The Traveler’s Log - 486 AD - I Will Flee This Dying World

486 AD – North Central Gaul

It’s cold, raining and the Franks will be upon us within days. Fires signaling their advance through villas and farms around Noviodunum grow nearer. Syragius’ public face encourages his men to stand firm and repel that Franks, but in private his preparations to flee continue. As the walls are breached, his plan will be in motion.

Good news, I have chosen the next location to secure my goods. A Roman place would not do, that world is disappearing. Also I could not choose barbarian lands, no history or stability in their ways. Visigoths, Franks and others, constantly moving, relocating. They sometimes destroy the older cultures, sometimes merge but always change, too transient and unsure for my liking.

Yesterday, I met a curious little fellow claiming to be a Celtic nobleman, Amon of Dyfed. I must say we had many laughs over how he chose the worst possible time to travel through Noviodunun back to his village on the southern coast of Briton. Over much wine, he spun marvelous tales of life in Briton, and of his wife Anna and newborn son. In friendship he presented me with some brilliantly colored cloth, rich, thick and of a vibrant yellow. I accepted and in return gave him amulets gathered from my time in Egypt.

Among his tales, this Amon of Dyfed delivered an interesting bit of information, news of a sanctuary, a tidal island, not much more than a rock but almost inaccessible. Here, his countrymen are building a refuge from the Saxon’s threat they face in Briton.

I’ve listened eagerly to his tale of this sometimes island, sometime peninsula, steep and rocky. By evenings end, I decided that this shall be where my goods from this stay are to be preserved, a place distant from the crumbling structures of Rome.

Tonight, I leave Syragius forever and accept Amon’s invitation to travel with him. I will not die defending the lost Roman cause. I will live and when my time here ends, I will pick a new destination and continue my journey.

Amon has entered the hall and is urging me to leave now, Clovis and the Franks will be at the south wall by dawn.

I will flee this dying world.

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Next week...

Chapter 4: You Are Cordially Invited To Join Me For Dinner