Quoted By:
>For my sanity, I’ll just include multiple topics in this chat with Dorippe, since each of the votes for this had a different thrust and I don’t want to exclude anyone
Your mind, clouded as it is, is hungry for more information. Dorippe has no doubt seen and observed much of the gods through her marriage to Anios, and so you begin by following up on a previous lead by Pollux –
“Lady Dorippe, have the Athenians arrived on the island at this point? Has King Menestheus arrived?”
Dorippe doesn’t hesitate – “No, Nikandros - the Athenian contingent has not yet arrived – a bit unusual, since Menestheus often arrives well in advance of the Lesser Delia, but Anios tells me that the Ship of Theseus will be visible on the western horizon by late tomorrow morning – he has seen this in the flights of eagles over the cliffs. No doubt Menestheus will be onboard the ship – he has not missed the presentation of the gifts in many years.”
You take the opportunity to inquire further about Anios’s augury, and Dorippe specifies –
“Well, I am aware of the fundamentals of the Tiresian* practice, although I am not blessed in such fashion – that the gods of Olympus often send eagles and birds of all types to signal their intentions to the mortals who can read such signs. The sky is divided into quadrants, as the augur faces north, and the relative elevation, motion, and species of the birds is translated. Easterly birds are generally favorable, and westerly birds are poor omens – birds at high elevation are portend more favorably than those at low elevation, and whether the birds cry out or simply flies carries meaning as well. Eagles are generally good portents, having been sent by Zeus, and vultures generally poor – beyond these basics, the augur must be able to receive flashes of divine insight, whether through divine ancestry or blessings from one of the deathless gods – or both, I suppose. As for when Anios conducts this business – “when he sees fit”, is perhaps the best answer.” Even this basic review of augury strikes you as complex – no doubt there are many additional subtleties in the process which are only known to the augurs themselves. You shelf your interest in the process of augury for another time, asking:
“Would it be possible to earn the augury services of Anios in some fashion?” Dorippe meets your gaze flatly, her beautiful face smooth and unreadable.
“This is a question for my husband, not for me, Nikandros.” You take this in stride, and continue with another line of inquiry:
“And what of the Hyperborean gifts you had mentioned? I am not familiar with this,” you admit. Dorippe explains politely:
>cont
Tiresias the blind seer of Thebes was the progenitor of all augurs and one of the greatest priests as Apollo, as Nikandros is aware. Tiresias was cursed with blindness but blessed with the lifespan of seven men, although Nikandros knows this vague legend only.
