Alea Iacta Story Hour: A Mythic Rome Campaign (Baby Announcement: 8/17)

[Orichalcum]

Alea Iacta XI: Romantic Comedy Chp. 4: The Price of Quicksilver

Now that's style.

Thanks. Sadly, that's the last appearance of Mamerca to date, I should warn readers - the PCs just weren't interested in her! And after I had spent hours generating stats for all of her magic items, too...In case of future sessions, however, I will not reveal any details of what she might or might not be up to...

***
Meanwhile, Marcus and Heilyn decided to form a rare alliance and go investigate the mysterious explosion of the Master of Naxos' smithy, and whether Publicola was at all involved. Logically, their investigation began with the Master of Naxos himself.

"So, where exactly did you get this quicksilver from?" Heilyn asked.

"Oh, it was delivered. From my friend in the tavern," the smith helpfully answered.

"What's your friend's name?" Marcus questioned.

"Oh...um...we never really exchanged names. But he was so friendly and helpful - many people are surprisingly uninterested in hearing me talk about the difficulties of arcane smithing of lightning bolts, but he sat and chatted with me for hours, and even bought me wine from back home in Sicily."

"Did he now?" Marcus makes a small gesture to Heilyn, who discreetly casts Detect Magic. There is indeed the slightest of traces of enchantment magic on the Master of Naxos, although it is impossible to tell any more.

"And then he suggested that if I was trying to keep metal at liquid temperatures, maybe I should mix the iron with a liquid metal - quicksilver. And then I spent some time working out the proper divine ratios - because naturally the elements must still remain in balance with each other, and quicksilver adds an aspect of water which would need to be countered by an equal addition of a fiery substance..." the Master of Naxos begins to wax eloquently here on issues of alchemical and magical metallurgy. On the one hand, both Heilyn and Marcus, the amateur eclectic philosopher are fascinated: the smith is clearly a genius at designing new properties for metals. However, they have three days to gain evidence against Publicola - and less if they wish to stop Meloch from being tortured, which Heilyn at least would feel vaguely guilty about.

"So, ah, where did the quicksilver actually come from?" Heilyn interrupts at a convenient moment.

"Oh, well, my friend said he happened to know of a merchant who had an excess supply, and could get me two large amphorae' worth for 600 sestertii. I wasn't sure I'd need that much, but he pointed out that it would be useful for subsequent experiments, if necessary. So we met at the same tavern two nights later, and I paid him the coins I offered to just give him a gladius I had made instead, which would be worth a little more and easier for me, but he said the merchant preferred hard currency. And then the next morning a wagon delivered the amphorae, and I set to work. And later that afternoon...the explosion."

"Can you describe your 'friend'?" Marcus asks.

"Medium height, olive skin, brown eyes...he didn't have the hands of an artisan or a warrior. Some slightly odd stains and burn marks on his fingers, I remember, though."

"Well, thank you, Master. if it's all right, we'd like the name of the tavern, and to have a look around, well, what's left of the smithy." Heilyn says. The Master goes back to polishing an intricate pewter water-bowl, and soon is lost in concentration.

After extensive searching and use of spells, Marcus and Heilyn determine a couple of different things from their search of the smithy. First of all, it appears to have been an extremely sudden and abrupt explosion, rather than a slow-moving fire. Indeed, it appears to have extinguished itself almost immediately. Nevertheless, it was hot enough to melt or scorch most of the weapons and tools within a 10-foot radius. There is no trace remaining in the smithy of quicksilver. Eyewitnesses on the street remember a pillar of flame reaching almost thirty feet into the sky, then ceasing utterly in less than a minute. While it seems clear that the fire did not spread within the smithy itself, they do not have the chance to investigate the purported damage to the four nearby smithies, as they see several journeymen and even a master or two hostilely watching them. From a distance, however, it appears more like black scorch marks than any serious structural damage. The Master of Naxos says that he and two of his slave journeymen were the only ones in his smithy to suffer significant burns, both of which were healed relatively quickly by a priest of Vulcan.

