Now, on the positive side? None of the local Muslims wanted to engage in hostilities with us... what few of them remained in the general area, as the camp and caravan moved towards what would be considered the Persian Gulf. Now, the good side was that my guest was being well behaved. The reason for that? "Queen Hera has determined, that as I have lost to a man, that I am to serve for a year and a day." Now, I was going to be lucky to get out of the year with all my bones intact. "Of course, if you go against your word to avoid defiling me..."

She narrowed her eyes. "I would not care what petty punishment she would mete out to me. And as I would be delivering you directly to the lord of the underworld with a rest for your punishment after I cash in a favor?" Her smile was... okay, I was honestly impressed there were no wilting plants. "Oh, I would take whatever punishment would come my way, even if it would take a few decades to work off." That was not a happy smile, her eyes near feral. "You will of course, be busy with eternal torment, so it would not be your concern either."

Yeah, okay, I got it. She was far from pleased to be here, far from happy that she would be in contact with someone that captured her... even as I looked at her. "The restraints are not coming off until after I'm dead, same as before." She glared at me. "You just said that you would take whatever punishment came from killing me, and before you do anything! Your family is known for being extremely easy to offend and you are already looking for excuses that look enough like justifications."

The telling thing, aside from some growling that was more cute than threatening? She did not really have arguments against that. Still. "So. As it is, despite what was requested... I'm going to just treat you as an honored guest that is not allowed to leave. Mostly as you are going to hunt me down and kill me once you are free," yeah, she nodded, a sharp and perfunctory thing, but she nodded, "but still, in the interests of not annoying your relatives and being smote for treating you poorly, you get to have run the camp and..."

I closed my eyes. "Look. If your hunters show up, they can be your handmaidens and companions. You will even get your own tent. I will do everything in my power to hopefully make this year and a day tolerable, so that afterwards we can part ways and I'll eventually die in glorious combat back home and you will forget all about me in a few hundred years." I paused a moment. "However, I am willing to make an archery target that looks like me as part of your welcome to camp gift."

Now, the glare will still hostile, but there was an amused and predatory smirk... so progress?

Ivar Rattlebones

Now, when the boss came out of the tent, we smirked, looking at him, "So, how was..."

His glare was... telling as normally he was a friendly and jolly sort. "So. Important announcement, because while we are avoiding mortal politics..." He sighed... and went for the beer. Which raised eyebrows, as according to him, he avoided alcohol for the simple fact that he did not wish to lose control of his magic while drunk. Something that I think we all appreciated, even if it was mostly smithing magic. "But the Olympians find it funny for her to be staying with us."

Now, he looked around to the others, something about the name tickling his mind. "And they are?"

He shook his head. "The gods of Olympus, of Greece." They all sat upright, eyes wide, as the gods of the southland were talking with the boss? That was... big. "Also known as her relatives. After all, the father of Lady Artemis is their All Father, the king of their gods." Blood was running cold now, as they looked at the tent were the probable goddess was. "And the worst part of it all?"

The boss was looking right into the fire. "If you though the nobles were bad?" Now, his tone was haunted. "Our gods are warriors and fighters who drink a lot, but are generally speaking, not total assholes." They all nodded. "Oh sure, if he thinks that you have something useful Odin is as likely to cheat you of it in some convoluted scheme as not," again, they all nodded, as this was true, "but he is not a part of the 'every hole is a goal' pantheon!"

He shivered, even as they looked at each, mouths open. "I mean, hell, even most of the goddesses are..." He shook his head. "Just about the only ones that don't sleep around are two of the goddesses sworn to be virgins and eternal maidenhood, of which the lady in the tent is one of them. So, no, I am not going to have sex with her... and if they show up? No sex with her hunters. They swore to be maidens and serve their goddess, we will not be the ones to break sacred oaths, as the Olympians will punish the girls for not being able to fight back or escape."

Frowns came at that, as that seemed wrong. Aye, if someone broke an oath of their own will, or because they couldn't handle their drink, that was one thing. But to be forced into breaking it, to be robbed of it and held to be an oathbreaker because they were attacked and bested? That was wrong. "So. We shall be hosting the silver lady for a year and a day, as her fathers wife, and keep in mind that her father is the king of the rapists, the goddess of marriage," his tone suggested some unpleasant things, "decided it was funny to be a slave to the man who defeated her for a time."

He was quiet a moment. "So, best behavior, don't give her an excuse and when this is all over? I'll give you lot my share of the treasure and you can go back home as I prepare to be hunted down to appease her pride."

From how he was speaking... this was not a celebration, as we traveled to new and exotic lands. No, this was our lord and commander telling us to have fun, for death was coming for him. We all lifted horns... and began to decide who would be singing which part of his saga at his funeral in a year. Honestly, it was a shame, as while we were already legends... how much further could we have risen?

The Arrival of the Rune Warriors to the Mahājanapada or Kingdom, of Kosala in the winter of 876 (by the Christian calendar) was considered to be of great fortune at the time to the natives of the region. After having largely pursued contracts to hunt down criminals, they were once more employed as a military force against a Rakasha army from the neighboring realm of Dahala. Assisted by pagan archers from Greece calling themselves the Hunters of Artemis, they were able to not only expose the powerful demons wherever they hid, but tracked down and slew several of the greatest of their kind.

Some said that the zeal that the hunters had against their foes was due either to their leader being kidnapped by a prince among their kind... or due to their leader, a Rakasha queen, attempting to seduce The Dwarf. Something that is a recurrent theme featuring several of the monsters of the region, even as they they left to go north in the spring, passing through the mountains as the passes opened.

Of course, they earned a reputation among those peaks as the army that could slay One Hundred Thousand Demons. At the shores of lake Namtso, the leader of the hunters and Dvergr were said to have married, feeding each other the heart of a mighty srinmo and wicked naga as they routed a mighty army that had been troubling the villages and temples as the first day of spring dawned.

Shortly after the wedding, they continued down into the lowlands, where they would be hired by the Tang to do battle with several dark spirits that had long tormented them.