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>>787722
>>Go with Parvenah

She can show us around. Maybe even find something we can buy at the Market.

Believe that was also what people most voted for in the last thread

>>787722
>>Go with Parvenah?
Lets get ourselves a better weapon

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Still think you should get yourself a twitter. Otherwise it will be hard for people to know when you are running.

Highly suggest a twitter so we know when the quest is about to run OP.

>>787722
>Go with Parvenah
ask for a tour of the city after the market

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>>787813
I'll see what I can do.

>>787735
>>787737

You accept Parvenah's offer, and the girl smiles to you in her gentle way. You drink down the rest of your warmed milk and rise to your feet, hearing her speak in a friendly voice.

"Father said that the Market's been growing busier every year, and though it will be more sparse in spring it will still be wonderful. They sell all manner of things, patterned oxhide to make thick shirts, bottles of strange medicines and tinctures, spices like cinamon from Arabia, flowing red carpets from Old Persia, even bottles of ink and bits of old books they've bought from monks in the East"

She seems almost mystified by the words she speaks, and you find yourself driven to be intrigued by her descriptions of the many wonders of the market stalls.You had the foresight to attach a coin-purse to your belt before awakening, but find yourself perhaps regretting the choice to leave your main coin-purse at home. You have four Numma from Bahram, enough for a fair meal but little more. You could perhaps go to your uncle and ask him for more, though you find yourself nervous beneath your thick, fiery hair as the shorter Parvenah casts her eyes across to you, waiting to go. Usury is a sin, but unless you should want to buy nothing in the Market but a fine meal or a bowl, you will need more.

>What does Constantine Do?
>Leave without extra and bear it?
>Face the embarrassment of asking Manuel for money, under the eye of Parvenah?
>Take money from within Manuel's purse while he sleeps, and lie to Parvenah.
>Write in?

>>787862
>>Leave without extra and bear it?

>>787862
>Tell Parvenah.to meet us outside and then ask Uncle for money

>>787862
>Leave without extra and bear it?

How expensive could this things be?

obviously far more than we'll have as a child

>>787862
>Face the embarrassment of asking Manuel for money, under the eye of Parvenah?
Usury may well be a sin, but we will repay our uncle in full and not a nummus more. It is not usury after all, if no interest is charged. And knowledge is, after all, the greatest treasure. I am especially interested in seeing those books from the east!

Speaking of, we still need to learn Latin and Arabic and possibly Frankish at some point. We'll start with Arabic however.

Also: WOOHOO! Byzantine Quest is back baby! I've waited all WEEK for this!

>>787983
If they dont speak Greek they are not worth talking to.

>>787983
This, yes.

>>788006
Socrates lived in villas and was consulted by kings for his wisdom. Diogenes lived in a barrel and pissed on people who insulted him. Both are regarded as great philosophers.

Reject not wisdom for the mouth that speaks it. A wise man may be born to the cross or a be born and raised a heathen, but he may still be wise.

>>788033
Mate. It is not an opinion it is a fact.

>Face the embarrassment of asking Manuel for money, under the eye of Parvenah?

He is our uncle he will understand, we have a persian qt to impress.

You deem it best to just go. You will never be called a Usurer, let it be known, and you quickly follow Parvenah out into the street, boots crinkling against the deep heat of the dust coated cobbles. You are used to unpaved roads, and the feeling of carved stone under your feet is a new one, one that keep's it's novel as you follow Parvenah through the winding roads of Iconium. You chatter to one another as children are want to do, your words flowing from tales of the countryside to stories of the city, as she speaks of the great chapel and it's bishop, and you recount, in a powerful voice tales told to you by father Marcus, delighting as she takes delight in them.

She points out to you the homes of those she knows, the many similar townhouses of Iconium seeming indistinct to you until she points out the marks on the lime plastered walls. Workmen seem to be constantly at work restoring wooden upper levels, and ashes mark the air, even despite the smiling people of the city. As you draw closer to the central square the streets grow more ordered and the rocky plaster gives way to stone.

