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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 3137177" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter 184, “Athens”, Sunday, March 26th, 1882, 8:30 PM At approximately 8:30 PM Manuel Gonzales emerges from his bedroom, happy and rested. He is wearing the nice three-piece suit that Antonio de Sucre and Simon Bolivar had purchased for him. "Well ladies, are you ready?" he asks.   Sonoma states, “As ready as I can be. I do enjoy these trips however I enjoy them more when it is not something that must be undertaken but is more of a trip to be enjoyed for the pleasure of it.”He then says, "Katherine, your ring is more clerical than wizard in origin so will not show up as Wizard magic but it is essential that all other items of wizard magic origin remain behind."  "I have no other magical items on me right now. I left them with my riding clothes. I didn't think I needed them here. I'm as ready as I'm going to be," Kate said with her voice shaking slightly. "This will not be so terrible with you both with me."Gonzales turns to Ginnie and says, "If you are going to be joining us you had best go and change into something more appropriate, such as your best dress." Kate interjects "You want her to come with us?" He replies, "Well, Katherine, since neither you or Sonoma known the Greek language, and Ginnie does, I thought it might be helpful to have another translator along. We found during the New Orleans trip that it was helpful to have two who knew the local language." He turns back to Ginnie and says, "Hurry along, we can't wait all day." Ginnie does as told, scampering out the room. Once she is gone he adds "I would also prefer to have her somewhere that I can keep an eye on her."  Kate says, "That reasoning I can understand. I'm not sure leaving her alone here with all these interesting things is the best idea."  A few minutes later Ginnie came running back in wearing the mint green dress they'd gotten for the reopening of the Lucky Lady. Kate quickly took her brush to the girls hair, replaiting the braids neatly and tying them off with the matching ribbons. "There," she said, hugging the girl. "Will we make you proud?"Gonzales has the three females accompany him into the workroom. He lights his brazier and tosses in the pink powder. Familiar with the routine, all of the women grasp hands as he casts the incantation.  They arrive in a stone alcove that is around eight feet across and three to eight feet deep. It is on the side of a hill where they are standing at a sharp angle and have to re-adjust their footing to keep from falling over. The eastern sun is just coming over the horizon. Gonzales looks around and says, "We made it." He climbs out from the alcove and helps the women out. They are indeed on the side of a hill, the largest hill in Athens in fact, overlooking the city below. Further up the hill at the top they can see the Acropolis, a massive stone temple with vast pillars constructed to honor the Goddess Athena some 2,500 years earlier.  Further down the hill along the same side they see the Theater of Dionysus, a 20,000 seat stone amphitheater with a large multi-story building and wall along the east facing side. Gonzales explains that the theater was constructed a century earlier than the Acropolis and designed to seat the entire population of the city at the time, where great festivals were held every May that consisted of much fighting, dancing, singing and of course, typical Greek feasting. He says "We're hardly dressed for the hike down the rocky hill but I had to bring us to somewhere that was safe, unchanged since I was here last and would also be unoccupied."    Ginnie quickly pulls out her notebooks and begins scribbling at a high rate of speed. Bending over she snatches a bit of a plant and presses it between two pages of the book and starts to write again.As they walk down to the city they can not only see all of the ancient stone temples to the gods, all in excellent condition as a result of the continuous worship to the gods over the millennia, but they also see what appears to be a modern city at the bottom.   Gonzales explains this to them. "Athens was always the center of their religion, but until this last past century it was not their political center. That changed in 1838 when it was chosen as capital of Greece. Between then and now a thorough attempt was made to turn the city into a modern capital. Much of the current city planning standards are mirrored after the great European cities and architects, engineers and men of arts from throughout Europe have been invited here to participate in the rebirth of the city. Most of this work has been financed through private rather than public funding, which has led it to take on more of a business perspective." He points to the distance and says, "The most impressive of the new architecture is the parliament building, that stone building on the far horizon, but a little more than forty years ago. As the city has expanded and modernized so have the opportunities within in. In the last half century the city's population has grown from 12,000 to its present population of 65,000."Despite herself, Katherine was impressed with the beauty of the city. There was an ancientness about it that could not be matched by the cities of the United States. Even though the modern part of Athens was new, it still felt like a place that had been lived in forever.  "Where are we headed to, Professeur amie?"Gonzales replies, "We need to head over to Vassilissis Olgas Avenue, where we will go to the Temple of Zeus. It was built in around the year 300 and at that time was the most impressive of all the temples to the gods, more so than the two that you have already seen. Less than a century later was destroyed by invading barbarians. But it was then rebuilt, on an even grander scale. From that point onward it has been the center of the Greek Church hierarchy. The Patriarch of the Greek Church resides there. The man who I will attempt to gain an audience with, Archbishop Aristotle Theopolis, was a high priest on the Patriarch's administrative staff when I met him around three decades ago. He is now the Patriarch-Elect, the second highest ranking member of the Greek Church and tied with his Roman counterpart for third and fourth highest ranked positions among the combined Greek and Roman Churches."Kate says, "You don't do anything halfway, do you?”  Gonzales replies, "Well, it's not like I associate with Greek or Roman priests on a regular basis. He's the just first one I thought of. He may not be available at all but I figured it was worth a try. This is a very serious affair, I will not allow anything to manipulate my Sonoma or the man that she has chosen." Kate asks, “What does he know of what you are? And how will you introduce Ginnie and I? Sonoma is your family, her relationship to you is easy. We human girls are obviously not, and I get the feeling our true association is to be secret."  He replies, "I will explain that I am now living in America and that you two are both Americans. I plan to tell him the truth about what we know, obviously leaving out any reference to Wizard Magic usage, but otherwise explain the situation."Kate says, "I will follow your lead then. It is true you are all my family now at the El Parador, and that is association enough. Have a care though. If we see him, this man is a priest and may not be interested in interfering with a gods will. And from my experience, priests have a high opinion of their own will as well."  Gonzales replies, "He is first and foremost a Priest of Zeus. He may have very definite opinions of one of his deities interfering with another of his deities."  "He may have some reason to help us then," Kate said, slightly cheered. "I'm sorry, trust of the servants of the Greek and Roman gods doesn't come easily to me. But I will try."  Gonzales replies, "The possible problem with his help is that it is Aphrodite and not Venus who is interfering with Diana and not Artemis. Yes, the Deities are the same. But only outside of Italy and Greece the Church is known as the Greek/Roman Church or in some places as the Roman/Greek Church. In Italy only the Roman is Worshipped and in Greece only the Greek in Worshipped. They don't even acknowledge the other church within their own county. In fact, it is only due to the efforts of King Henry VIII a few centuries back that there is a combined church outside of Italy and Greece."Kate says, "Is she interfering with Diana? I know she is interfering with Minerva, since that is who Miss Florencia reveres, but she does seem to try to give all gods their due. But with Aphrodite's gifts at the ritual, perhaps the other goddesses did not know about it.   Oh, I don't know! How did I ever get mixed up in religious matters?" Kate took a few more careful steps down the hill and a deep breath to calm herself. "Perhaps it is good we are here. I seem to need guidance."  He says, "Diana is the goddess that has granted you her favor. You had hoped to honor her, but Aphrodite apparently decided to misuse that to favor herself."  She replies, "Yes, she did. And I don't like her using me to cloud the minds of others, either." Kate looked over at Ginnie and realized she had never asked the girl if she wanted to revere any gods, or if she had a faith of her own. She must ask soon. "Well, I will hope we can gain an audience and learn how to deal with this. I'm grateful you have many friends, Mr. Gonzales."Gonzales and his entourage arrive at the Temple to the Olympian Zeus. The complex of buildings are massive and based upon the architecture show evidence of having been constructed over different time periods. A new section is under construction with that part of the building blocked off.  Gonzales begins a series of interviews with various clerks and lower-ranked priests who apparently handle most unscheduled inquiries. Gonzales does all of the talking but when an opportunity exists Ginnie fills Kate and Sonoma in on most of what she is able to decipher, apologizing for the fact that her Greek knowledge is with written rather than spoken so she is only catching around eighty percent of what is said. She adds that many of these priests have never seen an elf before, let alone one who had actually met the Patriarch-elect before, so Gonzales has continued success and moving up the bureaucratic ladder.   After a little over an hour that included discussions with eight different individuals the four are brought to a nicely furnish parlor-style room where a High Priest who is a senior member of the Patriarch-Elect's staff will grant them an audience. The four wait alone in the room for the man to arrive.Kate had some familiarity with bureaucracy, and was impressed with the speed with which they had moved up the chain. They sat now waiting for the last hurdle and Kate focused on keeping her hands still. She dug deep into her education and remembered finishing school. If you cannot be calm, be proper. She mentally put on her society manners and felt steadier.   “Any last minute advice?" she asked her teacher.   He replies, "Yes, be honest and use your head."  