Act I: Scene I

A crane sits beside a river, fishing. Unlike other cranes, however this one is using a fishing rod.

Mekhane: Well, the sunset is here. The best time to fish. My brethren, they always tell me, "the early bird gets the worm."
Bah! Tired old fables. They tell themselves these old stories.
They stand all day at shallow rivers and peck-peck-peck at the water.

But not me, practical old Mekhane. I'm too old for stalking and pouncing.
I want fish, fish are scared of me. So what do I do? I lure them.
And I do so at night, when they feel safest from my kin.
Yes, night is the time of the hunt. Soon the fish will learn that too! Or at least I hope they don't. Hark! What is that over there?

A female figure hides among the bushes

Mekhane: Come out from the reeds there you stalker? You are too shapely to be a wolf, yet you smell like no man.

Gothika: Pray I should not! Or else no man shall prey upon me!

Mekhane: And what are you? Your skin is fair, your hair is gold, yet your fangs make me question why I'm talking.

Gothika: Have no fear of me! Birds do not satiate me, only a man could.
I am Gothika, daughter of Theodoric, sired of Triva.

Chorus of Perverts: What spot would not be suitable? Your form here is the few times a Germanic people has blessed Greece.
We've heard so much of the proud German chest.
Do not wait till dark, any spot is best!

Gothika: Silence Perverts! I will share myself no longer with those that die.
Mortals come and go, and leave me with my wretched mother.
I have no need of Men that go soft with age.

Mekhane: A picky hunter then. I can relate.
What do you draw your line for?

Gothika: I seek to lure an immortal. A god, or hero is best, but even a daemon will do.
A true mythic man meat! I was told it was here that handsome gods ravashed nymphs.
So tell me, where best should I bathe to attract them?
I was told mighty Orion found his six nymphs here. Could he seek a seventh?

Mekhane: There may have been a time that was true. But there are no more myths in Boetia. Our nymphs have scattered and our sprites no longer seen.

Gothika: That can't be true! My mother told me, this was where heroes dwelled. She would know she's Greek.

Chorus of Perverts: Your mother's stories are all out of date. Your arrival, goth girl, is five centuries too late.

Gothika: What about the great gods and heroes that were from here?

Philgynos [Chorus]: Long ago Prince Cadmus took on Ares' dragon. But his dragon no longer stirs. Especially in this cold

Chorus of Perverts Our Hometown hero, Herakles, once tamed the Amazons, but now his house is in ruins.

Philgynos [Chorus]: And as for Old Dionysius, lord of song and vine?

Chorus of Perverts: His songs are all silent, but at least we can whine.

Gothika: I have spent 500 long years, travelling long nights.
I've seen every harem, every secret orgy from here to Cathay.
I've been made to taste the Tang, and suffer both Shah, and Sheik
I've dreamed of this land, and you tell me its peaked!"

Philgynos [Chorus]: Our beloved Boeotia grows old and tired.
 When we hope for something exciting, our homeland has a headache.

Chorus of Perverts: So please, goth girl, if it's warm blood you want, give us something to warm it.

Mekhane: I know of one myth that still resides here.

Gothika: Is he here? is he hot?

Mekhane: Cursed to be so. I speak with him at times down the river. He is very handy.

Gothika: I'll be the judge of that! It seems his sorrow is my joy!

Chorus of Perverts: Ours too! Augurs be damned. Our night will be lit by the full moon.

Gothika: But wait! Who must I steal him from? You Greeks and your gods could fill a theatre with your drama.
What lover goddess, or pining king's boy do I have to hunt first?

Mekhane: Suffice to say its complicated.

Chorus of Perverts: Show us Crane, let her try to untangle it!

All depart

Boeotia is a region in what is now the Theme of Hellas, a little to the northeast of that Village of Beekeepers we call Athens. In the centuries before Christ, this land was considered a powerful realm governed by the City-state of Thebes. Now, some may say that it is a decrepit wilderness whose best days are behind it, but the region still performs a vital function for the Empire by slowing down Skythioi incursions into Corinth.