A Coming Storm - Prologue
Hello?
Ah, salvē! Please, come in, the weather is rising outside and I assure you that there will soon be a storm of quite some size. How do I know? Well surely that is why you are here, is it not? You must know that I am considered the foremost diviner in this paltry slice of Etruria...or no...perhaps not.
Please, if I may ask, who is it that sent you to me? Was it that debaucher Spurius? That vapid wife of old Vibius? No? Hhhmm, then it appears you have sought me out on your own merit, and I applaud you for that, may I sit? I thank you.
So, if you are not here to request a reading or ritual, then why have you come all this way to seek out an old blind man like myself? Hah! You had not noticed? In that case then, may I trouble you for a cup of water?
Information you say? Yet not of the type which is given by any deus, but knowledge of my own...yes, yes, please take a place opposite me and ask what you will.
You must be mistaken amicus, my name is Aulus Larcius Priscus, and I have never heard of this apparent man you are seeking. You disbelieve me! I am not this...this...'Rasce Aneina' sounds entirely a fiction to my ears; I hail from Caere anyway and have never even been to Arretium in my life.
You say you did not mention Arretium?
Well, I was simply assuming because of the name...
Ach, by Nortia, very well then I am the man you seek, and you fancy yourself to be the next Hómēros or Thoukydídēs do you? What do you want from me?
Knowledge, poems, speak up now so my old ears can hear you!
My life story, is that all by Tins? Just decades of life for you to record, and work into a narrative that suits you no doubt. I am calm, you puerilis boy.
Very well then, swear to me and all the Gods that you will write down everything I say, exactly as I say it. You may ask questions when they are relevant, otherwise keep your mouth shut. On Tinia, Uni and Menrva, you swear it?
Very well then, let us begin in a place not too far from here, in a time very different from the one in which we now live.