The streets grow more clustered, as men drive mulecarts packed with bags of flour and huge blocks of biscuit, while women carry amphorae of wine, the spiced stench of which washes over you. You round one more corner, and you face the great forum of the ancient city, reminiscent of the Augustaeion in the Capital, with a Statue of some ancient great man in the center, all of white marble, seeming like a half-drowned swimmer emerging from the sea of linen and woolen tents.

The sounds of traders fill the air like a rumbling herd of horses upon a plain, and as you wander dazed behind the seemingly calm Parvenah you find all manner of wares, many great cauldrons of gruel and meat soup. All manner of people wander in the great, colourful stalls, soldiers and merchants of all sorts.

>What would you like to try and find to buy?
>Will you try to find any one type of person in the throng?
>Will you simply follow Parvenah?
>Will you (Write in)

>>788132
>Will you simply follow Parvenah?

For now.

I am not even sure if we need anything or if we have a inventory

>>788132
>What would you like to try and find to buy?
some food for the two of us. that we can afford.

>Will you simply follow Parvenah?
yeah, more or less. First time at this market, lets follow her lead.

>>788144
This

Instead of demurring usury, you head up into the bedroom of Manuel. He lies groggilly in his bed, like a hulk, his beard falling heavily around him, and you gently ask him for a few coins. He yawns and rises slightly, gesturing a heavy hand down onto his coinpurse. You quickly take a few coins, wishing him a good day, and rush out, hoping that Parvenah will not have minded your need to borrow.

>>788172
I hadn't seen the majority support for borrowing, so consider this a replacement of the first half-sentence.

>>788179
Okay so now we have options, how many coins we have now?

>>788193
You have a Milliaresion, a silver coin, along with twelve Numma. You can afford many things, just ask and we shall see.

>>788222
istill think we should get the two of us food and follow her lead for the most part. Now just add looking for a couple trinkets to take home and maybe a book, but try not to spend too much of the borrowed cash, less spent is less that has to be paid back.

So we will simply follow Parvenah through the market, and purchase a meal to share for lunch?

>>788302
Seems to be the plan

Don't actually know what we need or have

>>788302
Seems like that's the way the wind's blowing. Personally I'd like to find those traders from the very far east she mentioned and see if they have those books..!

>>788309
They wouldn't have anything we could understand. Besides. We already got a book we need to get through.

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You think it best to follow Parvenah, who knows more of the stalls than you. She walks elegantly through the crowd eevn as you stumble, unused to the throng. You keep your eyes on the back of her head as she snakes through the crowd, following her through the mass of humanity by the sign of her long, charcoal black hair. You are served well by vigilance in the city, and several times you only just catch a hand as it passes too close to your coin-purse. Parvenah stops first by a small stall run by an old woman. She haggles for a few moments in a language you do not understand, but that you can guess to be Persian, from what excerpts of the language you heard in Marcus' stories.

After a short while, Parvenah is handed a bundle of cloth, the light white linen smelling even at a distance of spice and bread. The old woman smiles to you as you go to leave, drawing you close and tracing her wizened old finger along your palm. You see her closer, noting wise eyes and curled hair in the style and colour of westerners.

She mutters to you in a different language that you only vaguely know of, and you can only pick out one word in the mass of confused gibberish.

"Ἀθηνᾶ"

You do not know the name, but you find it sticking in your mind, the flowing but solid oration filling you with a sense of something. The old matron, with eyes wise and dark, smiles slightly wider, handing to you a small white feather and gesturing for you to go. You stumble away confused, but more concerned with following Parvenah to where next she takes you. You wander through sweet smelling clouds of air and through the scents of fresh butchered meat, from fish merchants to upholsterers, with Parvenah soon asking you to carry a few of her purchased items, a task you gladly undertake.

