Lost Legio IX: The Karus Saga

by Marc Alan Edelheit

  Karus glanced around at the neatly stacked scrolls that cried out of great age. Unfortunately, the neatly flowing script within the scrolls was indecipherable. Based on how they had been stored, he had decided that they were important works. Why else keep them in a library?

  The sight of the scrolls ignited a fire that burned within. What great knowledge did they hold? Karus felt a pang for his own collection, which had been left behind in Eboracum. Would he ever return?

  Delvaris cleared his throat.

  “Near as I can tell,” Delvaris said, glancing down at his tablet, “with the stockpile of supplies discovered here in the palace district, we should have food to last us at least eight months. To be sure, I confirmed this figure with Felix.”

  Scratching away at parchment, the clerks could be heard through the open doorway as Delvaris fell silent. Karus’s staff, all three of them, were working diligently at rebuilding the legion’s books, meticulously listing out the active legionaries and auxiliaries of each cohort. These men had been pulled from the First, men Karus knew to be literate. The legate’s staff and slaves had not made it through the retreat. Karus wasn’t surprised. The slaves had likely run off when everything had gone balls up.

  The scratching was interlaced with the occasional comment, question, or arriving messenger delivering a report on strength totals or counts.

  “That’s right,” Felix said. “He did the math using an average-per-day ration allotment based upon an estimate of what was found. We’re guessing, because the stock of supplies is so large we haven’t sorted through it completely yet. But going off what we’ve found, there is plenty of flour, grain, barley, salted beef, and pork that we won’t be wanting for anything for some time.”

  “There is also a large stash of salt,” Delvaris added, having consulted his tablet, “and a type of grain that we’ve been unable to identify, but since it’s been stored in quantity, it is most likely edible. We’ve got a cook with the camp followers experimenting.”

  “Oh?” Karus asked, curious, turning his eyes on Felix.

  “Marci’s wife,” Felix explained.

  “Elena’s a good cook,” Karus said. Marci was a junior centurion in Fourth Cohort. He had never officially applied to marry the girl, but they had been together so long she was considered his wife by one and all. Such things were common in the legion.

  “If anyone can make something tasty of it,” Dio said, “it will be her.”

  “What else?” Karus asked.

  “We have begun gathering food stores discovered in the city.” Delvaris paused to take a breath. “You were right about a grain storage. It seems there was a public dole.”

  “Hah!” Karus grinned, slapping the side of his good thigh. “It’s always good to be right.”

  “Well,” Felix said, “it’s not all roses. The bloody storage is only a quarter full. We think that when they city was abandoned the warehouses were opened to the public. There was grain scattered all over the ground and street leading from the warehouses for at least two blocks.”

  “So … ” Karus said, thinking it through. He had found no answers as to why the city was emptied here in the palace. If anything, the mystery had only deepened with what had been discovered. When they were done here, he would show it to Dio and Felix. “The evacuation was hasty and authorities opened the food supply for all to take what they could carry?”

  “That sounds about right,” Felix said.

  Karus nodded for Delvaris to continue.

  “The grain from the warehouses should give us an extra two months at best. I have taken the liberty of ordering that it be moved to the indoor parade ground with the rest of the stockpile. It’s the perfect place for a centralized depot. There are barrack cells in the building that can be used for offices, record storage, and to billet a guard.”

  Karus raised his eyebrows at the tribune, surprised with the initiative. He very much doubted whether Julionus would have permitted a junior tribune to make such decisions in his name. It told Karus that Delvaris was not afraid to make decisions that he felt were right.

  “I would have consulted you,” Delvaris added hastily, “however, it seemed prudent to move things along and order the concentration of our food stores. At the time, I also could not find you. I did consult Felix.”

  “I was in the minaret overlooking the city,” Karus said. “I should have left word where I was going. It’s all right. Excellent thinking. I would have made the same decision.”

  “See?” Felix said with an amused chuckle. “I told you he would be fine with it.”

  A relieved grin spread across Delvaris’s face before he colored in sudden embarrassment. Karus realized that the boy had been agonizing over how he would react. If Karus wanted to develop him further as an aide, Delvaris needed to feel confident when he had to give orders in Karus’s name.

  “We will need an officer to oversee the depot,” Felix said. “Someone who is good with organization, having the ability to say ‘no,’ and counting above the number ten, I think, would be a prerequisite.” Felix paused and turned his gaze to his fellow centurion. “Sorry, Dio, that rules you out.”

  “Well,” Dio said, with an overdramatic sigh, “I am a man of action, a fighting man, not a clerk.”

  “You’d pass up a cushy job like that?”

  “You know how much I hate the bureaucracy.” Dio paused and turned to look at Delvaris. “Those are the blokes whose job it is to make sure things get done, but then happily stand in the way of allowing someone else who has to do the job from doing it. Remember that when you become a legate.”

  Karus chuckled and just shook his head slightly.

  Felix was right about Dio, but for a more serious reason. He needed his cohort commanders to lead without the distraction of a second job. It couldn’t be the tribune either. Delvaris’s rank was too high to serve as a simple supply officer. Delvaris was from a senatorial family; the position was simply beneath him. No, it would have to be a centurion, and a junior one at that.

