[right][h3]September 48 BC - Mediterranean Sea[/h3][/right]
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"No... Surely you are joking..." Seiger had sucked in his breath, staring at the ships Captain with wide blue eyes. The man shook his head and tapped the side of his head, then his heart.

"With Jupiter as my witness, I swear it. A sea with no edge. A sea so massive that you cannot cross it on ships!" The Captain, Marcos, was a big man, as broad in the belly as he was in the shoulders. His nose was red and shot through with veins, a sign he might enjoy a little to much win with his supper. He stood on the steering platform, casually leaning on one massively muscled arm, talking to a half dozen of the auxiliary who had gathered to hear his stories of time spent along the coast of Gaul and Iberia.

"By the gods..." Kedrick, crouching next to Seiger, muttered it loudly enough for everyone else to hear. To the men of the auxiliary, the Mediterranean was the largest body of water they had ever seen and the slight motions of the waves had made them sea sick on the journey from Italy to Greece. Marcos, ever glad of a willing audience, puffed out his chest with importance and nodded gravelly at the battle hardened men who leaned eagerly forward like children, hanging on his every word.

"That ain't the half of it," He gestured to the mast that towered above them, the huge beige sail bulging as it caught the northern wind. "The sea can get as tall as a mast, huge columns of water that can drown a ship in an instant."

"Come off it... You take us for fools?" Scoffed one of the Gauls.

"You've been there then? Seen it, have you?" Marcos challenged the man who quickly shook his head.

"No, it just sounds impossible!" The Gaul protested and was rewarded with more nods from his fellow soldiers, some of whom were looking at the captain as though he had suddenly sprouted second and third heads. 

"True as I am standing here before you." The captain glanced around caught the eye of the steersman. "Ain't I right, Phillipe?" The steersman only nodded, shuddering as if the memory was to much for him to bear. The soldiers shook their heads in wonder. None of them had seen waves much more than a few feet, and even then, every one of them had been violently ill.

"I reckon I'll stick to soldiering then." Seiger said with confidence as he absorbed this story of the distant ocean. "What do you know about Egypt then?"

Marcos shrugged. "Only been there once or twice, and only to Alexandria, that's their capital. Looked like any other city I've ever seen, dirty, crowded, smells like shit. Sand everywhere once you get away from the coast a bit. There's a whacking great river to the East a bit and some say the tombs of giants are further inland but I've never seen them." 

His tone suggested that if he hadn't seen them, they didn't exist. In truth, Marcos had never actually set foot in Egypt. He hated the darkies and their empire of sand. He'd met enough of them during his time in Tunisia and Carthage to know that no good came of mixing with their kind. "I hear they have hair all over their bodies and don't even wash if they can avoid it. Their women as ugly as camels." He finished dismissively. 

"I don't bloody care what they look like, long as they know their way around my cock." Said one of the Germans, Adne, with a laugh. That brought chuckles from every man within ear shot. "Once Caesar has caught up to Pompeii I reckon we'll get a proper bit of rest and recreation."

More laughs that turned to silence as a lookout on the mast cried out that land was in sight. The soldiers nodded their thanks to Marcos and hurried to the ships side, staring toward the distant haze that they had mistaken for clouds, but was now revealing itself to be a solid land mass. 

"Egypt. What did I tell you? Sand!" Marcos called from the stern as the small Roman fleet drew close enough that they could make out the endless dunes that marched down to the sea. Seiger had never seen so much sand in all his life. There were a few beaches in Iberia, Italy, and even in Germania along the shores of lakes, but nothing could have prepared him for what he was seeing. It was as though there was an entirely new ocean beyond the one they sailed upon. 

"Have you ever see anything like it..." He breathed the words, still stunned by the dunes that stretched away to the west. 

"At home, looking down on the forest from the mountains." Kedrick replied quietly and in an instant Seiger was back atop the high peak near their home, the endless green carpet of trees blanketing the mountain slopes and valleys until it vanished into the distance. This was just another great sea he had never imagined. 

"Alexandria!" Marcos called out, pointing to the East where the rolling dunes suddenly gave way the squared shape of buildings and, amazingly, a massive tower that stood out from the coastline, soaring above the rest of the city. "The Pharos! One of the great wonders of the world!" 

A wonder indeed, thought Seiger as he stared at it. He had not known that men could build such a structure, having never been to Rome. He felt like a child again, seeing the world for the first time, the sea of sand forgotten as he gaped open mouthed at the white washed stone and the smoke that billowed from the top. 

"Is it on fire?" He asked no one in particular. 

"No, my friend, they haul wood up to burn. It serves to guide ships in at night. To show them a safe harbour." Marcos had taken a liking to the young German, watching Seiger even as he stared the city. The man was heavily built with a neatly plaited beard and combed hair. He was less wild looking than his fellows and washed fastidiously, even if that meant diving into the sea. Like the rest of the soldiers he had been terrified of the ship and the deep water but his curiosity overcame that fear and, in time, he had come to impress the aging captain. Seiger had even run along the bank of oars, held steady by strong hands, racing a sailor on the other side. He had lost the race, but he hadn't fallen into the ocean either. Even the sailors had cheered when he made it. It was impossible not to like the man.

"Fascinating." Seiger turned back to watch the tower grow larger in the distance. Only when they came close enough to see people on the shoreline did he finally tear his gaze from the structure. Hundreds swarmed about the waters edge, some swimming, some sitting in the sand. They all seemed so strange and it took him a moment to realize what was out of place. There was not a white face among them!

"Soldiers!" A cry came from the mast and everyone on the ship instantly pulled on helmets, strapped swords to their waist, and picked up shield and spear. The twinkle of steel above the heads of man pacing at the base of the Pharos, and then along the ramparts that were beginning to appear, was a cold reminder of why they had come. Seiger gripped the wood of his spear tightly and sent a silent prayer to Thor for he had come to a foreign land and only the Gods knew what lay in store for him.