Theriples and the stolen Olive Tree
There once was a young traveler whose name was Theriples. He was a greek traveler going through Greece to deliver some grapes to Chang 'an. Right now, Theriples was following the Silk Road to get to Chang 'an. Now, Theriples is a very poor man. He barely earns any money at all and has no family members. While going through the Silk Road, on his seventeenth night, Theriples heard a young boy boasting about his father. At first, Theriples ignored. Then, he heard that the young boy's father was carrying an ancient Olive Tree to Chang 'an. Theriples asked the young boy how his father was transporting the olive tree to. The young boy (His name was Leotidas) answered and replied that the Olive Tree was being pulled by an extremely heavy wagon guarded by about twenty guards. That night, Theriples sat down in his tent and thought about the Olive Tree and how much it might be worth. He had heard that Olive Trees were sacred to Athens, and that if he were to sell one in a Chinese Market, he would be so rich it would be hard to imagine. So, that night, Theriples finally made the decision to steal an Olive Tree.
The very next day, Theriples walked with the group of people who were with the Olive Tree. He found out that it wasn't twenty guards, but forty of them guarding the Olive Tree. At night, they made a protective circle of tents around the Olive Tree. While the tired peasants who were carrying the wagon dozed off to sleep, the guards continued to guard the Olive Tree. Theriples knew that they would be arriving at Chang 'an in about five days, so he had little time to waste. Theriples first tried to find a way through the guards that did not involve alerting them. This was impossible, due to the fact that the Guards formed a tight group around the Olive tree, shoulder to shoulder. There was a sewage drain in the area, too, but that was also guarded, and lets face it: how can you drag a wagon with an Olive tree in it into a sewer drain? So that was when Theriples turned to the tools that he already had. He had a box of matches, a bottle of alcohol, a rusted butcher knife, a stink bomb, a crossbow, and his box of money that held all his savings. Theriples went over them, thinking about how they could help him steal the Olive Tree.
The next day, while they were eating breakfast, Theriples finally got an idea. He knew that alcohol would burst into flame when having contact with fire. He also knew that stink bombs were going to have to play a key role in his plan. First, Theriples would throw the burning alcohol into a tent, trying to distract the guards. If that didn't work, Theriples would bribe the guards into letting him go by offering his cash box. If that didn't work, then Theriples would throw the stink bomb down, grab the wagon and run for it. If he needed self defense, he could use his butcher knife or crossbow.
In 4 days, thirty minutes before they entered Chang 'an, Theriples sized up his situation. There was the same amount of guards and they were doing the exact things that they were usually doing. Theriples took a deep breath, and started his plan.
Theriples sneaked into the circle of tents, trying not to draw too much attention. Carefully, he took out his box of matches and lit the first one. Slowly, he took a scrap of cloth he stole from someone the day before and tied it to the wine bootle. After that, he lit the cloth on fire and threw it into a tent. CRASH. The bottle split open like an egg and the tent burst to flames. Theriples heard the guards running toward the scene. He ran to the right of the tent he had just set on fire and ran into the center of the tents. There, he saw the wagon. He was just about to reach the wagon when somebody yelled, "STOP." Theriples turned around and saw forty snarling guards staring at him. The burning tent behind them forgotten. He had no choice, Theriples took his cash box and threw it into the crowd of guards. The box opened in midair and all the gold coins came crashing out. It was about five hundred reales in worth. Theriples then turned around and grabbed the wagon and began to pull it down the hill. He about at the base of the hill when he heard footsteps and saw the guards charging at him. Theriples then threw the stink bomb down and started running with the wagon. Leotidas was right, it was a heavy wagon. He managed to drag the wagon down to the gates of Chang 'an. He pushed it open, and ran in.
Theriples might now be a bit safe within the walls of Chang'an, but the action wasn't done. He ran into the marketplace, where he could most easily blend in, and took out his butcher knife. He heard the guards running behind him, so he turned around to see what the situation was. There was a guard about twenty feet away and the guard recognized him. Without thinking, the guard runs at him full speed. Theriples has just enough times to jump to one side as the guard hurtles past him, crashing headfirst into a big jar of wine. The wine went flying everywhere, hitting people randomly. A man nearby got hit in the eye with some wine and got blinded. He went rampaging around, and smashed two more jars of wine, which went flying everywhere too. The pieces of shattered pottery hit some weapon racks, and the spears and swords on the weapon racks went spilling onto the road. The blinded man tripped over another weapon rack containing a crossbow and triggered the crossbow to fire. An arrow went sailing over Theriple's head and hit a lock on an animal cage. The lock broke, and the lion that was being contained in the cage escaped. It was chaos. The lion roared and killed several innocent people. The blind man ran around, firing arrows into crowds of people. Theriples ran for it, and finally got to an undisturbed part of the marketplace. He sold the Olive Tree and ran for it, fleeing Chang 'an. On his way out, though, he got caught by the guards. The guards were just about to execute him when the lion came and killed all the guards. Theriples was just about to thank the lion when the lion bit his head off.
Dear King,
The Sacred Olive Tree has been sold to some random people at Chang 'an. It will not be recovered, nor will we be able to confront the suspect, because he was killed. The Olive Tree is truly gone, we will have to find another one.
Signed,
Commander Sharma