  “Who do you suggest?” Karus asked of Dio and Felix. “It must be a junior officer. I can’t afford to replace any senior officers right now. Nor do I think that wise, as they are our most experienced combat leaders.”

  “What about Janus?” Felix said. “He is good with numbers and seems organized enough.”

  “I think he could do it,” Karus said. “He’s got a good head on his shoulders.”

  “I hate to lose him, but Cestus might be the better choice,” Dio put in. “Prior to getting posted to my cohort, he served a stint in supply.”

  “And you’ve never held that against him?” Felix asked.

  “If he wasn’t such a good officer, I might have.”

  “Cestus then,” Karus said, making up his mind. “At least until we find someone better.”

  “He won’t like losing his century,” Dio put in.

  “He can keep his century.” Karus did not want to take the man’s command away from him. Men who made it to Cestus’s rank worked hard for it over many years. It would be cruel to snatch that away. “They can help him manage and secure the depot. Dio, will you notify Cestus of his new responsibilities? He is to begin immediately.”

  “I will,” Dio said, a relieved note in his tone.

  “Good,” Karus said. “My clerks will provide him with a strength total for each cohort. The same will be done with the followers. Accordingly, he will need to provide a weekly ration draw and account for it.”

  “I will make him aware.”

  Karus turned to Delvaris. “Continue.”

  “A list of additional food stores is still coming in,” Delvaris said. “However, my best guess is these will extend our stores at least another two months. This is, of course, dependent upon what Valens finds in the surrounding countryside and if we can properly store it all before the food spoils.”

  “As long as the aqueducts continue to flow,” Dio added, “we should have plenty of water too.”

  “Speaking of w
hich, has a bathhouse been located?” Karus asked. “There is one here in the palace, but it is rather small and not suitable for large scale use.”

  “We’ve located several throughout the city,” Dio said.

  “Is one near the palace district?” Karus asked.

  “Yes,” Dio said. “A bathhouse is just a few blocks over from the palace gate and, like the fountains, is aqueduct-fed. No need for any manual hauling of water from the fountains.”

  “Good,” Karus said. Bathhouses were important to legionaries. Many forts and garrisons included such amenities in the towns that inevitably grew up next to them. Using fountain-drawn water for bathing was not the same thing. “Dio, I want you to get it operational as soon as possible. Delvaris, once the bathhouse is ready, come up with a rotating schedule for the men and camp followers.”

  “It shouldn’t take too much work,” Dio said.

  “I want to ultimately move our people to the area just outside of the palace gatehouse,” Karus announced. “The accommodations in this area are nicer, more spacious, and close enough that if we need to pull everyone inside the inner walls on short notice we will be able to do so.”

  “Karus.” A troubled look washed over Felix’s face.

  “Speak your mind.”

  “This cache we found. It was stored in a similar manner to how we would prepare a depot.” Felix paused a heartbeat. “What I mean is, well, this is how a disciplined force would store supplies.”

  “I know,” Karus said, understanding Felix’s concern. “I took a look myself and found it all very orderly. Our supply clerks back in Eboracum could learn a thing or two.”

  “I suspect whoever left it did so after the city was evacuated,” Felix said. “Otherwise I think those stores would have been picked over and looted. It’s fair to expect whoever left them to come back. I mean, why bother organizing supplies you would be abandoning?”

  “We will burn that bridge when we come to it,” Karus said, having already come to the same conclusion. Felix was right, but his people had an immediate need. There was simply no telling how long it would take or how far they would have to march to return to friendly lands.

  “Thing is, Karus,” Felix continued, “just by taking advantage of it, we may burn your bridge beforehand.”

  “We need that supply,” Karus said in a firm tone that was hard with certainty, “and it is gods sent.”

  “I agree with Karus,” Dio said. “You really expect us not to use it and rely upon what can be scrounged up in the city and surrounding countryside?”

  “I did not say that,” Felix said. “It seems to me that it was put here for a reason. Someone will come looking for it. Someone who right now may not be our enemy.”

  “That can’t be helped,” Karus said, having felt the tension in the room grow with the exchange. “We found it and will use it to keep our people fed.”

  Felix bowed his head in acknowledgment of Karus’s decision. The room was silent for a few moments, then Karus looked to the tribune to continue.

  “That armor there,” Delvaris said, nodding to the table where the suit of armor lay.

  It had been brought in by a pair of legionaries before the meeting. The two legionaries had struggled just carrying the chest armor in alone. Karus turned his gaze to the armor, which had been found amongst the supply cache. He had already briefly examined it.

  “I would not,” Delvaris continued, “want to encounter whoever that was meant for.”

  Karus agreed, though he did not say so aloud. He walked over to the armor and studied it again, contemplating the impossible size of the chest plate. It was very thick. The person it was made for would have been short in stature, but broad-chested and incredibly strong.

  Below the chest plate was a skirt of mail that hung down under the waist, and it would have been a very large one at that. It was almost as if the armor had been made for a very short, fat man. The helmet that had been placed next to the armor was also too wide and twice the weight of a legionary’s. The shield was smaller than those used by the legion, but it was made of all metal, save for the leather brace secured behind for an arm. There would be little if any cushion for blows. There were arm and leg greaves as well. All of it was incredibly heavy.

