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

[Orichalcum]

Fourth Session: Legacies and Freedom Second Post: The First Barrier

The fisherman leaves in a hurry, leaving them stranded on the cold, dank beach. The isle of Mona is shrouded in fog, and it is difficult to see more than a few feet ahead, although Llyr and Wena believe there are trees ahead at the end of the line of sand. We begin nervously walking forward, and suddenly, a figure appears out of the mist. It is an elderly man, with a long, white, braided beard, dressed in robes of brown and green and carrying a long staff carved with elaborate runes. Marcus draws his sword, but before he can attack the figure speaks in a gentle yet commanding tone:

Greetings, my children, and welcome to the Isle of Mona. I am Amairgen, First Druid of Mona. The Council of Elders honor your desire to become Druids and thus serve not only the gods but all of Britannia. Yet not all who wish may pursue our lofty calling, and thus, as you know, we have established trials to test the fitness of novices like yourselves. You should not overly fear, young ones; nearly half the novices survive these days.
The trials will teach you about the seven keys of the Druidic way of life. As Druids, you must learn to understand how all life is connected. Remember, only through knowledge and sacrifice will come true power. Shun fear, and greed, and uncertainty, for these are not the emotions of a wise one of Britannia. Seek wisdom and courage and nobility of heart, my children, and all shall be well. Remember, you journey together, not separately, just as the trees in a forest are not truly separate, and your companions may be a great source of strength, though the greatest is your own soul. Our blessings are upon you.

And with that, he disappears. Marcus lunges for the Druid, but succeeds only in stabbing through a cloud, and Meloch asserts that he believes Amairgen to have been an illusion. Wena remembers that Amairgen was indeed the name of a famed Druid who lived many generations ago, but he is surely long dead. Of course, Heilyn notes that his spirit ally told him that time passes very differently in areas that are closely linked to the spirit world.
Even more nervously, we proceed forward into the mist, quickly entering a rich forest. While many trees are tall and luxuriant, the smaller bushes are twisted and black, showing signs of their lack of sunlight. No animals can be heard. A few feet ahead, Wena spots a bright light, and they proceed towards it, only to discover that it is a burning wall of solid flames, stretching twenty feet up and as far to the left and right as they can see. Llyr investigates and comes back after a minute's walk in both directions, saying that the wall continues. Metellus notices that it is not burning the trees near it, but when he sticks his hand in the wall to test whether or not it is an illusion, he is severely burned, and Cornelia and Marcus rebuke him for his impulsive action. After trying to throw various twigs and leaves through the wall, all of which appear to catch fire as they arc through the wall, Llyr finally throws some of the water from his waterskin on it. The flames recoil from the water, and for a second, we can see through to the forest beyond. Encouraged by this test, we begin tossing water on that section of the wall, sending Meloch back to the shore to refill the water skins. Marcus successfully jumps through at a point when the flames have been temporarily doused, and the rest of us gradually follow him, with only Meloch getting lightly singed.
"It was that easy?" Llyr complains. "These Druidic novices must be idiots. Everyone knows that water puts out fire." We ignore him, and walk onwards.

 

[tetsujin28]

This is great! Being a Hadrian's Wall junky, this has been a lot of fun.

Regarding the phrase, "alea iacta est", iacta est is the perfect passive indicative of iacio, iacere ("to throw", not to be confused with iaceo, iacere, "to recline"), with the ending matching the gender of alea (feminine), so "the die has been cast" is accurate, as would be "the die was cast". Properly, the "est" must be there.

 

[Orichalcum]

Fourth Session: Legacies and Freedom Third Post: Plants and Water

The forest and fog quickly make it difficult to see even each other, let alone the path ahead. Meloch points out to me several skeletons lashed to trees, vines twirling out through the gaping jawbones. Several of the skulls are quite small. Marcus notices them and gives his professional opinion that the corpses were the victims of makeshift crucifixions. "They undoubtedly deserved it, the filthy Druids," he comments. Cornelia shudders. At about that moment, the fog swirls in and Marcus and Metellus get an odd gleam in their eye. They both crouch down, draw their swords and begin moving forward...towards Heilyn and Wena! Cornelia and Meloch try to ask them what they think they're doing, and they announce that they're hunting Druids, as General Agricola commanded. Heilyn and Wena back off slowly, announcing in loud and clear tones that they aren't Druids, they are allies. Llyr, always one for the blunt approach, takes Metellus and shakes him, until the young Tribune blinks and his eyes clear, remembering who he is and what he came for. With the judicious use of a spell or two and a very loud voice, Heilyn manages to knock Marcus out of his trance as well. Heilyn speculates that the thin barrier between the spirit and mortal world also alters the nature of time and of reality...the spirits who fought and died here are still very aware, and still pursuing their goals. This doesn't make anyone happier.