Upon a visit to the tavern, they find that while everyone remembers the Master of Naxos being unusually loquacious and jovial that night, no one has a strong memory of his companion, who they assumed to be an old friend based on the length and conviviality of the conversation. The "friend" paid in small, ordinary silver sestertii for both the smith's and his own wine, which was the second-best vintage from behind the counter.

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

Some of us would have been interested if we had even been vaguely aware of this plot. I've been reading the last several posts with a sense of wonderment... "when did *that* happen?" I think Marcus was too busy talking with other PCs about other plots to notice this... And then the PCs who were in on it didn't mention it to the rest of us. (I can't imagine why Meloch wouldn't want to share all the details of his shenanigans with the rest of the PCs... )

 

[Meloch the Pygmy]

I can't imagine why Meloch wouldn't want to share all the details of his shenanigans with the rest of the PCs...

Particularly the one who almost cut him in half. Mmm hmmm. ; )

 

[Orichalcum]

Alea Iacta XI: Romantic Comedy Chp. IV: An Alchemy Experiment

Metellus is hosting a discreet campaign fundraising gathering from among his father's friends and clients when there is a familiar whinny from the stables. He excuses himself and hurries to the back of the villa, where he sees Llyr dismounting from Talat, who is enthusiatically munching on an Italian orange.

"Llyr! I didn't expect to see you back for some months!" Metellus exclaims, embracing his friend.

"Yes, well, I wasn't expecting to be either, Tribune. But I left a bit early -wanted to get away from family stuff - and then, crossing Gaul...it just went by very quickly. I think we crossed all of Gaul in about three days. I suspect Talat is picking up some new talents as she grows older."

Talat takes this opportunity to mentally project into Llyr's mind, "More bright fruit? Lots of bright fruit here. No fruit yet back in cold land."

Llyr tosses another orange to the daughter of Epona and smiles ruefully at Metellus.

"Family problems, you say?" Metellus asks. "What's going on?"

"It's nothing much. But since my cousin died - you remember, Aeduana sacrificed him? - there's been lots of arguing back and forth among my aunts and uncles about the succession. The King of the Brigantes' remaining son, my cousin Brendan, is very religious and quiet, and not really suited to lead the tribe well. But that leaves, well, Kynton and me."

"Kynton would be a horrible leader," Metellus blurts.

"Oh, everyone pretty much agrees on that except his mother - and the lovestruck girls, I guess. But that meant there were lots of arguments going back and forth. And i didn't want to get any more involved - my uncle's healthy and strong, after all - so I fled back here," Llyr explains.

"Well, we're certainly glad to have you back. The campaign's in a bit of trouble, and Heilyn's gone bankrupt with all the money I invested in his master's smithy - though that seems a bit fishy - and Cornelia's being sued and Meloch may get tortured because of it!" Metellus answers.

"Cornelia's in trouble? And Meloch's getting tortured? You do need me!" Llyr exclaims. After Metellus has explained the situation more in detail to him, Marcus and Heilyn return back to the Metellus family villa.

"Ah, good, Auxiliary, you'll be perfect for this," Marcus says by way of greeting. "We need you to go to all the alchemists' shops in Roma and try to buy quicksilver."

"Pleasant day to you too, sir," Llyr says back, deferentially and just a bit ironically. "How much quicksilver am I looking for, and at what price?"

"Llyr! How is Britannia?" Heilyn booms.

"Safe," Llyr responds elliptically, and Heilyn nods in understanding.

Marcus continues, "Well, what supposedly happened is that someone sold two large grain amphorae full of quicksilver to Heilyn's master for 600 sestertii. This seems improbable - so we need you to find out more about the supply in general, how expensive it usually is, and then procure some so you and Heilyn can run experiments on it."

"Consider it done," Llyr salutes, finishes grooming Talat, and then leaves to wander the streets of Roma, looking for alchemists.

