Don't get me wrong - there are many fine, wise and noble Romans. These sane heads are, even now, counselling for peace and working hard to counter the insanity being spread by the (strangely absent) PetLuc.

But the tiny clique of troublemakers who are trying to stir up an unprovoked war are another class entirely. Their cowardice is only matched by their arrogance, as you just saw from the haughty ultimatum delivered by the messenger who just slunk out of your hall. How typical of this class of Roman to characterise a gift and a token of friendship and goodwill as a "bribe". The free peoples of the north understand the symbolic power of such gifts and have long respected this tradition of gift giving between free warriors. Only nithings who pay others to fight for them while they loll about drunkenly on couches before dragging their obese forms to the amphitheatre to watch slaves slaughter each other in their obscene "entertainments" could interpret such an ancient and honoured tradition as a "bribe".

Thiudareiks, son of Thrasareiks, of the Guthiuda would never insult the warriors and noblewomen of Tara with a "bribe".

Thiu