• Chapter 16: Tyranny in Keferrousa

    Two days after the party had arrived in Paxotassia, a wind pixie sent by Aeolus flitted about the town. The pixie had bright white skin, pink hair, and glowing golden eyes. She wore a pale blue stola with slits for her wings, and was carrying a postal messenger bag over her shoulder which rested near her opposite side hip.
    The pixie soon arrived at the Magnitis house. She panted and found Magaera.
    “Excuse me,” said the pixie, having finally caught her breath. “Is Valerius home?”
    Magaera said, “Why yes, let me take you to him.”
    The pixie rested on Magaera’s shoulder, and they soon arrive in the dining hall. The five had just finished breakfast and were currently sipping on some coffee.
    “Son,” said Magaera. “A messenger pixie just came here.”
    The pixie flitted down to the middle of the table. She reached for her messenger bag and pulled out a hologram. A visage of Aeolus, the King of Winds, emerged.
    “Valerius,” said Aeolus. “Erebus was last seen on the island of Keferrousa. Even if he has long since left by now, there are clues to where he traveled next there, as well as the people there need your help.”
    The vision of Aeolus soon vanished.
    “Thank you, friend,” Valerius said to the pixie.
    The pixie curtsied politely and then, after receiving a gold drachma coin from Magaera, flew away.
    “Son,” said Magaera, “please be careful. The ruler of Keferrousa has had a history of being, to put it mildly, underhanded. How he stayed in power is anyone’s guess. But in the past few weeks, he’s become… well… violent.”
    “No doubt Erebus had something to do with it!” said Valerius. “It will be all right, Mother.”
    The party then gave their thanks and farewell to Magaera and left the house. After the party left, Magaera went to her bedroom and prayed to Tyche, goddess of good fortune, for Valerius’ success in his journey.

    The group soon got on a boat that was heading for Keferrousa. The trip to Keferrousa Port only took fifteen minutes, since the craft was also a fast boat. Now Keferrousa Port was only slightly larger than Paxotassia Town. As the port part in its name implied, it was an important center for trade and commerce.
    And it would have more commerce if it weren’t for the island ruler’s ridiculous embargoes and tariffs that made the people practically pay through the nose.
    No sooner did the five get off the boat than did some soldier surround them. These soldiers were like the ancient Spartan warriors, except their right arms were mechanical. Some of them had flamethrower weapons, others had rifle arms, and some even had chaingun arms. Their shields had on them the capital Greek letter Kappa (same as our capital K), and between the right extensions of the letter were the letters “Fe”, the symbol for iron.
    “Our master wishes to have a word with you five,” said one of the soldiers.
    The five did not want to fight, for even though they would have the ability to survive, fighting in the town would’ve run the risk of injuring innocent bystanders.

    They soon arrived in Keferrousa Stronghold, a large stronghold on the north end of the island. Keferrousa Stronghold was built like a mix between a Greek fortress, a Roman fortress, and a medieval Crusader castle as it would appear in Israel back in the Crusades.
    The five were forced to kneel before the Tyrant of Ferrousa, a bloated pig of a human named Lycomedes Nkritsali. Lycomedes was bald, had brown eyes, and his large dark gray pants and green-gray boots were barely able to contain his extremely obese form.
    “Master Nkritsali,” said the soldier who addressed the five earlier. “I have brought forth the five you asked us to bring.”
    Lycomedes laughed, and his belly seemed to jiggle as he did.
    “Well, well, well,” said Lycomedes, “What a pleasure it is to meet you! You must be Valerius Magnitis and company, am I right?”
    “Indeed, sir,” said Valerius. “I must be blunt that your welcoming committee leaves much to be desired.”
    “Ha, ha, ho, ho, ho,” laughed Lycomedes, again jiggling like gelatin. “You humor me! Heh, heh, Erebus told me you’ve been giving him quite the run around. Well, I’m afraid you’ve been getting too close for his comfort. So, he needs me to get you out of his way for a while. Besides, he’s put a lovely bounty on your head and the heads of your friends.” His eyes narrowed and he gave a sadistic smile, and he continued, “A bounty I intend to collect!”
    Lycomedes then pointed to his soldiers and said, “Take these five to the dungeon. I shall prepare an email to Erebus so he can tell me what to do with them next!”
    The soldiers saluted their liege and hauled the five off.

