ROLEPLAY

oren pyr Lydia

Sorry for the late letter. My first week with the Legions has been particularly tough, and I'm only taking advantage of this weekend off to write to you. So let me describe a typical day.

Already, the dormitory sergeant wakes us up at 5am. The legions call it daikos. Apparently, it used to be 6am, but the new niakünos Azazor is an early riser and prefers to see the legionnaires out at 6am. Anyway, from 5 to 6, we do 200 kamipompes and 200 kamiabdos followed by stretching. We have 10 minutes to eat a piece of dried meat with cheese and water, then go to the rack to get our gear. We have to be out the door, in armor and weapons, by 7am sharp. And when I say sharp, I mean sharp. If you're not lined up in front of the onkos, the cohort lieutenant, at 7 a.m., they'll beat the crap out of you to find out what "tapante" means. The day before yesterday, poor Barillus was kicked by the officer for being 10 seconds late. They've got an hourglass in the yard and it's down to the last grain of sawdust.

Then the whole morning is spent training. We're divided into level groups, each headed by a daikos. Our group, the ditalos, i.e. novices under a month old, stay at the Frahar tower level. We train mainly on them, but also on kitins and varinx. We fight with two-handed axes. We don't have a choice of weapons as ditalos, which is a shame. Only ditalos with combat experience can use magic or other weapons such as the hatchet or the pike. I'd have liked to fight with a sword, but they made me understand that swords were a Matis thing. I didn't dare reply that the Emperor also had a sword. Because yes, if you want to make yourself look good with the atalos, the officers, you have to give the matis a hard time.

I know, atalos, ditalos, daïkos, that's a lot of technical terms. Let's just say that among legionnaires, hierarchy is important. Let me explain. At the very top is the niakünos, Azazor. Just below him are the deokunos and the okunos, known as the lokos. Okunos, who theoretically has the upper hand over deokunos, is akenakos. You might know it as Naveruss. She's a walking terror. They say she can crack your skull between her thighs. And don't think it's a joke. No, the legionnaires who say that look terrified when they talk about it. And yet, it takes a lot to terrorize a legionnaire, believe me. Anyway, under the lokos, you have the atalos. These are the senior officers who hold the key to all the weapons racks. They're made up of hukos, the cohort captains, and onkos, the lieutenants. The hukos have a particular responsibility, such as the management of weapons, drilling materials or propaganda. It is said that Azazor was in charge of propaganda under Lopyrèch, the former head of the legions. That explains why there are so many posters urging people to join Thesos. He relied heavily on it. Then, under the atalos, we have the glados, who are divided into daikos, then glados-an, the first-class soldiers. Finally, under the glados, you have us, the ditalos. Those who haven't yet fully earned their stripes and aren't even considered full-fledged legionnaires. To tell you the truth, we have special armor. Legionnaires all have red armor, except for certain senior officers. But we've got a well-worn beige one. Normally, though, it only lasts a month, unless you're declared unfit, in which case you either reapply for another month, or you're fired. Once you've been declared unfit, you go through the Fyros citizenship rite and actually become a legionnaire. I can't wait!

So it's back to my day with the legions. After a good morning's crabbing, we usually return to the barracks for lunch. Yesterday, and this is bound to become more frequent, we stayed behind and were asked to hunt and cook our own food. And in truth, I prefer it. Because when we go back to the barracks to eat, all we get is bread and water. I'm not saying the boiled meat we had for lunch yesterday was great, but it's better than bread. Besides, I hear legionnaires are pros at cooking meat. I'm sure I'll learn from them how to make proper dishes.

The afternoon is mainly devoted to fighting between legionnaires. Duels and multi-person battles follow one another. We also practice our magic. I've made great progress in offensive magic. I can now cast fire spells! We don't return to the barracks until dusk at 8pm. We then take a dip in the Lake of Thesos to clean up before sitting down to dinner. Legionnaires are entitled to a real bath at the Pyr public baths every month. Unlike legionnaires, we don't have free time in the evening. Afterwards, we have to wash up and clean the premises, including the latrines, until 11pm. We only have free time once a week, from 10pm to 11pm, but we're not allowed to leave the barracks. And you see, I spend my first hour of relative freedom of the week writing to you. That's how much I love you, little sister. However, I'm going to have to cut my letter short, as I thought I heard the characteristic footsteps of the daikos in the corridor. It's going to be lights out. Just enough time to send the izam before he gets to our dormitory.

Abyleus