It was January. To Bitt that meant knee deepsnow, ice and bitter cold. But here in the south it was at swelteringly hot andit wasn’t even midday yet! He was glad that he had clipped off his fur but hestill felt hot! The first part of the patrol was quiet.Simply a walk-through countryside in the dark of the predawn. The town outsidethe fortress was also quiet. No one was out and only a few lights revealed thatanyone at all was awake. Soon the fortress and town was left farbehind and the group marched quietly through the darkness. On either side ofthe road the buildings of the town gave way to the fields of the farmers. Vague, black shapes on either side of theroad told of farms whose owners were mostly asleep. Still the occasional faintglimmer of light told of someone already awake and doing the work needed tofarm and survive. They passed a field bordered by a low stonefence that held a small herd of sheep. Some of the livestock peered over thewall at them with an uninterested gaze. These were not intelligent Furries buttheir non-sentient animal relations. Commonly called a Feral they were aregular part of life. He understood that a Feral horse was notanything like a Furry horse but one could easily see the relation. No matterhow distant. And he always wondered how an equine Furry felt riding a Feralhorse. It must be confusing on some level. Bitt had never actually seen a feralfox but the idea of him meeting one left him ill at ease. Dawn found him and his Contubernium at asmall town a dozen miles from the castrum. The town looked like all the othershe had seen before. A score of buildings with tan colored walls made of rammedearth or stone. “What is the name of this village?” Bittasked. “Does it matter?” Rolozius countered. “I like to know where I am,” the foxanswered. “It doesn’t matter,” the lion responded.“All these towns look alike.” Bitt was hard pressed to argue that point.It looked exactly like every other village he had seen. “What trouble can werun into here?” Bitt asked as he looked at some locals tending some feral sheep.“Seems fairly peaceful.” They were some type of deer he hadn’t seen before butreminded him of the feral, Roe deer he used to hunt back home. “It’s not the locals who we need to bewareof,” Tossius explained. “They don’t care who rules here. So long as we leavethem alone to farm and craft and live in peace.” They did a slow walk through the town andwere for the most part ignored by the people. Soon they were again walking through quietcountryside. One farmer looked up from his hoeing andwatched the passing legionnaires carefully. Only when he was sure the patrolwas going to pass without bothering him and his family did he get back to work. “Then who are we hear to fight?” Bitt asked.“I assume we’re not here to just wander around collecting taxes.” “The Parthians ofcourse,” Rolozius answered sarcastically. “Who else have we been fighting forthe last two hundred years?” Bitt shook his head. “According to thegovernment back in the capital Emperor Clausius defeated them one hundred,forty years ago.” That drew laughter from all the rest. “So we defeated the Parthians?” Keganresponded sarcastically. “Yes,” Bitt answered. “There’s even avictory monument in the capital celebrating it. At least that is what emperorClausius ordered everyone to remember.” A wagon came slowly down the road pulled bya dusty looking ox led by an equally dusty looking deer. At first he thought the wagon was stoppedbut it was moving. Just very slowly. The decanus stepped in front of the slowlymoving wagon and held up his hand. “Halt,” he ordered in Aramaic. The wagon came to a stop and the farmerstood there, his eyes wide in nervousness. “What are we looking for?” Bitt asked. “Contraband,” the canine answered. “Rebelsor spies.” “And what do those look like?” The foxasked. The hound shot Bitt a glare. “Anythingillegal.” “Ah,” Bitt responded. “I see. So who won thewar? Certainly not the emperor.” The lion simply shook his head. “The emperorwas defeated in battle and fled back to the city of Dura-Europos. The siegeended when the coward fled with his Pretorian guard and legions and left thecity and its people to their fate. He basically gave them the city and theentire province of Mesopotamia in exchange for being allowed to escape.” “Then he fled back to the capital and liedabout the whole thing?” Bitt asked. Still a little confused. “Yes,” came the feline’s answer. “And whenthe emperor declares something a victory you simply agree with him.” “And who is going to leave the capital andcome all the way here to find out if he lied or not?” the hyena added. “Are we at war with the Parthians?” Bittasked as he lightly searched the wagon. He wasn’t sure exactly what he waslooking for and felt more sympathy to the poor farmer. So he just halfheartedlypoked through the bags of grain. The decanus shrugged. “Occasionally.” The fox stopped his searching and looked atVinius. “Occasionally?” “After the emperor fled the Parthians pushedwest all the way to the coast before we drove them back.” “When did the war end?” Bitt asked. “I don’t think it ever really ended,” thehyena commented. “The war long, messy and bloody. The fighting stopped wheneveryone was just too worn out to continue.” Vinius motioned with his hand. “Go ahead.You’re fine.” Taking his que, the deer tapped the oxen onthe shoulder and the wagon started to move down the road. The fox watched the wagon make it’s way(Very) slowly from the group. “Wow. Could there be a slower way to travel?” “Yup,” the hyena responded. “But the loadthey can pull can be quite big. When you can't be fast, be strong.” “Dear Barone. “You asked me what the political situation is like. It would take foreverto describe it properly. The Parthians are not the threat they used to be. Likeour empire they have grown older and more sedate. They have the same issues wedo.” “All those stories of how Emperor Clausius defeated the Parthians arewell know all over the empire. One problem. The Parthians don’t know they havebeen defeated. The stories of Clausius’ campaigns have a far different endinghere. The siege of Dura-Europos ended when the emperor fled the city with hisPretorian guard and legions and left the city and its people to its fate. Hebasically gave them the city and the entire province of Mesopotamia in exchangefor being allowed to escape. The war raged for years before the remainingLegionnaires were able to drive them back. They do things here differently. The empire and the Parthians are liketwo old, experienced warriors facing off. Both too wary of the other’s skillsto just blindly attack but unwilling to back down. So they warily face eachother but trade only a few blows amidst lots of posturing and boasting. Neitherwishing to commit to a fight it really can’t win. **********************
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