Some hours later, he has discovered that quicksilver is extremely expensive - about 10-25 sestertii for a small clay vial, perhaps 1/500th of what would fill a grain amphora. It's generally made and used either by alchemists, particularly those experimenting with the transmutation of metals, or priests and witches, for whom it seems to feature as a ritual component in some spells. It requires a good deal of care and delicacy to work with, apparently, due to its instability. He returns with two small vials from different shops to Metellus' villa and reports to the group assembled there.

"I have the vials, and we can start experimenting with them to see how flammable they are, Tribune."

"Umm...could you maybe do the experiments at Cornelia's mother's house?" Metellus asks plaintively. "My parents are still a little upset about the impromptu parade and orgy that nearly destroyed the villa last month, and I'd rather not burn down the place with dangerous alchemical inventions."

"Oh, sure," Heilyn says, "Cornelia's mother has that nice scrying-proof ritual room set up. I'm certain that will be an ideal place to conduct our work..."

So the two Celts, together with the help of Meloch and the curious Cornelia, who stays at a safe distance so as not to get burned, retreat to Licinia Luculla's workshop, which conveniently has an open hearth underneath a skylight. Licinia herself, luckily, has departed Roma again due to the heat. They begin by setting a small amount of quicksilver on fire, which produces a nasty and poisonous gas, nearly causing me to keel over, but little actual flame. They then experiment with mixing it with water and dirt and various other substances, to little actual effect. Finally, having eliminated many other possibilities, Llyr opens up a small secret compartment in his pack and takes out a carefully wrapped small oilskin bag.

"What's that?" Cornelia asks.

"Greek fire," Llyr responds. "I thought I'd try mixing it with the quicksilver."

"Isn't Greek fire incredibly illegal within city boundaries?" she questions.

"Well, yes...but sometimes it's very useful!" Llyr defends himself. He sets about mixing a bowlful of the liquid fire with a small amount of the remaining quicksilver, which floats on the surface of the oil, covering it completely, and then places it on the hearth, and steps back, extending a lit torch somewhat gingerly.

The bowl goes up in a sudden explosion, sending a thin jet of flame high up through the skylight in a sudden bright light, which dies down after a minute, leaving no trace of the quicksilver, the Greek fire, or indeed the bowl itself. It roughly matches the description that the Master of Naxos gave of the smithy fire.

Ogulnius the steward pokes his head nervously but hopefully through the doorway. "Did you kill the pygmy?"

 

[Fimmtiu]

Amphorae of quicksilver: the abandoned rental trucks of the 2nd century A.D. Do they have VIN numbers, I wonder?

 

[Orichalcum]

Alea Iacta XI: Romantic Comedy Chp. VI: Gathering Info

Marcus, who had joined the group in the midst of their experiments and nearly gotten choked by the toxic gas for his troubles, took a deep breath as everyone tried to calm down from the sudden explosion. "So, we know that the smithy was blown up by a combination of quicksilver and Greek fire, and that quicksilver is incredibly expensive, and Greek fire is banned within the city, and the only known source is, well, Llyr. Who wasn't in town at the relevant time, so he's not a suspect."

Llyr mutters with barely concealed irritation, "Thank you for eliminating me from the list of people who'd like to randomly blow up Heilyn's forge."

"So we need to track down where the quicksilver came from, where the Greek fire came from, and then try and figure out exactly how much damage was done to the neighboring smithies, and we have to do it quickly," the oblivious Marcus continues. "I think quicksilver is used by doctors as a medicine for certain diseases; I remember my parents always had a small supply on hand for adjusting the humours, especially of mentally disturbed patients. I'll check around there; my parents' names are well enough known that I have some contacts in the medical community here in Roma."

"Your parents heal through...drugs?" Heilyn asks, not really having bothered in the past two years to enquire into the Centurion's family history.

"Well, of course. Through drugs and a detailed knowledge of the body and its humours. My father even had the honor to participate in a human dissection at the Academy in Alexandria," Marcus replies.

Heilyn looks shocked, and Cornelia seems a bit ill. "Why not just talk to their guardian spirit and give it energy?"