After a few more minutes of walking, we come to an impenetrably thick wall of trees that stretches as high as can be seen through the fog. Sharp thorns and brambles are woven around the bases of the trees, and even with fur I don't want to go any closer. The group realizes that this is the second of the seven challenges, and tries to figure out how to pass it. They also walk a fair distance to the right, and realize that this wall spirals back to link with the Wall of Flames, and forward until a point where it cuts both sideways and directly across the path, forcing a narrow passageway, in what Cornelia speculates is a giant looping spiral.


At first, Llyr tries burning the vines down, but they are wet, fresh wood, and do not catch on fire at all. More skulls and bones are woven into the tree-wall, mostly in positions of crucifixion. After contemplating the wall for some time, Marcus finally strides forward with his hand-axe, from his Legionary kit, and tries to chop through the wall. Despite his good grip, the axe leaps out of his hand when he strikes the wall, falling to the ground and cutting him slightly in the process. Llyr and Wena note that, where the blood strikes the vines, they recoil, and move towards each side, briefly allowing a glimpse of the forest beyond. "Ah," Llyr announces. "The second, deeply disturbing lesson of the trials - Trees Like Blood." Llyr slashes his own hand open, drips it over the trees, which part in answer, and steps through the wall. Marcus refuses to have any part in Druidic blood magic, but Heilyn finally slashes both his hands and spills enough blood for both himself and the Centurion to pass through safely. Cornelia, a little pale, has Metellus nick her hand before she walks through. I decide that I will piggyback on Meloch's blood, which seems to work - there have to be some advantages to this bond, after all.

The third barrier, which we come upon shortly, is a gushing torrent of water across our path. It is 30 feet wide, with steep slopes going down 10 feet on each side, and Metellus points out the extremely sharp, spiky stones visible through the clear water. Heilyn attempts to disbelieve the river, which seems to come out of nowhere and travel in a spiral loop, but fails; it is wet, and cold, and dangerous. However, Llyr and Marcus together use their mad Legionary skills to construct a rope bridge out of three ropes, which, with only a few stumbles, gets everyone across the river. Llyr, proud to be a Roman among Romans despite his Celtic heritage, declares to the rest of the group that the lession of this barrier is that "Engineering Conquers Nature."

 

[Orichalcum]

Sorry about delay

A combination of the blackout and then going to CA and hanging out with, among other, WisdomlikeSilence and Fajitas, (whose SH Welcome to the Halmae would be extremely cool even if I hadn't given him the name for it...) delayed this post. Regular weekday updates will continue for the rest of August. Thanks for reading!

--Orichalcum

 

[spyscribe]

Whoo hoo for mad legionary skills! Or should that be "skillz?"

Hope the visit to CA went well, sorry I missed you this time.

originally posted by Orichalcum
...whose SH Welcome to the Halmae would be extrememly cool even if I hadn't given him the name for it...

I didn't know that. Does this mean that Halmae means something in Latin, or was Fajitas really struggling to come up with "Welcome to the _______?"

 

[Fajitas]

Does this mean that Halmae means something in Latin, or was Fajitas really struggling to come up with "Welcome to the _______?"

1. It's Greek, not Latin.

2. SO off-topic. Let's save it for our thread.

3. 'twas brilling hanging with Orichalcum and Cerebral Paladin this weekend. They're even cooler than their story-hours and, they, much like Legionnaires, have mad body-surfing skillz.*

4. Llyr's succinct synopses of the Druidic principles is delightful. I'm sure the Druids must be thrilled. At least, the ones that haven't been crucified.



*Okay, not that much like Legionnaires.

EDIT: decrease in harshness to #2. Didn't mean to snap, spy.

 

[spyscribe]

1. It's Greek, not Latin.

2. SO off-topic. Let's save it for our thread.

Sorry.