As you both approach the distant edge of the Market, Parvenah telling you that down an alleyway she knows of an old bookshop run by a man from Cherson. You follow her past the thinning stalls, but look away for a moment to look upon a stall filled with weapons of all sorts, spears, shields and blades lieing there in wait.

You snap back around as you hear a high pitched scream, seeing that Parvenah's purse has been stolen by a pickpocket, who has run away. Likely an Urchin. He is running past you now, his legs carrying him through the streets with speed like a raging horseman.

>What do you do?
>Grab hold of a weapon from the stall and chase the boy down with it?
>Chase him down unarmed into the streets
>Shout out for aid, risking his escape, and the attraction of more men of ill repute?
>Write in?

>>788389
>Chase him down unarmed into the streets

>Write in? grab a weapon from the close stall, a small one, and throw it at his back, nail him good. Might freak out the chick more though...

>>788389
>>Grab hold of a weapon from the stall and chase the boy down with it?

Street urchins are always in packs

>>788389
>Grab hold of a weapon from the stall and chase the boy down with it?
Something blunt, like a cudgel. We don't want to kill the kid, just scare him. Also, as we're leaving, be sure to call out
"SorryI'vegottaborrowthisI'llbringitbackthankyooou!

>>788389
>Grab a weapon and chase him
Time to be a hero

>>788481
>>788449
>>788423
You reach out to the stall and grasp hold of a long staff of wood. You do not have the time to pause and pay or to say much at all beyond a quick apology and a promise that you'll return the weapon. The owner of the stall, an aging armenian man, begins to howl and shout for you to bring back his weapon, calling out for something to catch the thief. You cannot hear his aging voice by the time he speaks though, as your feet thunder on the muddy cobbles.

You whirl through crowds like a knife through butter now, long strides driving you ever forward after a foe that seems to just slightly elude you. Sweat stings in your eyes and your breathing grows heavy, before you remember the lessons of Manuel and regulate your breaths. You are well fed and strong, you will catch an underfed urchin. Steadily, as you race through the indistinct streets through shouting crowds, disturbed at your passing, you gain more and more ground. You reach every corner slightly faster, and eventually, after a grueling run that has left you almost exhausted, you dive after him into an alleyway, your final burst of energy sending you sailing into the back of him.

You both slide across the fetid stones for a moment, dazed by the sudden cool, before he leaps back to his feet and begins moving to run again, only for you to swing the styaff in a vicious arc into the back of his leg. There is a dull thud, and he collapses in agony to the ground. He crawls backwards before rising shakily, but this time you are there to greet him. The alley ends behind him, and to get out he will have to go through you.

He draws a small knife, his scrappy and lean frame falling into a combat stance, and you feel the sweat of the run cool on the back of your neck as you realize the danger you are in.

>What will Constantine Do?

>Throw the Weapon?
>Search for a loose cobblestone to throw?
>Rush at him?
>Attempt to lure him into running past, only to lash out at him again with your staff?
>Try to reason with him?
>Write in ?

>All actions will require a roll of 1d20.

Rolled 3 (1d20)

>>788514
draw him in, we have reach. Beat the shit out of the little brat.

Destroy him

Rolled 13 (1d20)

>>788514
Bait him into attacking, then sidestep and knock him the fuck out.

>>788587
Fuck!

Rolled 7 (1d20)

Destroy him!

Rolled 7 (1d20)

>>788514
>Try to reason with him?
"Risking your life for one coin pouch? You don't want to do this. Just throw it down and you can walk out of here without a fight."

Rolled 8 (1d20)

>>788514
>Attempt to lure him into running past, only to lash out at him again with your staff?

>>788514
>Swing low to distract him and then hit him in the head with the other end

Rolled 9 (1d20)

>>788621
Here's the roll

Rolled 17 (1d20)

>>788514
>Write in ?
Smack the knife out of his hand with the staff and demand the coin purse back.

