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Alea Iacta Story Hour: A Mythic Rome Campaign (Baby Announcement: 8/17)
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<blockquote data-quote="Orichalcum" data-source="post: 1301377" data-attributes="member: 3722"><p><strong>Alea Iacta VI: When in Rome Post VIII: Casualty</strong></p><p></p><p>As a well-armored, well-armed group, we rush back to the temple of Apollo of the Mice, where Meloch gives the priest a large and unexpected donation, comprising most of what he’s managed to earn since he gave all his previous savings to the Gaulish parents of the boy he killed. My partner’s a smart little man, but not very good at saving money; we’ll never buy ourselves out of slavery at this rate.</p><p></p><p>Once at the temple, Llyr manages to track Verix’s trail, together with the very useful help of Heilyn’s dog and Wena’s psychic impressions. The trail leads only a short distance, to the edge of the Cloaca Maxima, Roma’s largest and open-air sewer. The fetid, murky brown water, full of Rome’s famous and fat fish, glides lethargically under a bridge and into a brief tunnel under the road. </p><p> </p><p> “Well,” Metellus says slowly, “someone needs to go under there and see if they can find Verix.”</p><p> There is a noted pause, as everyone smells the stench of the sewer, and imagines what swimming in it what might be like.</p><p> </p><p> “Heilyn and Meloch, you can both transform into creatures with gills, can’t you?” Metellus pleads.</p><p> “I dinna want that in my gills, Tribune...it’s not like the puir water of Britannia,” Heilyn answers immediately and Meloch, for once, agrees with him.</p><p> “I’ll do it, sir. It’s good practice, and someone needs to,” Llyr volunteers. He takes off his armor and strips down to his tunic, causing a few admiring glances from Roman passersby, who then shudder in horror as he dives into the sewer.</p><p> “Crazy barbarians,” someone mutters. </p><p></p><p>Llyr swims along the surface until he gets to the tunnel, at which point he has to dive completely into the sludge. It is putrid, and he tries very hard not to look too closely at what is floating near him. Once in the tunnel, he sees a metal grate ahead of him, clearly designed to catch large objects. Bumping up against the grate is the corpse of their companion Verix, the pearl merchant, clearly long dead. Before returning to the surface with the body, Llyr takes the opportunity to search the body. He discovers Verix’s treasured two-pearl necklace still around his neck, and slips it on himself. When he does so and concentrates on the pearl, Llyr realizes that he no longer feels the pressing urge to breathe, although breathing the sewer water is a foul experience.</p><p></p><p> Llyr swims back to the surface, dragging the body behind him. Even some quiet cleaning spells by the spellcasters don’t truly remove the stench from Llyr or Verix, and the party keeps its distance from him as we go back sadly to Cornelia’s mother’s house. Along the way, Llyr mentions quietly, “There’s something odd here.”</p><p> “Besides the fact that our friend the pearl diver drowned in a Roman sewer?” Cornelia answers acerbically.</p><p> “Yes, besides that. He was wearing a pearl that allows you, I think, to breathe underwater,” Llyr responds.</p><p> “But...then...why...” Marcus splutters.</p><p> “Exactly,” Llyr answers.</p><p> “When we’re in a safe location, I can talk to his spirit briefly, and perhaps we can find out why,” Heilyn suggests.</p><p></p><p> In a dark back room of Licinia Luculla’s villa, Heilyn makes his preparations to summon the dead spirit of Verix. He has an idea that the Romans, conservative folk that they are, might not be too happy about necromancy, so he keeps this very subdued. The rest of us gather, however, and Heilyn warns us that we will have only three questions. The pallid, fish-nibbled body of Verix twitches, and his eyes and mouth open, glowing an eerie yellow.</p><p></p><p> “How did you die, Verix?” Heilyn asks.</p><p> “Through your incompetence, you bunch of self-centered fools!” the body surprisingly retorts. “Couldn’t you see that I was throwing myself into danger at every opportunity, trying to commit suicide? What kind of pearl merchant volunteers for a risky bait mission?”</p><p></p><p> “Ah...what made you want to commit suicide?” Cornelia questions.</p><p> “The voice in my head...back at the gate – and in my dreams – it told me that I was a failure, that my family would be better off if I just died, that everyone would be better off.”</p><p></p><p> There is some quick discussion about the third question, then finally we ask, “Do you know who the voice is?”