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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: 2125535" data-attributes="member: 3722"><p><strong>Alea Iacta IX: An Easy Descent Chp. 1</strong></p><p></p><p>Lucretius, while on the ship, decides to make a sacrifice to Minerva to try and gain more understanding into his future path. The Tribune buys Kaspar the XI, Meloch's war goat, and slaughters him right there in front of us all. I think it's absolutely shameful how greedily hungry Cato the owl looks. Kaspar was our traveling companion for months! Not the brightest of goats, or even of the Kaspars, true, but still - these Romans and their gods. I resolve not to do anything to anger Lucretius. Still, the Tribune seems comforted after the sacrifice, having achieved some peace of mind and the resolution that it may be possible to both save Roma and Cornelia.</p><p></p><p> As we journey back to Roma, all of us have occasional trouble remembering Marcus' name and deeds, although it is worst for Cornelia. I and the other writers spend much of the voyage making frantic copies of materials. Soon, we arrive back at the port of Ostia and travel directly by fast chariot to the Imperial Palace. We are let in through a back door and brought to a carefully secured inner room in the Empress Hadriana's private quarters - clearly, she is ignoring the rumors of a relationship between her and Metellus at this point due to the need to deal with the immediate crisis.</p><p></p><p> Face pale, looking all of her twenty-eight years for the first time, Hadriana speaks quickly and softly, but commandingly. "It was five days ago now. Cimbrus had been acting increasingly distressed and moody, spending long hours communing with...communicating with his father through means reserved to the Imperial family."</p><p></p><p> Wena interrupts here, "Through the philosophical crystal orbs?"</p><p></p><p> Hadriana looks startled for a moment. "Yes - how did you know? In any case, I was deeply worried about him, and he was starting to pace up and down throughout the palace and mutter to himself. Late that night, he came out of the room where the crystal orb is kept - the guards on duty said there were marks of tears on his face. He didn't look at them or talk to them, but hurried quickly down to the lower levels of the Palace, an intent look on his face. Within the Palace itself, the Caesar and his family are not constantly escorted, for privacy reasons; rather, we have pairs of guards stationed every hundred feet and at every intersection. Cimbrus passed a pair of guards at the beginning of one corridor, ignoring them, and then...never appeared at the end of the hallway, where the next guards were stationed. The Praetorians whom I trust most have examined every inch of the corridor, but there appear to be no secret doors or other exits from the passage. </p><p></p><p> Only the Chamberlain, the Praetorian Prefect, and my personal chief maid have been informed; the Senate and the rest of the populace believes that Cimbrus has fallen ill and returned to Tivoli. But there is a limit to how long I can persist in this deception. You must find him - alive - as soon as possible."</p><p></p><p> Metellus asks sharply, "Do you know where the Emperor's sister, Mamerca, and her son Rufus are?"</p><p></p><p> Hadriana answers calmly, as if she had thought of this as a possibility already. "According to my agents, they are still in their villa on the Bay of Neapolis, at least as of a few days ago. I would have known if they had traveled back to Roma."</p><p></p><p> Heilyn speaks up, "Would it be possible for us to examine this passageway? The spirits may tell us of something that the Praetorians were unable ta find, no offense ta them bein' intended."</p><p> </p><p> "Certainly - Lucretius, I suggest you lead them down there by the back route, to avoid suspicion. It is in the old central wing of the palace, on the top of the Palatine Hill. Go now -time may be of the essence - but report to me before you do anything drastic," Hadriana instructs them.</p><p></p><p>We travel down to the beginning of the corridor described by Hadriana, and Lucretius nods to the pair of guards and instructs them to remain there. As we walk past them, Meloch is suddenly stopped in his tracks, yelping in sharp pain and pressing across some sort of invisible barrier. Everyone draws their weapons and spins, searching for an invisible enemy. One of the guards, however, calls out, "I'm terribly sorry, Decurion. Is that pygmy a slave?"