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Casca #3: The Warlord

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This story picks up from the end of book #2: God of Death, starting off with Casca visiting the home of Dr Julius Goldman in Boston for the next installment of his story. There has been a storm at sea and Casca has been washed overboard and clings to a piece of wreckage as the two Viking ships vanish into the darkness. Eventually with the morning comes a calmer sea and a trader happens by, pulling Casca out of the sea. The trader is en route to the British port of Dubrae and they arrive after fighting off a Saxon raider during which Casca kills the son of the Saxon chief he met in battle whilst lord of Helsfjord (see book #5: the Barbarian).   The ship then sails for the Mediterranean and Casca goes, too, eager to see his homeland again. He goes to Rome but it is a different place; corruption and decay is all he sees and he returns to the ship disillusioned and goes as far as Byzantium where he gets the idea of travelling to the lands of Khitai, close to the Wall That Runs Forever. He buys a horse and rides east, accompanied by a young man called Jugotai who is returning to his homeland, Kushan. They come across a monastery in a valley and Casca investigates alone and finds a Christian sect called the Brotherhood of the Lamb led by an 'elder', a man named Dacort. Casca is drugged but recovers quickly to witness a macabre re-enactment of the crucifixion in which the elder, dressed as Casca in full Roman uniform, 'executes' an acolyte dressed as Jesus whilst nailed to the cross. Casca returns to the monastery and finds his spear, the one he used on Jesus which the Brotherhood now use as their most sacred relic. In touching the relic he offends Dacort who chops off Casca's hand and leaves him on horseback with the severed hand. Jugotai finds him and sews the hand back on which eventually comes back into use. They arrive in Kushan where Jugotai and Casca part and a Chinese scribe gives Casca directions in which to reach Khitai which he takes and eventually, after a few escapades which includes saving the life of a beautiful woman called Li Tsao, arrives at the Jade Gate and is sent to the capital where he is received by the Emperor Tzin and made a Baron of the Chung Wei district. He serves the emperor well for many years and saves the emperor's life in battle against the Huns, being rewarded with a high place in the palace. However the Emperor's consort, Li Tsao, the same woman whose life he saved earlier, sees in Casca a way of attaining eternal youth as he never ages. When Casca rebuffs the woman, she arranges for him to be poisoned and he is buried in a tomb with full honors. For seven years he lies inside until an earthquake frees him and he exacts revenge by returning to the palace and accuses her of her crime. The emperor sentences the woman to life imprisonment in a room of mirrors so she can watch herself age with time. Casca, for his part, decides to return west and leaves with letters from the emperor and a bag full of gems.   Goldman comes back out of the trance to find, yet again, Casey has vanished.

The first inclusion of the Brotherhood of the Lamb brings a new dimension to the story of Casca. Now he is being hunted by a sect of fanatics throughout the world who hate him yet know he is the link to Jesus' return, therefore they cannot destroy him, no matter how much they would like to. This is a well-written travelling novel, the sense of emptiness of the high Asian plateau portraying the loneliness of Casca as he passes through history. Dubrae is of course, Dover, and Sadler's description of a rotting civilization when Casca revisits the capital after so long away gives a sense of the inevitability of Rome's final collapse. Judging by time events it would appear the novel covers the end of the third century and the beginning of the fourth century AD. Of further interest is a reference in the book to Casca having met Machiavelli, the sixteenth century Italian writer, which means Casca must have been in northern Italy between 1520 and 1527 (the former date is the earliest possible date for Casca - see book #10 The Conquistador - and the latter date is Machiavelli's death). The publishing date of his book 'The Prince' was 1532.

To see where this story falls in Casca's life click HERE for a Timeline check