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It is time to make your play for alliance with Teukros, the dark-featured bastard of Telamon.
There’s no single moment where the decision crystallizes in your mind – but after days of dragging the galleys ashore for brief respites, and sprints back into the water for frenzied rowing against the currents, you have plenty of time to contemplate the advantages of speaking to him now, before Ilion is reached.
And finally, at long last – you find your mind is clear; your thoughts quick and fluid…
>FADING CONCUSSION MALUS is now REMOVED
friendly reminder – don’t lose fights, or I will punish Nikon severely, assuming he survives the fight. Read Deianira’s Sidestory if you don’t believe me.
The relief is crushing – you resolve never to lose a training bout in such humiliating fashion again, and certainly not against Tydides for a second time. You’d prefer not to add another dose of shame to the confused brew of emotions when you consider the greatest of the Epigoni – the King of Argos, and also the man who extinguished the greater part of your extended noble family…
You put his offenses out of your mind for now.
As Palamedes once advised you – Teukros is the son of Hesione, one of King Priam’s elder daughters, who was stolen away from Ilion by Telamon decades ago. This makes him both a bastard of Telamon, and the grandson of King Priam himself. As a result, Teukros will have more standing in Ilion than the rest of the diplomatic party combined, and to boot – the man is fluent in Luwian. The nobility on the vessel (excepting Palamedes) are seemingly blind to this - Ajax and Palamedes are aware of his ancestry, but for the rest, perhaps their prejudices stand in the way of considering the full implications. Even Teukros does not seem to have put the pieces together – he rarely speaks of his Trojan ancestry, and has said nothing about visiting the kingdom of his famous grandfather - one of the wealthiest kings in the Aegean.
If you are to spoil the talks in some fashion, it will not be through winged words – not with Odysseus present to stuff Menelaus’ ears with his own. On the battlefield, if one is overmatched, how does one respond? First, one changes the battlefield, if this can be done. Second, one changes the conditions of the battle, if possible. Third, one subverts the expectations of the enemy, if this can be done. And finally – deceit and trickery are the often the methods by which duels, skirmishes, battles and wars are won – it is the true currency of armed conflict.
Your thoughts finally racing at their typical speed, you resolve to apply these same principles to the diplomatic council. Your own advice during the talks will likely mean close to nothing; you are hardly respected even amongst the Achaeans, and the Trojans will likely ignore you. Teukros, as the bilingual grandson of King Priam, can provide you with the ability to achieve what your counsel alone cannot.