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>>788590
You are too sly to rush a man with a knife head on, and make the quick decision to step to the side one one foot, as if injured, your staff still in hand. You make no word to the boy, and he sees his chance, running quickly out and trying to pass you, falling for your trick. You swing your staff around as he passes, the staff crashing into his mouth, smashing his upper teeth inward against his tongue. He collapses to the ground, skidding in the filth before clutching at his mouth and spitting out several blood-stained teeth. He howls a gargling howl, and you find yourself leaning heavily on the wooden staff, half exhausted by the sprint and by the fight.

You move in closer to him and he lashes out with a fist. Your knee erupts in pain and you fall down onto it. He lunges at you with his torso, wrestling you into the dirt. You both grapple, unable to find space for blows, throwing one another back in a whirl of flesh and blood. Your staff is too long to be useful, while his knife lies just outside of arm's reach.

>What do you do?
>Wrestle him to exhaustion and knock him out?]
>Attempt to end it more quickly by some cunning tactic? (Write in)
>Go for the Knife (Possibly Lethal)
>Something else? (Write in)

>d20's for actions

Rolled 20 (1d20)

>>788699
>Something else? (Write in)
Rear
Naked
Choke
his little bitch ass right outta consciousness

>>788714
Ohhhhhhhh

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>>788714

>>788714
TIME FOR PANKRATION BITCHES

>>788714
W-well, i suppose that will work.

>>788699
>Wrestle him to exhaustion and knock him out?

>>788714
TFW NAT20

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>>788714
In a moment, you catch sight of the owl's feather dropped from your pockets into the mud, then crushed underfoot by the thief. You make a prayer for the lord god to grant you strength, and put all of your energy into a final attack. You whirl your shoulder joint around and send your elbow into his nose, sending him sprawling. You rise to your feet, full of ruthless purpose, your eyes dark and enraged by your exhaustion, and grasp hold of him by the neck, pulling him up against you backwards and clutching your arms at the joints around his neck before drawing them closed.

You hold him still, and he begins to writhe with the lack of air. You hold him still, even as his hands flail pathetically against you. You even hold as he seizesu p and falls unconscious. Anger surges in you like a torrent, and through it your muscles grow strong. Your rage carries you to clench your arms tighter onto his throat, before the decent part of you takes back control and lets go of his neck.

You reel back and slam a kick, the full force of your rage, into his unconscious back. His comatose form flies out across the mud, and he lies there, bruised, battered, and bleeding from his nose. Your anger does not fade, and you grab hold of the purse from him, along with another stolen purse, his knife, and a silver necklace about his neck, likely stolen.

You are drenched in mud, and you lash out a further time, laying a kick with all of your might into the side of his stomach. You breathe heavily, and collapse to the mud, exhausted. You take hold of the Owl's feather in the dirt. You do not know how long it takes, but after a time a group of guards arrive. You vaguely told them what he had done and how you had defeated him, and they toss you a further purse. They seem not to want to deal with your mud coated frame, but you quickly realize the pouch contains three silver coins, along with a further ten Numma in the urchin's purse. The silver necklace consists of a thin chain attached to a simple cross.

You wear it about your neck as you return to the market. You do not find Parvenah there, only the waning sun. You return the staff to the merchant, and he chides you for taking it. You almost growl back to him, your exhaustion and residual anger boiling over quickly.

You march, coated in mud, through the slowly closing bazaar, much enriched by the bitter fight.

>Do you buy anything this time as you pass through the Bazaar?

>>788819
Buy something for Parvenah, a doll maybe?

>>788840
You manage to find a vendor open in the evening, a young woman with long brown hair who sells you a simple scarf of fine linen for ten Numma, a suitable gift for Parvenah. You smile to yourself and begin to calm, despite the looks of revulsion from many vendors as you wander past, caked in mud. You wash your face in a small fountain, along with your hands and feet, before continuing on to Bahram's inn. As you enter, the refreshing warmth of the place robs you of the last of your energy, and you almost fall up the stairs into your bed.