"Well," Marcus replies thoughtfully, "you can of course go to the priests of Asclepius and pray for a dream, which I imagine is somewhat like what you describe. But really, it's very irrational and unphilosophical, and it doesn't let you predict problems. Like the dangerous health issues of young women, for instance. Everyone knows that if women don't get married and pregnant by a certain age, their humours get dangerously overheated and they start acting very irrationally and strangely. Some even die from it."

There is a sudden, dead silence in the room, as everyone notably doesn't look at Cornelia. Cornelia herself, after a moment, says in a clipped, no-nonsense tone, "Right. So, Marcus is going to go ask the doctors about quicksilver. I'll check with Lucretius about other sources of Greek fire, and then see what I can find out about Publicola's sources of money. Why don't the rest of you go and talk to the apprentices at the other smithies and try to find out what they know about the explosion? Meloch, you stay here - I really don't want you to do something else which I should really flog you for, except I can't, because then it will look like I'm actually guilty in the trial."

Everyone, hurriedly, leaves the villa of Licinia Luculla, except for Meloch and I. I take a long bath while Meloch sits there pensively, trying to figure out how to escape his upcoming dire fate of torture. Humans - always so worried about the long-term problems.

Cornelia visits Lucretius at the barracks of the Praetorian Guard and explains the situation. The young Decurion ponders for a moment. "Well, Greek fire is kept very tightly regulated because, if it got loose, it could burn down half the city. The only source I can think of is actually right here in the Praetorian barracks; the Praetorian Engineering Corps keeps 40 amphorae on hand in case of emergency attack, as well as for certain spectacular effects at the Imperial Games."

"Can we go check it and its security?" Cornelia asks.

"Of course," Lucretius answers, and they wander deep into the inner courtyards of the barracks, where Cornelia gets more than a few admiring glances. They have to pass by four sets of guards, where Lucretius shows credentials and gives the password of the day, before eventually they find themselves in a a doubly-insulated, windowless room with thick stone doors which let in a minimum of light, when open. The guards at the door warn, "Don't light a lantern; you'll have to use the light from the door." Lucretius and Cornelia wait until their eyes adjust, and Cornelia quietly casts a light spell and cups it in the curve of her hand, as they look around the room. Within a few minutes, they come to the same conclusion.

"Lucretius, there are only 38 amphorae here. There's an empty space halfway at the back here. And by the dust, they were taken fairly recently."

They go out and inform the guards of the disappearance, who seem extremely puzzled. "There's been no disturbance of any kind, Decurion. I swear by Jupiter that no one who isn't a Praetorian Engineer has been in that room, except for the two of you, in years. We haven't even used any in the Games for the past few seasons."

"Can we have a list of the Praetorian Engineers who have been in that room, or guarding it, within the past month?" Lucretius asks.

"Certainly; go over to Accounts."

There are about 16 possible candidates, Cornelia and Lucretius discover; they determine to spend the rest of the day determining if any of them have connections to Publicola, the smithies, or the local alchemists, and come back to the villa to enlist Meloch's help enquiring among the lesser citizens of Roma. "You can at least be useful here - just don't steal anything, or annoy anyone powerful!" Cornelia warns the pygmy.

After many hours of idle conversations and frequent bribes, they discover that one of the veteran Praetorian Engineers, Sulpicius Sertorius, has a cousin named Sulpicius Galba who's an alchemist and merchant. It's not much of a lead, but they decide to go and confront the Praetorian anyway.

Lucretius puts on an intimidating glare and calls Sulpicius Sertorius into a small cubicle back at the barracks. "I've been charged with investigating a grave theft, Sulpicius, and I have reason to believe you may have information about the crime. If you speak honestly, I may be able to spare you from harsher penalty or dismissal from the Praetorians."

The engineer seems honestly terrified. "A theft? I don't know what you mean, sir...I didn't have anything to do with that shield-stealing prank, really I didn't, and anyways, the Centurion got it back after the parade..."

"What?" Lucretius is startled momentarily - apparently there have been all sorts of hijinks in the barracks lately. "No, I'm talking about the disappearance of two large amphorae of Greek fire from the locked room in the barracks."