    The dungeons of Keferrousa Stronghold had new fluorescent lights and some average security alarms and traps, but otherwise it remained unchanged as it did in classical times. The dungeon hallways were cave-like and the bars of strong metal.
    At least, they were strong when they were first forged. The bars and the cement holding them grew old. Most prisoners didn’t dare to hit them for fear of getting the guards’ attention.
    But then again, they did not take Valerius and his companions into account.
    Zanthe didn’t have her staff with her, but she didn’t need it to cast some simple spells—the staff was only needed for more powerful ones. With one simple spell, she was able to unlock her cell once the guards were elsewhere. As quickly as she could, the elf nature magician freed her friends and got their equipment back.
    “Thanks very much, Zanthe,” said Valerius. “I think it’s time the island got a new ruler, wouldn’t you say?”
    “True,” said Rouvin. “Once we bust out of this joint, our first step is to find a communication place to notify the people—this will definitely discredit Nkritsali, and perhaps even trigger a revolution! Then we can really teach him a lesson!”
    “Agreed,” said Galina. “I recall seeing one on the way down to the dungeons.”
    “Lead the way,” said Nauplius.
    Hiding whenever they heard guards coming, the party soon got out of the dungeons.
    The five got out, and it was about nighttime when they escaped. They walked across the parapets, being careful not to attract attention.

    Back in the dungeon, one of the guards passed by the cells the five were originally in—as they were the only five incarcerated at the time.
    “Oh, no!” said the soldier. “Master Nkritsali will have my head if they’ve gotten far!”
    The soldier soon ran to his barracks and activated the alarm!
    The five heard it as well.
    “Looks like we’ve been found out!” said Nauplius.
    “The guards will surely shoot first and ask questions later!” said Galina.
    “I guess we’ll have to fight our way to the communication post!” said Valerius.
    The party got their weapons ready.
    Indeed, the party had to fight the soldiers that were in the stronghold. The flamethrower ones were outdoors, away from anything flammable so as not to cause a fire hazard within the fortress itself.

    After Nauplius sent some guards flying with his hammer, he rejoined the others.
    “Friends!” said Galina. “I found the communication post!”
    “Send out an announcement to the public!” said Valerius. “We’ll buy you some time!”
    At once, Valerius and the rest fought off any guards that were approaching.
    Inside the post, Galina typed the following:

    “Attention, people of Keferrousa.

    “Let it be known that Nkritsali is a traitor. He has made a deal with the Warlock, Erebus Tonadi, which will therefore put the rest of Keferrousa in jeopardy.

    “Nkritsali is unfit to rule the island any further!”

    Galina then pressed the “Send” button online, which sent the message to the electronic billboards and other news posting areas in the port city.
    As predicted, the people soon heard the news and took up arms to revolt.
    “Attention, soldiers!” said Nkritsali’s voice on the intercom radios. “The people of Keferrousa are declaring revolt and surrounding the stronghold. Counter immediately! I repeat, counter the revolt immediately!”
    Most soldiers ran out to fight the resisting townspeople.
    Now only a few soldiers remained within the stronghold that Valerius and friends needed to fight.

    The stone halls of the stronghold echoed with the running footsteps of the five heroes as they made their way back to the throne room.
    The fat traitor Nkritsali was there, with his battle axe ready.
    “I should have known you caused this,” growled Nkritsali. “I may be quite round, but I am a fighter in my own right. I won’t need to hire an executioner, since I will take off your heads myself!”
    “When we’re done with you, Nkritsali,” said Rouvin, “you’ll be roasting on a spit!”
    Nkritsali was enraged to be compared to a pig, and ran toward them. The five scrambled to avoid the downward swing of his axe.
    “Come over here, porkster!” mocked Valerius.
    Nkritsali roared in anger as he ripped the axe from the floor. But as he approached, Rouvin shot a few arrows into his obese physique.
    “Dang!” said Rouvin. “This guy isn’t giving up that easy! I bet the fat must’ve blocked the arrows’ path to his vital organs!”
    “SHUT UP, YOU TRIPES!” yelled Nkritsali as he swung his axe wildly again.
    In his rage, he made his axe get stuck into part of the throne room wall.
    As he struggled to get his axe out of the wall, Nkritsali didn’t notice Valerius approaching.
    The fat tyrant got his weapon loose, but it was too late to use it.
    Valerius smiled and said, “Game, set, and match… fatso!”
    After saying that, he made one quick swipe across the tyrant’s belly, disemboweling him and making other bodily substances flow out as well.
    Nkritsali fell over into the pool of his own gore, dead.
    One of the soldiers saw his leader dead.
    Horrified, he ran out, saying “It’s all over! Master Lycomedes Nkritsali is dead!”
    As soon as the news reached the battlefield, the fighting stopped. The soldiers who were loyal to Nkritsali surrendered. The people of the island cheered. At last they were freed from the tyrant.
    Some of the surviving soldiers, willing to make any amends necessary, provided guest rooms within the fortress—a far cry from the dungeon cells they were earlier in.

    The next day, Rouvin and Nauplius gathered together with some people with Keferrousa Port to aid in preparing elections for a new ruler.
    “Thank you again for setting us free,” said one townsperson.
    Another townsperson said, “We saw someone fitting the description of Erebus going toward Ingot-Menitsa Island.”
    “That is where we shall go next,” said Valerius.
    Once the new elections were underway, the party of five soon got on the ship and prepared to sail off for Ingot-Menitsa. The people of the island cheered and gave their farewells as they set off for their next adventure.