  The armor had a plain look that disguised its quality. Karus judged that it was superior to that of the legion’s standard issue. His critical eye was sure of that. He reached out a hand and felt the cold touch of smoothed metal. It had been wrought by a master armorer.

  “How many more sets like this did you find?” Karus asked, turning to Delvaris.

  The tribune moved over to join Karus, glancing down contemplatively at the impossible-looking armor. He consulted his tablet.

  “Four hundred and twelve.”

  “And all are about the same size?” Karus looked to Delvaris for confirmation.

  “More or less.”

  Dio let out a low whistle at that. “Not only do we have to worry about the bastards that fit this armor, but if these are spares and with the sheer quantity of the cache … ”

  “How large,” Karus finished as Dio trailed off, “is the army that stored these here?”

  “Another thing,” Delvaris said and pointed at a mailed hand. “One of the men noticed this. Each hand has six fingers, not five. Every set is the same. I checked.”

  Karus glanced down sharply and counted. He had missed it, but sure enough, there were six finger holes in the armor. He chewed his lip a moment as he considered, not liking what he was seeing.

  “I’ve never met a six-fingered man,” Dio said, his voice sounding troubled. “Kind of like a woman with a slanted vagina. They don’t exist.”

  Karus shot Dio a look which said, “You are not helping.”

  “A ‘round-the-clock guard has been placed on the depot,” Delvaris said, changing the subject. “On another troubling note, we’ve also found large quantities of spirits in the city. Felix suggested that the spirits be secured. I concurred, so I’ve passed along orders that all such drink is to be confiscated and moved to the depot.”

  “That said,” Felix blew out an unhappy breath, “we’re still having a problem.”

  Karus could well imagine. The life of a legionary was generally dull and difficult. Drink took the edge off. Legionaries were allotted a standard two-pint daily ration of wine. They were accustomed to drinking and, when off-duty, imbibed freely. With what had been found throughout the city, there was no doubt in Karus’s mind that there was a great deal of excessive drinking in the evening hours.

  “What kind of spirits?” Karus said.

  “We found hard stuff and some beer, sour tasting shit that’s worse than what the Celts drink,” Felix said. “Surprisingly, no wine.”

  “Delvaris, sour or not, coordinate with Cestus to arrange for each cohort to begin receiving enough beer to meet the two-pint ration,” Karus said, knowing the rank and file of the legion were not discriminating drinkers. “Dio, set up several drinking establishments for off-duty hours. Get a few of the followers to run them at no charge to our men. See that the amount consumed is limited. The cohort commanders can work out a schedule for their men to frequent these establishments on a pass basis. That should cut out some of the unauthorized drinking. Once we have that in place, punishments are to be handed out to violators that are caught pilfering drink from the city.”

  “We can easily get this up and running,” Dio said, “by tomorrow night at the very least.”

  “That sounds good.” Karus had placed Dio in charge of compiling reports of the exploration of the city. As Karus’s second, Pammon was responsible for executing the search of the city, which was why he was not present. “Dio, I would like an update on how the search of the city is progressing.”

  “It is a big city,” Dio said. “Searching it is taking some serious time. That said, we have yet to find anyone skulking about. When the city was evacuated, it seems that no one was permitted to remain. We did find a series of mass graves just outs
ide the walls. Whoever buried them did a shitty job of it, and it was relatively easy to dig up a few of the bodies. They are fresh to within the last two weeks, maybe just a day or two longer. This matches with the bodies that were staked out in the temple district.” Dio paused to scratch an itch on his cheek. “I would guess that there are at least several hundred bodies in the one that I looked at, judging by the size of the pit that was covered over. We’ve found five others just like it.”

  “Several thousand then,” Karus said.

  “Yes,” Dio said. “We’ve also found an extensive dungeon right under the administrative building here in the palace district. We have only just begun exploring the first two levels, but it is possible that the bodies in the pits are the prisoners that were held there. No sense in bringing the criminal element with you when you’re fleeing.”

  “It could also be,” Karus said, “that the bodies were stragglers.”

  “You mean the populace had a choice?” Felix’s eyebrows drew together. “Either evacuate with everyone else or be executed?”

  “It would explain why we’ve not come across a soul in the city,” Dio said. “You’d think someone would have stayed behind for the loot.”

  “We just don’t know yet,” Karus said. “Speculating is about all we can do. Tell me about this dungeon.”

  “There seems to be a large network of underground spaces honey-combing the palace district,” Dio said. “We think they go down maybe ten stories. A few cells are occupied by bones of prisoners left to rot. There are rooms for torture too.” Dio paused to suck in a breath. “We’ve also found catacombs under the city, with at least seven entrances identified so far. Otho and his cohort are exploring them, but just like the dungeons, they are extensive. He believes there are more entrances, and I agree. These both will take time to search and map out. It is possible the dungeon and catacombs may even connect somewhere. At this point, we just don’t know, and that does not even take into account the sewers, which we haven’t gotten around to yet.”