 

[Orichalcum]

Fourth Session: Legacies and Freedom Fourth Post: The Wild Hunt

A little drenched, we proceed onwards, The fog is a little less dense in this section of the forest, although still murky and misty, with little sunlight striking through the foliage. We begin to see abandoned huts scattered on either side of the overgrown path. Llyr and Wena go off to investigate one, and see small skeletons lying on rude bunks, necks broken while the young trainees lie asleep. As they encounter this horror, their eyes glaze, and Wena turns to Llyr. "We have to escape," she whispers. "The Romans are coming to get us." Llyr nods, takes out his ax, and begins chopping a hole in the back of the dilapidated cabin, while Wena peers out, terrified, through a crack in the door. Meanwhile, Metellus, glancing around at the abandoned scene of past carnage, also feels the same presence grab him which it did earlier, and draws his sword, announcing that the mission is to kill every last Druid. Meloch, of all people, manages to calm him down and snap out of his trance, while Marcus and Cornelia go looking for Wena and Llyr. Upon opening the cabin door, the two Celts, who believe themselves to be Druidic trainees, scream, and try to run. Marcus finally successfully orders Llyr to drop his axe, in the name of the Legion, and restores him to self knowledge; Cornelia appeals to Wena's sense of loyalty to her. We decide to stay together, from now on, and keep ensuring that we all know who we are and why we're here. I decide to crouch even further in Meloch's shoulder-bag, determined that I like neither the weather nor the spirits on Mona.

The path becomes clearer and clearer, with signs of once having been regularly trod, perhaps as the main pathway for the Druidic settlement. Suddenly, a group of six stags comes hurtling around a curve in the path, heading straight towards us, their antlers gleaming brightly. These are the first animals we have seen on Mona. Everyone except Cornelia and Meloch dives successfully out of the way, but they get gored by the stags, who halt their progress, and begin butting their antlers at all of us. With the combined fighting skills of Llyr, Metellus, Marcus, and Heilyn, they are dispatched relatively quickly, but with some confusion. Heilyn and Wena offer some healing to the sorcerers, and we continue onwards, besmirched with blood. (Llyr offers to skin and cook the deer, but the plan is abandoned due to the general hurry. Oddly, Aeduana's curse, while it has destroyed the grass around the village where we walked, does not seem to affect these animals, any more than it affected the Wall of Trees.) Still, Meloch and I are increasingly unhappy about the general smell of rotting plants that dogs our footsteps.

We continue onwards, perhaps 100 feet, and the path curves again just out of our sight. Nearly everyone hears the heavy pounding of hooves, and we scramble off the path just as fifteen bison charge down it. However, upon seeing us they split into two groups and charge us among the gradually rotting-shrubbery. The following combat is nasty and intense, but aided by spells from Heilyn, mental commands from Wena, and some helpful missile shots from Cornelia, eventually all the bison are slaughtered. Wena notices that during this combat, some of the bison seemed to be attacking their packs as much as the humans themselves, but decides not to mention it. I try to tell Meloch this, having been utterly terrified when a horn nearly speared my eye while in my safe leather pouch with my dried, tasteless, cursed berries, but he's too busy to listen.

"Is this another barrier?" Cornelia wonders.
"It's not a wall. Therefore, it's not a barrier." Marcus replies dogmatically.
"Besides, all the previous barriers were elements," Metellus points out. "Fire, trees, water. Bison are not an element."
Everyone is at least willing to agree with the latter statement, and we proceed cautiously onwards, weapons drawn. Sure enough, it's not long before we can both see and hear eight wild boars hurtling towards us. By this point, most of the group are suffering from minor or fairly significant wounds, and many of the party's spells have been exhausted. Still, we form a line (Meloch and I jump into a tree) and prepare to chop pork.

In the middle of this combat, during which we are increasingly exhausted and bleeding, although likely to eventually win, both Llyr and Cornelia notice the boars' focus on Meloch's food-pack, which he has left on the ground. "You gave the pigs our food???" I chitter angrily to Meloch in the tree. "We're going to starve because you can't climb trees well with a pack on?" He shushes me, and continues casting spells, sending some of the boars to sleep. The boar who finally tears open Meloch's pack and begins munching on the dried soldiers' rations inside (horrible stuff) stops fighting any of our group, and in fact, waddles over to the tree on whose branches we are perched and curls up peacefully, snorting gently.

"They want...food?" Cornelia asks. She tries holding out some of her own rations, and two more boars come, eat the dry gruel mix from her hand, and settle down peacefully, even nuzzling her slightly. While Marcus announces that he'd prefer to kill the rest, for practice, and eliminating evil Druidic creatures, Metellus commands everyone to feed the boars, and they do, using most of our non-meat foodstuffs (the boars only eat the plantstuffs) but calming the animals completely.