</p><p> “No – it was a man, I think, and he spoke perfect Latin.” The body crumples again as the glow slowly fades. All of us refuse to feel guilty except for Cornelia, and Meloch a little, who’s a softie, and does remember how odd he thought it was that Verix insisted on stumbling out of the temple while only half-alive.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Orichalcum, post: 1301377, member: 3722"] [b]Alea Iacta VI: When in Rome Post VIII: Casualty[/b] As a well-armored, well-armed group, we rush back to the temple of Apollo of the Mice, where Meloch gives the priest a large and unexpected donation, comprising most of what he’s managed to earn since he gave all his previous savings to the Gaulish parents of the boy he killed. My partner’s a smart little man, but not very good at saving money; we’ll never buy ourselves out of slavery at this rate. Once at the temple, Llyr manages to track Verix’s trail, together with the very useful help of Heilyn’s dog and Wena’s psychic impressions. The trail leads only a short distance, to the edge of the Cloaca Maxima, Roma’s largest and open-air sewer. The fetid, murky brown water, full of Rome’s famous and fat fish, glides lethargically under a bridge and into a brief tunnel under the road. “Well,” Metellus says slowly, “someone needs to go under there and see if they can find Verix.” There is a noted pause, as everyone smells the stench of the sewer, and imagines what swimming in it what might be like. “Heilyn and Meloch, you can both transform into creatures with gills, can’t you?” Metellus pleads. “I dinna want that in my gills, Tribune...it’s not like the puir water of Britannia,” Heilyn answers immediately and Meloch, for once, agrees with him. “I’ll do it, sir. It’s good practice, and someone needs to,” Llyr volunteers. He takes off his armor and strips down to his tunic, causing a few admiring glances from Roman passersby, who then shudder in horror as he dives into the sewer. “Crazy barbarians,” someone mutters. Llyr swims along the surface until he gets to the tunnel, at which point he has to dive completely into the sludge. It is putrid, and he tries very hard not to look too closely at what is floating near him. Once in the tunnel, he sees a metal grate ahead of him, clearly designed to catch large objects. Bumping up against the grate is the corpse of their companion Verix, the pearl merchant, clearly long dead. Before returning to the surface with the body, Llyr takes the opportunity to search the body. He discovers Verix’s treasured two-pearl necklace still around his neck, and slips it on himself. When he does so and concentrates on the pearl, Llyr realizes that he no longer feels the pressing urge to breathe, although breathing the sewer water is a foul experience. Llyr swims back to the surface, dragging the body behind him. Even some quiet cleaning spells by the spellcasters don’t truly remove the stench from Llyr or Verix, and the party keeps its distance from him as we go back sadly to Cornelia’s mother’s house. Along the way, Llyr mentions quietly, “There’s something odd here.” “Besides the fact that our friend the pearl diver drowned in a Roman sewer?” Cornelia answers acerbically. “Yes, besides that. He was wearing a pearl that allows you, I think, to breathe underwater,” Llyr responds. “But...then...why...” Marcus splutters. “Exactly,” Llyr answers. “When we’re in a safe location, I can talk to his spirit briefly, and perhaps we can find out why,” Heilyn suggests. In a dark back room of Licinia Luculla’s villa, Heilyn makes his preparations to summon the dead spirit of Verix. He has an idea that the Romans, conservative folk that they are, might not be too happy about necromancy, so he keeps this very subdued. The rest of us gather, however, and Heilyn warns us that we will have only three questions. The pallid, fish-nibbled body of Verix twitches, and his eyes and mouth open, glowing an eerie yellow. “How did you die, Verix?” Heilyn asks. “Through your incompetence, you bunch of self-centered fools!” the body surprisingly retorts. “Couldn’t you see that I was throwing myself into danger at every opportunity, trying to commit suicide? What kind of pearl merchant volunteers for a risky bait mission?” “Ah...what made you want to commit suicide?” Cornelia questions. “The voice in my head...back at the gate – and in my dreams – it told me that I was a failure, that my family would be better off if I just died, that everyone would be better off.” There is some quick discussion about the third question, then finally we ask, “Do you know who the voice is?” “No – it was a man, I think, and he spoke perfect Latin.” The body crumples again as the glow slowly fades. All of us refuse to feel guilty except for Cornelia, and Meloch a little, who’s a softie, and does remember how odd he thought it was that Verix insisted on stumbling out of the temple while only half-alive. [/QUOTE]
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