"Oh," he responds.

Cornelia can instantly tell that Sulpicius looks shamefaced. She hesitates a moment, than quietly casts Suggestion. "Look, we just want to know what happened to it. Tell us what you know, and we'll try to be lenient."

"I didn't think it would do any harm - I mean, we have plenty, and it never gets used, and my cousin's very responsible! He just needed some for his experiments." Sulpicius Sertorius blurts out.
,
"This would be your cousin Sulpicius Galba, the alchemist?" Lucretius asks officiously.

"Yes. I mean, of course, I couldn't give it to him officially, but he just came along one night when I was guarding the room, and I gave it to him. I'm very sorry - I'll reimburse the cost or make new supplies; I just didn't think it would do any harm." the engineer confesses.

"You do realize there's a good reason why Greek fire is banned within city limits?" Lucretius snaps, before intercepting a glance from Cornelia and remembering that Llyr has already broken that particular law.

"Yes, sir, very sorry sir, won't ever do it again sir."

"What can you tell us about your cousin?" Cornelia asks.

"He's a good man - mostly a merchant, but he dabbles in alchemy. Hasn't been the same since he got so badly burned in that terrible disaster last year, though - I think these experiments might have been designed to try and heal him?"

"Terrible disaster?" Lucretius asks?

"You know, the attack on the Temple of Mercury? My cousin was just there to pray and pay his monthly dues, and he got caught in an enormous ball of fire as the thief was escaping. He's lucky to be alive - and he had to pay a lot to the Temple for keeping him alive, let me tell you. Very religious man, though."

"Right. Well, we'll let you know if I need to discuss this with your superior. Meanwhile, keep your mind on your duty - an extra night watch for the next two weeks should help with that," Lucretius tells him and dismisses him, before looking thoughtfully at Cornelia.

 

[Orichalcum]

Alea Iacta XI: Romantic Comedy Chp. VII: The Outraged Alchemist

GM Note: As you might guess, this was a sort of chaotic session, with everyone splitting up to go investigate their own particular things. I'm trying to keep the story straight as much as I can, but there are some time jumps involved.

***
Cornelia and Lucretius returned with their news to the villa. Armed with a name, Marcus began making discreet inquiries among his physician contacts. He regretted again that he had no chance, as of yet, to try and introduce himself to the Imperial Doctor, the famous Galinus, but in any case this seemed more like a matter for the ordinary Greek, Jewish, and Egyptian medical practitioners and midwives who lived along the lower Esquiline Hill. After a few inquiries, he was able to find the shop of a doctor who admitted that Sulpicius Galba the alchemist-merchant was one of his patients.

"What was the nature of his problem?" Marcus asked.
"Well, a few things. I mean, originally, of course, he was massively burned over about two-thirds of his body. The priests at the Temple of Mercury took care of the permanent damage - apparently he's a regular donor, and the burns had somehow occurred while he was an innocent bystander at the temple - but there was still considerable loss of sensation, which is dreadful for someone who uses their hands - and his humors needed to be readjusted. I prescribed a strict regimen of cold herbal baths and purges."

"Did you prescribe anything else?"

"Well, Galba kept complaining of nightmares and flashbacks to the incident. He couldn't sleep, and that night a few months ago when there were all the fires all around Roma - he nearly killed himself from terror. So I consulted my texts, and gave him a small amount of quicksilver, to take diluted in wine with his evening meal. The variable nature of quicksilver seems to calm restless minds; he said he had very vivid dreams, but no more nightmares."

"Where did you get the quicksilver?"

"From the Temple of Mercury, naturally - they make it for their rituals and so on, I understand. Besides, under the circumstances they gave me a discount. Galba may have gone directly there if he wanted any more - he certainly complained about my prices enough."

"Thank you; it's very much appreciated," Marcus takes the hint and pays the doctor a hefty "consulting fee," before returning back to us. We decide to pay Galba himself a visit directly that evening at his shop, once Heilyn and Llyr have returned.