Llyr thinks for a few seconds and announces, "This lesson is: Dinner is served until you serve dinner." No one quite understands this one, and Cornelia and Marcus propose a different rubric - some of the barriers are elements, like the fire and water ones, and some are parts of life, like the trees and animals. Since Llyr's lessons don't provide much insight into the next barrier, we decide to tentatively adopt Cornelia and Marcus's theory, particularly as no more animals are charging us any longer.

 

[Orichalcum]

Enough with the philology

1. It's Greek, not Latin.

2. SO off-topic. Let's save it for our thread.

Makes sense. And hey, giving you a few words for "sea" in Greek was a lot easier than translating pages of cryptic lore into Latin, which I've been doing for LARPs lately.

3. 'twas brilling hanging with Orichalcum and Cerebral Paladin this weekend. They're even cooler than their story-hours and, they, much like Legionnaires, have mad body-surfing skillz.*

Thank you - great seeing you folks too, and hope the foot is better. Marcus and Metellus have yet to body-surf in the campaign, but I'm sure they'd be good at it. In the sixth session there's a truly revolting swimming incident involving Llyr, which you'll just have to wait for.

4. Llyr's succinct synopses of the Druidic principles is delightful. I'm sure the Druids must be thrilled. At least, the ones that haven't been crucified.

This was the session where Llyr suddenly revealed his inner snarkiness. I think everyone was getting just a little irritated at the Druids.

It's slightly odd having a campaign world where the default way of publicly executing prisoners is crucifixion, and it _doesn't_ have any religious significance.

--Orichalcum

 

[Orichalcum]

Fourth Session: Legacies and Freedom Fifth Post: Running Away, and Bloody Rabbits

Walking onwards, somewhat worse for wear, but having made a nice brief meal out of venison and roasted bison, we keep our eyes out for the next Druidic barrier. Luckily, it’s not hard to spot. A huge brick wall, Celtic runes impressed on each brick, stretches up into the sky. It is covered with mud and daub, rendering it fairly slick and without easy handholds.

Llyr’s attempts to throw a grappling hook over the top repeatedly fail, and while Marcus, Metellus, and Llyr think they might be able to climb it, it’s clear that neither Cornelia nor Wena stand a chance.

“Let’s approach this logically,” Cornelia notes. “This is clearly the Wall of Earth. So far, we’ve had Fire, Trees, Water, and Animals. We got rid of Fire by putting water on it, and of water by using earthy-planty things on it.”

“I wanted to divert the water into an aqueduct, or at least dam it.” Llyr complains.

“It was already damned, Llyr,” Heilyn retorts. “But Cornelia’s got a point. By that line of reasoning, we ought to be able to deal with this wall by using Air.”

“How does that help?” Meloch, increasingly unhappy with our curse, screeches. “We can’t huff and puff and blow this wall down.”

“Actually, I can.” Heilyn answers smugly.

The party emits a collective “Huh.”

“The staff – Aeduana’s staff – that I’m carrying – well, I’ve sort of made friends with it.” Heilyn begins.

“We’ve noticed,” Cornelia answers dryly, remembering the green tendrils that keep trying to insinuate themselves into Heilyn’s arm.

“At any rate, it’s a Staff of Wind and Stone, and I think, if I ask it nicely, that it will blow the wall down for us.” Heilyn continues, a little cross that his great achievement isn’t being recognized by the other members of the group.

“Druidic magic! Ha! There must be some other way. Llyr, knock the wall down, you’re an engineer,” says Marcus.

“I could do it in about three weeks with some good siege engines,” Llyr ponders.

“We don’t have time for Llyr to knock it down! Heilyn, use the staff!” Wena, also deeply unhappy about the curse, retorts.

The Romans look to Metellus for direction, but after momentary indecision he nods to Heilyn.

“You might want to all stand back...” Heilyn says, a little nervously. He raises the staff, pointing it at the wall, and speaks to it in a language none of the others understand. Wind begins spiraling out of the raised tip of the staff, forming a whirlwind which grows larger and larger, knocking all of us to the ground. Finally, Heilyn stops chanting, and the whirlwind slams into and through the wall, creating a three-foot wide hole, about six feet off the ground, before whirling back towards us, throwing mud on us, and shooting up through the trees, scattering leaves in its wake.