She says, "Honesty I can give. I'm not so sure about using my head, I seem to have some trouble with that now and then," she said trying for light.The High Priest arrives. He converses in Greek with Gonzales for close to a half-hour, during which it is not possible for Ginnie to communicate to the others what is being said. He then leaves.    Gonzales says "He has asked us to wait a little longer. He will recommend that we speak directly to Arch-Bishop and Patriarch-elect Aristotle Theopolis. He expects to return shortly and bring us to the man." Apparently our timing is very good. There have been problems in America with the United States with the combined Roman/Greek. The large influx of nearly one-hundred-thousand Italian immigrants within the last quarter-century has resulted in a proposal to abandon the combined church in America and replace it with one that only answers to Rome. The Greek Church obviously does not want that, as other countries might then follow. They are therefore very sensitive right now to issues with the United States regarding conflicts within the church itself."Kate says, "I never paid much attention, but now that I think of it Tom used to come back from church talking about some such notion. He seemed to be bothered by it, saying the combined church is what we've had in the United States and there was no reason to be changing. I've been wishing I'd paid more attention. As he was in many things, it seems Tom was wiser than I in these matters."The High Priest returns to the room with Gonzales, Kate, Ginnie and Sonoma. He asks them to follow him and leads them through the vast building. They reach a cavernous room with forty-foot high marble pillars leading up to a flat roof. The walls of the room have stone frescos on them depicting the various Greek Gods. Massive windows of stained glass are also dedicated to a dozen different deities. At the front of the room is a thirty-foot high statue of Zeus. At each of his feet are ornate gold high-backed chairs with gold and silver embroidery on the plush white cushions. A man sits in one of the chairs. He is plump, with a full head of white hair and matching neatly cropped beard. His brown eyes appear to have a sparkle to them. He has on a long white robe with embroidery similar to that on the chair. He also wears a square-shaped low hat of white and silver silk atop his head. An elaborate gold ring adorns one finger and a scepter is hooked to one arm of the chair. There are twenty other people in the room. Fourteen are dressed as guards, but have swords rather than firearms. They are wearing white and gold uniforms with sashes and wide hats with tassels. Curiously, three of the fourteen are female. At a long table near the front sit four clerks, wearing simple white tunics over cloth shirts and leggings. Before each of them are large open books, with inkwells and quills near the hands of each. The remaining two people are dressed as priests and standing a few feet behind the man in the chair.   As they walked through the temple and entered the guard-lined room, Kate felt smaller and smaller. Never had she seen a place like this, and being strangers in this place put them at a great disadvantage. She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. The High Priest walks forward and announces to the room "Manuel Gonzales, formerly of Mexico and now a resident of the United States." Two of the four clerks make notations in their books. As they near Ginnie notes that of the four books, two are being transcribed in Greek and two in Latin. Gonzales ushers his companions to join him. He bows and says in Greek, "I am grateful that you have granted me this audience Arch Bishop Theopolis. Two of my friends do not speak this language. Would it be permissible for us to converse in the English Language?" The Arch-Bishop and Patriarch-Elect nods and says in English, "As you know, I am fluent in several languages, English being one of them. Mr. Gonzales, I was under the impression that you had risen to the Presidency of your native Mexico. How is it that you find yourself in the United States?"  Manuel says, "Your Excellency, that is a different Manuel Gonzales, it is a common name. After Santa Anna left office I retired from public service. I now live a simple life in the Arizona Territory where I reside with my Granddaughter and her family.May I introduce you to my Great Granddaughter Sonoma." He gestures to the wood elf. "My other two companions are Mrs. Katherine Kale, who is establishing a school in our community and her ward Ginnie." The man nods to all three women.   You're never wrong with good manners. "Your Excellency," she said quietly but clearly as she executed the kind of curtsey she had not used since her days in Boston society.Gonzales makes his case to the Arch-Bishop "The reason I am here concerns my new home. This matter has caused me much distress. I could have brought this to the Church Officials in our county but whereas they are currently predisposed towards the Roman rather than Greek church I felt that your preference would be for me to bypass the normal channels and bring it directly to your attention. In our town there is a Priestess of Aphrodite. She wishes to make hers the only Goddess worshipped in the town, to the exclusion of all others. While her enthusiasm is commendable, her actions themselves have been problematic. Most troubling is that she has intentionally used the gift of love to distract the other priests of the area and keep them from their own gods. Both of the women with me victims of this. My Great Granddaughter is a priestess of the Elvan Gods of Nature. Her mentor