of help, then he can help as well,” Barricus said. “Is he a thought reader, as I have heard about the Keldon people?”
Leo said, “Yes. He uses his various abilities discreetly. If, as you say, Chaos forces are involved, then I know he will be of great help.”
“Very well. You may arrange to have his help as well.”
They walked near the imposing senate buildings. Great one-hundred-foot-tall columns supported the huge front entrance of the multistory marble building. Silvery lines were scattered through the marble.
Barricus briefly greeted one of his assistants, who intercepted him near the entrance to one of the government buildings he carried an important document that required the seal of Barricus’s senatorial ring.
While waiting for Senator Barricus to finish his conversation with his assistant, Leo thought about what preliminary methods he would use to deal with the situation. He would work in an investigative mode to determine what happened at Lady Seneca’s estate, and he would rely on some of his arcane skills.
Using thaumaturgy and other arcane skills took talent and discipline. In the past, the Eldren—one of the first people to settle in the independent provinces of Adjios and Illuin—termed the process or discipline essence weaving. More recent arrivals brought to Archaeus from Earth called those users of the arcane, such as Leozanthicus, wizards or sorcerers. Others called the processes magic, and some of those in Illuin called it spell weaving.
Many practitioners of the arcane arts believed that this magic was a gift to be used wisely and responsibly. Its wards, lore, spells, and arcane weaves were often used to defend against the creatures of the Chaos realms. The study of the arcane was divided into categories. Those who mastered at least four categories and had knowledge and skills at an adept level in the rest were called archmasters or archmages. Leo had recently started working toward becoming an archmage, although his extended family’s activities and his own projects sometimes delayed his progress.
Barricus finished with his assistant and moved toward Leo, who was looking at the building and admiring a protective ward in the stone. The senator said, “Now I will take you to meet with Darshalla the dawn knight. She indicated that she would meet us at Tolen’s Bath.” They walked away from the Great Halls, and Barricus added, “I do not want to be overheard by other senators or any tribunes in the proximity of the halls, where echoes of people talking can sometimes be heard. The running and churning water of the baths will drown out our conversation and prevent it from being overheard.”
As a senator, Barricus was one of the regional governors for one of the roughly forty provinces that comprised Megalos. Most provinces had two senators. There were three consuls who were the elected central leaders of the Republic of Megalos. The consuls were usually the most senior senators and gave orders to the praetor of Megalos, who was the military leader of the army and in charge of all the legions. Each legion was commanded by a legatus and was supported by officers called tribunes and prefects, who were usually sons of a senator or legatus or from an influential family in military service. Of course, to have any notable rank, they had to be citizens of Megalos.
They walked along, looking at the sky as they exited the Great Halls where the senators debated and made new laws. Probably not wanting to be overheard about personal matters, Barricus began some general conversation. “The nova in the sky seems to have grown over the year and is likely an omen of battles of the gods or probably the starlords.”
The road they walked along was paved with thousands of square-cut stones. As they talked, Leo wondered about what might have happened in Tosca. It had been some time since they had such interesting conversations.
Leo replied, “The scholars at the astronomical and astrological center here in the capital say that the nova is the result of a great explosion of a star in a different solar system and perhaps just the last radiance of an aging star. They have also speculated about the cause. Some, like you, think it might be from a battle of the starlords. By historical accounts, none of the starlords have not personally visited Archaeus for centuries, but some of their agents and servants have been seen.”
Barricus nodded. “Did you know that more men, another town of people, have appeared on the northern border? It’s been decades since men arrived from my ancestors’ home. They say they come from a town in the mountain region of Italy where the melting of early spring glacial waters caused a mudslide that would have destroyed the town.”
“This might start some anxious ideas,” Leo said. “It seems the Thurians, our enigmatic benefactors and hidden manipulators, are selecting more people and towns to bring here again, probably to add more potential soldiers to defend against the Chaos warriors.”
Barricus sighed overtly. “Ah, not more of them. The last time those warrior things came in any numbers, they destroyed many cities and towns of Megalos and across the neighboring city states.”
“It could mean the Thurians are aware of things we are not, such as that a new incursion of the Chaos warriors might be likely.”
Barricus said, “The common citizens know little about the Thurians and their plans. If some Thurians had not appeared and spoken with the leaders of the republic who had been assembled for the senior consul’s birthday celebration years ago, I would not have believed they were the ones responsible for bringing us here during my great-great-grandfather’s time.”
Leo nodded in agreement. “I know what you mean. I was fifty before I knew any real details about them.”
“You were fifty? I thought you might be, at most, in your fourth decade.”
“Thank you,” Leo said. “I had a long childhood. I am one of the ‘High men,’ and I have their longevity. I’m told my people’s bloodlines were altered by the Thurians. I am actually in my late nineties.” There were other peoples brought to Archaeus with some type of longevity. The Thurians brought only three other groups to Archaeus with life spans notably greater than the High men: the Elven races, the Keldon, and the Eldren. Of course, there was also the Thurians themselves.
“You look quite healthy. I have some High man ancestry on my mother’s bloodline. I thought I was older than you.” Barricus gave a short laugh. “Continue, please.”
Leo said, “Well, when I was fifty, the Thurians who spoke with my father and several prominent leaders of our city mentioned that translocation was sometimes used to move towns or cites that were in the path of great danger. The people who would have been destroyed by natural phenomena on their originating worlds were relocated, usually to Archaeus. Unfortunately the translocation was also for the benefit of the Thurians, and, as we know, they tended to put those who were translocated in the way of the Chaos warriors.”
“Yes, I know what you mean,” Barricus said. “The southern provinces are still plagued by the giant lizard beasts that appeared there one day. The Thurians probably got those creatures from somewhere to thwart a minor incursion of Chaos warriors that happened about a hundred years ago.”
They approached one of the several Roman-style bath centers in the capital city. Tolen’s Bath, named after a famous consul, was mostly frequented by senators, statesmen, tribunes, and those who could afford the membership fee. Evening was approaching, and it was time to wash off the day’s dust. Barricus continued to cautiously make short comments about the situation he wanted Leo to try to solve. He mentioned, again, that the dawn knight Darshalla would meet them at the baths.
The sky above had changed for the Greeks and Romans who originally settled Megalos. After being brought long ago by the Thurians to the continent of Eidelon, few had seen the Thurians again. The names of the planets, at least among the Romans living in Megalos, evoked new names for their Eidelon gods. Yet some of the old ones, like Zeus or Jupiter, Poseidon or Neptune, Hades or Pluto, and many of the others, including several Titan names, were still used and were in the oral histories or had oracles named for them. Archaeus and its large, Eurasian-sized continent of Eidelon had many different peoples scattered over its surface, and most had some religious beliefs from their home worlds. There were polytheists, monotheists, agnostics, and atheists.
The