In the morning, you awaken groggilly and change into clean clothes, only to realise that you had forgotten your contract with Bahram to sing for him. You rush down the stairs to find him standing in wait for you. You dash off a few apologies, trying to explain yourself, before he cracks a wide smile.

"Do not babble like an indolent child, you have saved my daughter's purse from a thief. You are truly a brave and valiant lad if ever I knew one, like a boar in your chase of the thief, as my Parvenah said"

You hand him Parvenah's purse, and ask after her. He goes to retrieve her, and she comes out to greet you. She smiles broadly and throws her arms around your shoulders, thanking you for saving her from the thief. You cannot help but smile as her arms surround you, and it brings warmth to your heart and hers when you gift her the colourful shawl of linen. She puts it over her shoulders and smiles warmly to you once again.

"You were amazing, so fast! You were like a man on horseback in chase of his quarry"

You smile and laugh demurely under her compliments, before she must get back to her housework and you back to Manuel. You give over to him enough money to pay back your debt, as he washes his face in a cistern, and once he is done he speaks to you.

"You're bruised but victorious, my boy, always ready to fight for a woman, just like your father. I have good news for you! We shall head out to buy the horses tomorrow, and from then return home after our long time away."

You are glad for a moment before you feel a thump, deep in your stomach and you realise what is occurring. Tomorrow you will be gone. Parvenah behind you. You will be home, and her in Iconium."

>What do you do with your final day?
>She must work around the house, and so will be busy until the evening meal, but the city is open to you.

>>789030
Go to the theme headquaters and see the soldiers.

>>788033
Diogenes is a meme philosopher.

>>789030
This >>789141

>>789145
Diogenes was a man ahead of his time. The first shitpodters!

>>789141
works for me as well.

>>789174
That's still shitposting brah. I didn't major in philosophy but I can't even name anyone of his ideas. I just know him as a guy who told Alexander the Great to fuck himself, lived in a barrel and jacked off in public.

>>789183
He also liked to fuck with Plato when he was lectioning.
He called Plato an airhead.

>>789145
>>789183
I agree, Diogenes WAS a shitposter and often crass for the sake of being crass and crude for the sake of getting a reaction. But in amidst his madness, he did have some insights. For example, Plato and Socrates definition of a man as a 'featherless biped' provoked him to pluck a chicken and declare, "Behold! A man!" succinctly pointing out the dangers of being too up your own ass.

>>789202
Hey, at least Plato wasn't Aristotle.

>>789030
>Return to the market and talk to whoever you can, from as near or far afield as you can. Knowledge of the wider world is essential!
>Ask of their homeland, their beliefs, their rulers and ideas.

>>789223
>>789141

I will give you both of these things as soon as I may, a time which will have to be tomorrow morning due to my need for sleep, and to go feed my Gecko.

>>789237
What type of gecko?

>>789223
I have to prefer Plato for the sake of his successors and for the man he was than Aristotle. I cannot think of Aristotle as anything but a nasally middle aged man trying to be a pedant for the fun of it, no matter how much I know it to be untrue.

>>789250
Leopard, His name (Short form) is Marcus Horatio Porcius Cicero.

>>789266
You must really like your Greco-Roman history and philosophy.

>>789271
Would I be running this if I didn't?

I've just gone through the Illiad in full for the first time, and I've gotten myself a hankering for proper Ancient Greek style writing, so something else may be in the works for weeknights.

Well goodnight qm, this is certainly a high quality narrative.

>Committing usury
WE JUST HAD TO GO FULL JEW
DAMN IT GUYS, NOW WE'RE TAINTED

>>789030
Go but mementos for back home

>>789030
>Develop childhood crush on Parvenah

>>791507
We've already done that though apparently

>>791597
Good. Then we should buy something nice as a reminder of our stay and watch the soldiers.

>>790215
But there was no interest, so we didn't went full khazar yet.

>>791846
Not to mention it was from family. So i dont think it actually count.

Oh yeah and the interest part is the most important part.

Hey qm lets continue this story.