</p><p></p><p>Lucretius, remembering his early training about guard duty, exclaims in realization. "Yes, he is! I'm so sorry, Meloch! This must be one of the areas of the Palace with divine wards against slaves passing through, for fear of theft or revolt."</p><p></p><p>I, never having been a formal slave, gleefully prance through the corridor, while Meloch glares at me. In my head, he admonishes me, "I'll stay here for now, and watch over Hadriana and baby Cimbra. But let me know if any danger comes to Cornelia - maybe I can cast a spell through you. And be careful!" Meloch embraces Cornelia's legs, nods to the rest of us, and trods back up the stairs to the Imperial Nursery.</p><p></p><p>We continue on down, until Heilyn draws in a deep breath of shock, followed shortly by Llyr and Wena. </p><p></p><p>Llyr whispers, "Through my Lugh-blessed eye, I can see that part of the wall glowing faintly, but it's too bright to focus on."</p><p></p><p>Wena agrees, "I can see the same."</p><p></p><p>Heilyn turns to them quizzically. "You don't see the doors?"</p><p></p><p>"What doors?" the rest of us all chorus, a bit confused as to why such a fuss is being made over a perfectly ordinary grey stone wall, exactly like the rest of the corridor.</p><p></p><p>"The two enormous ornamental doors in the wall over there! The one on the left is outlined in curved rhinoceros tusks and antelope horns, I think, based on Meloch's description of those animals, and it's glowing with complex runes. The one on the right is made out of elephant tusks, outlined in silver and gems - it's beautiful - and also covered with spirit symbols I've never heard of or seen!" Heilyn describes.</p><p></p><p>"Ah, the Gates of Horn and Ivory!" Marcus announces, as we all realize the truth. </p><p></p><p>"But which of them did Cimbrus go through? And which one is Scaevola hiding in?" Cornelia asks.</p><p></p><p>"And why can Heilyn see them?" points out Metellus, a little aggravated.</p><p></p><p>Heilyn quickly, stumbling a little, responds, "It must be all my training of working with the spirits! Or seeing Lugh so clearly! Or being a craftsman..."</p><p></p><p>"Well," Metellus finally answers practically, "We can't just leap through one. We need to prepare. And before that, we need to go and talk to the Vestals and try and find out Scaevola's true name."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Orichalcum, post: 2125535, member: 3722"] [b]Alea Iacta IX: An Easy Descent Chp. 1[/b] Lucretius, while on the ship, decides to make a sacrifice to Minerva to try and gain more understanding into his future path. The Tribune buys Kaspar the XI, Meloch's war goat, and slaughters him right there in front of us all. I think it's absolutely shameful how greedily hungry Cato the owl looks. Kaspar was our traveling companion for months! Not the brightest of goats, or even of the Kaspars, true, but still - these Romans and their gods. I resolve not to do anything to anger Lucretius. Still, the Tribune seems comforted after the sacrifice, having achieved some peace of mind and the resolution that it may be possible to both save Roma and Cornelia. As we journey back to Roma, all of us have occasional trouble remembering Marcus' name and deeds, although it is worst for Cornelia. I and the other writers spend much of the voyage making frantic copies of materials. Soon, we arrive back at the port of Ostia and travel directly by fast chariot to the Imperial Palace. We are let in through a back door and brought to a carefully secured inner room in the Empress Hadriana's private quarters - clearly, she is ignoring the rumors of a relationship between her and Metellus at this point due to the need to deal with the immediate crisis. Face pale, looking all of her twenty-eight years for the first time, Hadriana speaks quickly and softly, but commandingly. "It was five days ago now. Cimbrus had been acting increasingly distressed and moody, spending long hours communing with...communicating with his father through means reserved to the Imperial family." Wena interrupts here, "Through the philosophical crystal orbs?" Hadriana looks startled for a moment. "Yes - how did you know? In any case, I was deeply worried about him, and he was starting to pace up and down throughout the palace and mutter to himself. Late that night, he came out of the room where the crystal orb is kept - the guards on duty said there were