***
Meanwhile, Heilyn, polymorphed into the shape of a nondescript Roman craftsman and Llyr, dressed as his usual insouciant self, hang out quietly on the Via Ferra until they can spot one of the neighboring smith's senior apprentices heading to a local taverna for the noon meal. They sit down near him, order some fried fish, and engage him in some casual conversation before coming to the point.

"So, was your smithy involved in that big explosion I heard about a few weeks ago?" Llyr asks casually.

"Oh yeah, we got three days off! With pay!" the apprentice responds, fairly enthusiastically.

"Because your injuries were so bad?" Heilyn asks sympathetically.

"No...the master had already given us that morning off, and then after the explosion, he sent messages saying not to worry about coming back to work until after market day."

"He had already given you that morning off? How lucky!"

"Yes; normally even in this heat it's hard enough to get the major festivals off, but he just told us, "off to the baths with you!" and when your master gives you extra time..."

"You don't say no," Heilyn and Llyr chorused.

"So how bad did the damage look when you came back?" Heilyn inquires.

"Oh, by then it had all been cleared up. We got straight back to work...and I think the master's been working us doubly hard ever since, to make up for the vacation days."

"Isn't that always the way?" Heilyn shrugs. They find out the name of the man's master - Arpinos - and decide to ambush him directly on his way to the baths that evening.

"Master Arpinos?" Llyr calls out.

"Yes?" a burly, Northern Italian or Gallic man answers, stopping in his tracks.

"Could we talk with you a minute? It's about a legal matter."

"I don't know...I need to get to the baths..." Arpinos hesitates.

"Look," Heilyn says, intimidatingly. "We have no desire to prosecute you, but we have evidence that you had prior knowledge of the Via Ferra explosion, and we are trying to track down the real culprits."

Arpinos blanches and then draws them quickly into a small side alley. "What do you mean?"

"You dismissed all your workers for the day, several hours before the explosion, unexpectedly. Clearly you knew it was going to happen. How?" Llyr demands.

Under the stern glares of Llyr and Heilyn, the smith wilts. "Look, I didn't do anybody any harm. The night before, I got a note from a priest at the Temple of Vulcan. It advised me to avoid my smithy the next day, for fear of danger and evil spirits. Well, I'm a gods-fearing man. And indeed, the priests must have foreseen the future, for that very day there was the explosion!"

"Do you know if anybody else received messages?" Llyr asks.

"Yes, I talked to a few of my fellow smiths, and they too had been contacted by Ragnar - that's the priest, he's a Gaul. Former smith himself."

"Do you know if the Master of Naxos was given a message?" Heilyn queries.

"That lunatic? I doubt it - the temple of Vulcan considers him a heretic, I think! I mean, have you heard he's trying to make a lightning bolt? It's like claiming to be Vulcan himself!"

"So no one was actually injured in your smithy from the explosion, and you had time to prepare and store materials safely?" Heilyn says.

"Well, yes...but still! Unsafe practices - no reason why I shouldn't profit from an example being set against reckless carelessness like that."

"Did you think of filing the lawsuit, then?"

"No, this nice young lawyer Gnaeus Tertius Publicola came around that evening, when we returned to the shop after the explosion, and pointed out how dangerous the whole incident had been, and how much of a profit I could make and teach that Naxian a lesson at the same time."

"That's an awfully quick response," Llyr comments.

"It's one of the reasons I was impressed with him. I think he arrived faster than the vigiles!" Arpinos says.

Ruminating on all this news, Heilyn and Llyr return to compare notes with the rest of us, and prepare to confront Galba directly.

 

[spyscribe]

"No, this nice young lawyer Gnaeus Tertius Publicola came around that evening..."

Now there's a man just waiting for the invention of the ambulance!

 

[Orichalcum]

Now there's a man just waiting for the invention of the ambulance!

Hey, it's hard to be a young lawyer in a city where lawyers aren't actually allowed to charge fees, but rely on "gifts" in kind from their clients. Although it does mean you can wind up with a lot of minor magic items if you're successful...