“That’s your...friend?” Meloch asks skeptically.
“Look, there’s a hole in the wall, what more do you want?” Heilyn snaps.

The hole in the Wall of Earth is only large enough to fit one person through at a time, as they are lifted up by the others. While Marcus initially volunteers to go first, he is clearly the best person to push others up, and so is kept till last. Llyr is boosted up and rolls neatly down on the other side, announcing that the path is all clear, except for some tasty looking rabbits. Heilyn follows, but as Heilyn pushes his chest through the hole, a wave of dizziness washes over him. The Romans are pursuing him. He has to get to the sacred grove. It’s the only way he’ll be safe. Nothing must be allowed to stop him. He shoves through the hole and begins running forward, as Llyr calls out in dismay.

Wena, next through the hole, similarly experiences the supernatural terror, and begins darting forwards, although she quickly snaps herself out of it. Llyr manages to snag Wena with his bola and pin her to the ground, but only mildly delays Heilyn. Heilyn, meanwhile, seeing an unknown threat in his path, draws the Staff of Earth and Stone, but luckily uses it only as a quarterstaff to attack Llyr and Wena. Combat ensues, Llyr’s attempts to subdue frustrated by Heilyn’s finely crafted armor, while Wena yells at Heilyn, trying to remind him who he is. Meanwhile the staff, excited by all the commotion, begins sending green tendrils into Heilyn's skin, apparently healing him from Llyr's blows.

Meanwhile, we Romans on the other side are increasingly disturbed by the sounds of combat and screams of terror on the other side, and no one is telling us what is going on. Meloch decides to investigate, despite the fact that everyone thinks this is a bad idea. He clambers through, and disappears, running off into the woods, with me, in a spurt of sheer panic.

The rest of the group decides that safety lies in numbers and manages to scramble through together, where they assist in restoring Wena to her senses. Wena, finally, manages to snap Heilyn out of his terrified state, since she can empathize with what he was feeling, although she’s somewhat irritated about the several staff blows he’s hit her with by this point.


Meloch and I have hidden at the top of a tree, hoping that the Romans won’t find us, too scared by the dark, keening mist ahead to go any further. Eventually, Llyr tracks us down, and after much negotiation, and some stone-throwing, talks Meloch out of it. I’m still paranoid, however, and burrow even further into the pack. Llyr, in an attempt to lighten the mood, explains that the previous barrier’s message was obviously “Druids have shoddy construction techniques. I would never build a wall that could be knocked down by a little wind.”


Joining hands in an attempt to prevent further flights of panic, we march forward, prepared to face the sixth barrier. All too soon, we hear the eerie screams and cries of pain that scared Meloch and me. The fog is rolling in again, and before us the shadows rise. Quite literally – before us is a group of nearly transparent, staring Celtic ghosts, arms linked, stretching outwards in either direction as far as our eyes can see. They glare accusingly at us, blood still dripping from their ghostly wounds. Many are children, or elderly men and women.


“Nobody touch that wall!” Metellus commands, apparently oblivious to the fact that none of us had any plans to go near it.

“Wall of...Ghosts?” Cornelia muses.

“No, it’s the Wall of Humans.” Meloch explains. “First we had Trees, which wanted our blood. Then we had Animals, which wanted...plant food. And now we have Ghostly Humans, who want...”

“Of course!” Marcus announces. “It’s just like in the Odyssey, when Odysseus has to dig a trench and fill it with animal sacrifices to appease the spirits of the dead in Hades. And Heilyn, you said we were very close to Hades here.”

“Ah, yes...” Heilyn answers. “Not that I know what the Odyssey is, or want to get any closer to Hell.”


At this point, I, Shast, begin to get very nervous at the talk of animal sacrifices being needed, particularly since we left Caspar the Goat back on the mainland, along with Heilyn’s stupid dogs. No animal sacrifice here, thank you very much, let’s just hope that everyone forgets about me.


I do catch Heilyn looking thoughtfully at my hiding place, but luckily Llyr spots a rabbit at that moment and nails it with his bola. He and Marcus deftly skin the rabbit and drip its blood into a small trench directly before the angry ghosts. They swarm around it, drinking the blood greedily, much to Cornelia’s horror and the sickness of Metellus’s stomach. However, in doing so they do leave a path open through into the dark fog beyond. Summoning all our courage, we step through, to face the last barrier. As we do, Llyr, a little taken aback, but determined to continue in his critique of the Druidic trials, murmurs, "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."