyra, he is called the Old Grandfather, and the Giver of Good Things. The people of Carthage identify him with their god Melquart.

Maia Μαια - The Mighty One, revered in Arcady, she is the mother of Hermes, and by conservative religion the grandmother of Pan (though this seems unlikely). Her father was the Titan Atlas, who holds up the world and her uncle Prometheos, the creator of Men who gave them the gift of Fire. She was the foster mother of Arcis, he father of the Arcadians and therefore the Pelasgo. Aside from being counted as a Titaness, she is also one of the Pleides and counted as the oldest of the Oreads. Called the Lady of the Mountain, she is a great Goddess.

Meter Μετερ, Δεμετερ,- is the Great Mother. When called Demeter “The Mother” she is appropriated into the Twelve as the sister and lover of Zeon, Eidon and sometimes Aides. In conservative religion she is the mother of Proserpina Queen of the Dead and High Lady of Summer. However, Meter simply means Mother and may apply to the Goddess Ops, the Earth, Hekate, Great Cybele or even the Universal Mother whose cult is in the Islands and in Cyra. Some mysteriarchs hold that Demeter and Proserpina are one, or they are sisters, or even lovers, and therefore aspects of Great Mother. The Goddess is a great mystery. Sometimes called Ceres.

Oludamare- God the Rainbow along with Janicot the Hare, and Dambatta and Ayeda, the Primordial Serpents of the Rainbow he is one of the Axumi gods worshiped by Manaen and Kybernets.

Ouranos Ορανοσ - Heaven. According to Hesiod, he was born from Gaea who then mated with him and begot the Titans. Her other children, he shut up inside of her with his penis until Gaea forged a sickle, gave it to her son Kronos and bid him castrate his father, thus becoming the new king of heaven.

Prometheos Προμετηεουσ- a Titan. After Zeon appropriated fire to himself, Prometheos stole it, hiding it in the stalk of a narthex and gave it to mankind for which the Twelve, bound him to a rock that his liver might be pecked out and consumed by an eagle every morning. He was, in time, rescued by Herakles.

Rhea Ρηεα- in conservative religion she is the Titaness who is the wife and sister of Kronos and the mother of the New Gods. By her cult, though, she is the Keeper at the Cave of Time, The Lady Serpent, the Mother of All, the Living Goddess of the Earth, the Mother of Growing Things. She is greatly revered in Phrygia and there considered to be one with Cybele. It is thought that, in the same way Demeter and Proserpina are one, She is One with Demeter, thus the three of them make the Three Faced Goddess. She is also a great mystery. Also called Ops, or “Hops”. Grain. Cereal, Ceres. See Demeter.

Teleia, Here Τελεια- one of the Twelve, Queen of Heaven, sister and wife of Zeon. Her first name means “Perfectly”, the second name, by which she is known in the south, means “Beloved.” She is represents Marriage, Childbirth and Revenge regarding wrong women. The Cow is sacred to her.

Semele Σεμελε- the mother of Iacchus. By tradition she is a princess of Thebes and daughter of Cadmos and Harmonia. As the only human to give birth to one of the great gods, she is the symbol of earth being joined to heaven. Some though, say that, as her mother was a Goddess married to a mortal, this was the symbol of heaven being joined to earth, and that Semele was, like her mother, divine. In their temples, which lie outside of the city, and which no man can enter, both are revered as Serpent Goddesses.

Vesta-εστα Hesta, Hestia. The Goddess of Fire, especially as it pertains the the home, hearth and community

Zeon Ζεον- The Chief of the Twelve, son of Kronos and Rhea, spouse of his sister Teleia Queen of Heaven. He is the All Father, Lord of Heaven, Master of Lightning and Storms. The root of his name has several meanings, Godhood, Life force, an electric force like lightning or fire, and these meanings give clues to his actual nature which mysteriarchs believe should be separated from the stories told of him in which is he is a rapacious God of right-makes-right justifying the status-quo.


A NOTE ON NAMES

The suffix “ade” indicates plurality the way an s would in other languages, hence, the whole of the Anaxion family is refered to as Anaxionade. There are times, however, when a member of the family is flatly called Anaxionade rather than Anaxion, indicating that he speaks and acts as the totality of his family, or that to see him is to see the whole of the family.
Other strange instances are the family of Marophon Cleomanes. Properly Cleomanes, once a proper name, is singular and to be born by all the men while the entire family should be referred to as Cleomanesade or Cleomanade. For obvious reasons, this practice has been dispensed with and Cleomanes operates as both singular reference point and the name of the entire family. With the Aktade clan, who hail from another region, a similar practice is kept.

Depending upon which land or city from which a woman hailed, she might bear her family name her whole life or adopt her husband’s at marriage. Phocis Heklade considers herself a member of the Anaxionade and, in some ways, their mother, but she never takes the name Anaxionade. Also, Antha’s daughter, Clio, though technically a member of the Astrikion family through her father Memnon and a married member of the Eutrache, is regularly referred to and refers to herself as Anaxionade.



COMING SOON: MASTER OF ALL SORROWS

 

[CharmedFan28]

That was very helpful in keeping track of the characters! Thanks for posting it and I will refer back to it in the future. Great writing and I look forward to Master Of All Sorrows!