 

[Orichalcum]

Alea Iacta XI: Romantic Comedy Chp. VIII: Matters Heat Up

After information has been shared, we decide to confront Sulpicius Galba that evening and make an appointment to see Publicola the next morning, in hopes that we'll have enough information to leverage against him. It seems best to leave Heilyn, Meloch, and Llyr behind on the first trip, as there's no need to provoke further confrontation.

After some enquiries, we find the middle-aged, badly scarred merchant in his shop, which seems to sell an assortment of unusual herbs, crystals, and minor amulets from the Eastern provinces. Marcus thinks he recognizes some of them as luck charms and some as healing herbs, but it isn't really his area of expertise. Cornelia notices only a few minor enchantment and illusion magics up around the shop, and Lucretius confirms that Galba is a devout follower of Mercury.

Metellus begins the conversation. "Good merchant, could we speak privately?"

Galba looks a little nervous. "If you're planning to rob my shop, you should know there's a vigiles station right down the block. I could scream and they'd come running."

Lucretius is appalled. "Sulpicius Galba, I am a Decurion of the Praetorian Guard! And this man is a patrician military tribune! We do not rob petty merchants' shops!" Everyone tries not to think about what the non-Roman members of our party do in their spare time.

"Well, what do you want to talk about?" he asks gruffly, and a bit suspiciously.

Lucretius speaks in the most official of tones. "We have substantial evidence that you were responsible for the illegal smuggling of two amphorae of Greek fire from the Praetorian barracks, and that you subsequently used those amphorae in a fraud against an honorable smith of this city, designed to cause him and his property deadly harm. Other charges may be brought as warranted, but currently, we are more interested in information than retribution."

Galba blanches, and sits down heavily on his shop counter. Cornelia takes the opportunity to discreetly cast Charm, although she is uncertain of its success. Galba looks around, seeing only the cold, sharp faces of elite Romans and, presumably, their bully-boy clients (Marcus, looking highly intimidating).

"It was only justice - doing to him what he did to me."

"The Master of Naxos had attempted to explode you?" Metellus asks, ironically.

"Not him! His evil apprentice, or journeyman. The big redhead. The Naxian was just the best route of getting to the redhead. He's the one responsible for all my burns and my debts to the Temple and doctors for months of healing. And he's a sacriliegous desecrator! The priests said he stole one of Mercury's three holy artifacts! So I figured, why not hurt him physically and financially? But Decurion, I made sure no one else would get hurt. It was very localized, I experimented beforehand - and I asked a friend at the Temple of Vulcan to anonymously warn all the nearby smithies, so no innocents would be hurt."

"What about the other workers in the Naxian's forge?" Cornelia asks in outrage.

"Well, they were all slaves or under contract - I mean, that's part of the financial damage I wanted to inflict anyway."

"Did you inform a lawyer named Gnaeus Tertius Publicola about your planned crime?" Metellus asks, urgently.

"No - haven't heard of him. Why?"

We're all a bit confused and puzzled at this point, wondering how Publicola found out so quickly. Finally, Lucretius says, "Did you tell anyone else besides the priest of Vulcan about your planned revenge?"

"Well, the priests of Mercury, to ask for their blessing, of course. They gladly gave it - though they said that Mercury would avenge himself in due time as well, and I shouldn't worry too much. Oh, and a fellow merchant who I saw at evening services the day before; he's also very devout, and we went out drinking afterwards and commiserated with each other. He was very impressed with how carefully I had worked out all the details."

"What's his name?" Lucretius asks.

"Otho. He used to be one of the richest merchants in the city, but lately he's been spending a lot of his funds trying to get into electoral office. Politics - I just don't understand the appeal."

"Oh. Well...um, don't leave Roma - the vigiles will be watching you. We'll tell you if anyone plans to file charges against you." Lucretius and the others, now thoroughly confused, leave the shop.


***
That's all for now, though I may try to post as much as possible in the next week - trying to finish Alea up to date before I give birth! I'd say there's about 4 posts left, so I'll see what I can do.