is a High Priestess of those gods and has the power to negate the Aphrodite Priestess's powers, so this Priestess has abused her powers to keep my relative from her mentor. The town has two more priests, one who follows the Norse gods and another who follows the Celtic. A follower of Aphrodite now has these two men locked into a love triangle, and both are ignoring their congregations. Something similar has happened to another priest in town, who follows the elvan gods. He has been overcome by feelings of love as well and is ignoring his responsibilities to his people. But these abuses of her powers are not limited to other pantheons. The main religious leader of the town is a Roman Priestess. Her authority has been subverted and she is also now swept up by love. Lastly, there is my friend Katherine who stands beside me. She was recently granted a great favor by the Goddess Diana, who you know as Artemis. She wanted to thank the Goddess Diana through a ceremony. Unbeknownst to her, Aphrodite usurped the ceremony, accepting the thanks meant for another, and gave her a Love Token in return to bind her to Aphrodite instead." The Arch-Bishop pauses as he takes all of this in. He turns to Katherine and asks, "How do you view what has transpired?"   Kate took a moment to carefully choose her words. "I view these events with much confusion and some apprehension. I do not believe there is malice in them. I would welcome more of Aphrodite's influence in our town, but untempered love and passions inflamed beyond all reason often lead to chaos. The gods together bring a balance, and as our Priestess has said all the gods should be given their due. The Priestess of Aphrodite is preventing this." Kate paused for a moment, hoping she was saying the right things. "The matter of the ceremony.... I do not wish Diana to think me ungrateful, and it grieves me to think I may never be able to honor her as I should."    The Arch-Bishop says, "I believe that I understand some of what transpired in your specific case. You are indeed a victim, of an ancient rivalry between two deities. Diana is indeed known as Artemis to the Greeks just as Aphrodite is known as Venus to the Romans. In both pantheons Aphrodite is the Goddess of Love, Beauty and Passion. In both pantheons Artemis is the Goddess of the Hunt, the Moon and Animals. But one difference between the worship of these deities by the Greek and the Roman peoples is the area of Fertility, which the Romans credit to Diana and the Greeks to Aphrodite. Was the favor that you were thanking her for related to Fertility?"A rosy blush crept up Kate's cheeks but she kept her head up. "Yes. I now carry my husband's child, conceived after his death. He was a devout man and I chose a stone for him that honored Diana. It is my understanding that his devotion and my choice gave her reason to look kindly on us."Ginnie purposely keeps her posture and face blank at Kate's announcement that she is pregnant but her mind begins to race. She clutches the small bag of lace at her waist like a swimmer holding a life jacket as she begins to plan what she will do with her life. ....... With the baby Ma'am Kate will not want me anymore so I'm going to have to find a way to make it on my own again. I should be able to make enough from my lace to maybe get a room at the cantina and I think that I still should be able to study. The thoughts race through her head at break neck speed but she realizes that the one thing she has going for her right now is her mind and she can't afford to be distracted from the conversations and information so purposely schools her mind away from this disaster and watches as the Greek and Latin translations are being scribed as they speak.Sonoma has a vastly different reaction.  She smiled softly at the idea of Kate becoming a mother. She had enjoyed being with Ginnie so much that the addition to their little family would be welcome although difficult to explain. Here they may believe that she had been blessed by a goddess but back home in town it would be harder to convince people of it. It would also be difficult for Kate to run a school as a single widow when she began to show. It looked to be an interesting nine months to come.The Arch-Bishop says, "I appreciate your bringing this to me. Here in Greece the priests have a lot of latitude with their communities in regards to the worship of the Gods. That is not so in America, where the United States Constitution guarantees the freedom of religious worship. It sounds as though this Priestess has overstepped her authority in that regards. I will contact the Greek/Roman authorities responsible for the worship in....what did you say the community was named?" Gonzales says, "Promise City, in Cochise County, Arizona Territory." "Yes, they will be made aware of the situation, but I will be sure to get the message communicated to those who wish to see the combined church structure preserved." He then says, "My telegrams will reach your town long before ships and trains can return you there, so hopefully when you arrive the situation will already be resolved. But just to be on the safe side I can prepare a clerical ward for each of you to prevent this Aphrodite Priestess from invading your thoughts and feelings. It will take me three to four hours to prepare them for you so you might as well use that time to visit our fine city."  Kate replies, "Thank you, Your Excellency. We would be most grateful. I hope once this situation is resolved I may honor both Diana and Aphrodite as they deserve."</blockquote>

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