marks of tears on his face. He didn't look at them or talk to them, but hurried quickly down to the lower levels of the Palace, an intent look on his face. Within the Palace itself, the Caesar and his family are not constantly escorted, for privacy reasons; rather, we have pairs of guards stationed every hundred feet and at every intersection. Cimbrus passed a pair of guards at the beginning of one corridor, ignoring them, and then...never appeared at the end of the hallway, where the next guards were stationed. The Praetorians whom I trust most have examined every inch of the corridor, but there appear to be no secret doors or other exits from the passage. Only the Chamberlain, the Praetorian Prefect, and my personal chief maid have been informed; the Senate and the rest of the populace believes that Cimbrus has fallen ill and returned to Tivoli. But there is a limit to how long I can persist in this deception. You must find him - alive - as soon as possible." Metellus asks sharply, "Do you know where the Emperor's sister, Mamerca, and her son Rufus are?" Hadriana answers calmly, as if she had thought of this as a possibility already. "According to my agents, they are still in their villa on the Bay of Neapolis, at least as of a few days ago. I would have known if they had traveled back to Roma." Heilyn speaks up, "Would it be possible for us to examine this passageway? The spirits may tell us of something that the Praetorians were unable ta find, no offense ta them bein' intended." "Certainly - Lucretius, I suggest you lead them down there by the back route, to avoid suspicion. It is in the old central wing of the palace, on the top of the Palatine Hill. Go now -time may be of the essence - but report to me before you do anything drastic," Hadriana instructs them. We travel down to the beginning of the corridor described by Hadriana, and Lucretius nods to the pair of guards and instructs them to remain there. As we walk past them, Meloch is suddenly stopped in his tracks, yelping in sharp pain and pressing across some sort of invisible barrier. Everyone draws their weapons and spins, searching for an invisible enemy. One of the guards, however, calls out, "I'm terribly sorry, Decurion. Is that pygmy a slave?" Lucretius, remembering his early training about guard duty, exclaims in realization. "Yes, he is! I'm so sorry, Meloch! This must be one of the areas of the Palace with divine wards against slaves passing through, for fear of theft or revolt." I, never having been a formal slave, gleefully prance through the corridor, while Meloch glares at me. In my head, he admonishes me, "I'll stay here for now, and watch over Hadriana and baby Cimbra. But let me know if any danger comes to Cornelia - maybe I can cast a spell through you. And be careful!" Meloch embraces Cornelia's legs, nods to the rest of us, and trods back up the stairs to the Imperial Nursery. We continue on down, until Heilyn draws in a deep breath of shock, followed shortly by Llyr and Wena. Llyr whispers, "Through my Lugh-blessed eye, I can see that part of the wall glowing faintly, but it's too bright to focus on." Wena agrees, "I can see the same." Heilyn turns to them quizzically. "You don't see the doors?" "What doors?" the rest of us all chorus, a bit confused as to why such a fuss is being made over a perfectly ordinary grey stone wall, exactly like the rest of the corridor. "The two enormous ornamental doors in the wall over there! The one on the left is outlined in curved rhinoceros tusks and antelope horns, I think, based on Meloch's description of those animals, and it's glowing with complex runes. The one on the right is made out of elephant tusks, outlined in silver and gems - it's beautiful - and also covered with spirit symbols I've never heard of or seen!" Heilyn describes. "Ah, the Gates of Horn and Ivory!" Marcus announces, as we all realize the truth. "But which of them did Cimbrus go through? And which one is Scaevola hiding in?" Cornelia asks. "And why can Heilyn see them?" points out Metellus, a little aggravated. Heilyn quickly, stumbling a little, responds, "It must be all my training of working with the spirits! Or seeing Lugh so clearly! Or being a craftsman..." "Well," Metellus finally answers practically, "We can't just leap through one. We need to prepare. And before that, we need to go and talk to the Vestals and try and find out Scaevola's true name." [/QUOTE]
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