>>791979
Give him a bit

why the fuck are we arcing to be a solider I thought we were pious n shit?

>>792015
So we can become Strategos and save the Empire and our family from the Arabs!

Also fits with the whole Arcangel Michael thing we got going.

>>792020
Okay but wouldn't a wandering Orthodox crusader be better?

>>792034
Isn't crusading a catholic thing only?

>>792068
Not to mention we are Roman. We have standards we arent going to be vagabonds. We pride ourselves on organization and efficiency and conveluted and self destructive politics!

>>792068
Shhhhhh

>>792070
>We pride ourselves on organization and efficiency and conveluted and self destructive politics!

It is really amazing how long they lasted.

>>792076
>Muslims are literally knocking down our gates
>Better start backstabbing eachother!

>persians

No

>>792438
>He doesn't want a persian waifu.

>>792445
>He does

Pretty disgusting

>>792445
>We will never get Zoroastrian Quest

I am not sure well versed in this time period or the Easter Roman Empire. But arent Iconoclastism a big thing right now ?

>>792460
Persians are based

>>792494
>No more glorious Rome versus Sassanids

Feels bad man.

>>792494
Not one at all.

>>792484
It's 803, I think there is one last iconoclastic emperor is it Theophilos (if I'm not mistaken) but his reign is closer tothe end of the century?

OP returns when?

>>793820
I hope he continues today.

>>793848
Seems unlikely

>>794265
What else do you expect from a Greek? They never keep their end of the bargain, just like during the 4th crusade.

>>794521
Venetian please

NIKA NIKA NIKA NIKA

NIKA

NIKA

NIKA

>>797617
NIKA!

>>794521
>Venigger
I hope an Austrian fucks your wife and eats your child

>>797653
>tfw Latins are going to make one big mess of everything great you onced owned

Nika ?

We will be basileus n shiet if we ever heard from qm again

>>799792
I'm kind of worried. He hasn't made a Twitter yet. Also he's Greek.

it's confirmed, op has gone bankrupt and can no longer afford internet, we're doomed I say

>>800000
find solace in the quints

I am sorry.

Schoolwork is overwhelming me at current. You have all been wonderful players, and it would break my (Constantinopolitan) heart to abandon you. I would like to offer a compromise, I will post when I have time. No matter the day, no matter the hour, whenever I can, and whenever I have the players to manage.


https://twitter.com/Leo_III

I will announce when I am running here, in this convenient Byzantine Themed Twitter I made months ago.

>>803955
Nice.

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>>803955
>one retweet
>Make Rome great again

I can get behind this

>>806170
When the Bulgars are sending their people they are not sending their best!

>>806171
They have to go back,they need to cross back to the north of the danube.

I cant wait to meet Father Marcus again, we are going to tell him everything we experienced and pray in the Hagia Sophia and just have a great time forever and ever!

>>807231
And them we will retake Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria we will be the greatest general the Empire ever produced.

>>809200
The best. We will be the second comming of Belisarius!

>>809200
>>809253
Deus Vult! God wills it and we shall be his instrument to secure Byzantium's future for the next ten generations!

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>Not being the Crusader general of the patriarchs personal army of ''crusaders''
>not floating an orthodox cross on your back or Hussar wings while charging into battle

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>>809200
>>809253

>>809253
>>813708
And the best of all we will not be cucked, by our wife like he was!

>>814003
>trusting Greco-Roman wives to not cuck their husbands

Pretty naive of you anon.

>>814005
>Trusting Persians not to betray and KEK us

>>814266
So we have to get a Latin or Slav wife that is ?

Or maybe a Nubian/Ethiopian?

>>814277
>go Latin
>roll in ridiculous wealth helping in laws smooth trade

>go Slav
>have hordes of uncivilised barbarians at our command

>go Coptic
>implying we'd stoop so low

This is of course assuming we'd actually make it big

Bumping so we're ready when Konstantinos returns

>>823607
Might be better to just make a new thread.