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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: 2242135" data-attributes="member: 3722"><p><strong>Alea Iacta IX: An Easy Descent Chp. 6: The Eagle Comes Home</strong></p><p></p><p>Thanks for all the kind words! I should have more time for regular updates now that the semester's over and my only project is polishing up my dissertation and preparing classes before we move to Chicago in September. </p><p></p><p>***</p><p>We all turn and stare at Lucretius, Cornelia's scales going unremarked upon in the greater shock. Before entering, we prepared ourselves for the likelihood of difficult communication by Wena establishing mindlinks between herself and Cornelia, Heilyn, Llyr, and Lucretius, while the rest of us had wax tablets and styluses. </p><p></p><p>Cornelia immediately asked Wena to ask Lucretius to explain what had happened. Lucretius told Wena to tell Cornelia that the Praetorian would explain later, and surely there were more urgent matters currently. Cornelia demanded an answer back through Wena, and this went back and forth for a few more iterations before the frustrated and irritated Wena pointed out that, after all, her Mindlinks had limited duration, and didn't they have an Empire to save and a Cap to rescue?</p><p></p><p>The Wolf, meanwhile, continued to gaze at us calmly, and mindspoke us all again after a few seconds. "What do you seek, children?"</p><p></p><p>There was a pause, as we considered what to answer, but Marcus was the first to write out on his tablet his most urgent desire. "Mother of the Romans, I seek the Eagle of the Ninth, that I may free it from its bondage."</p><p></p><p>The Wolf lowered her head. "It is quite near here, as we measure such things. We will go there, while your companions ponder what else they may seek."</p><p></p><p>We followed the Wolf as she padded further up the Palatine Hill and down the other side, into the area which in our shadow world contained the hundred rooms of the Imperial Palaces but here mostly grassy meadows and the gleaming Tiber River below us. Here and there, we could make out objects floating in the air or small buildings on the ground - the Temple of Vesta in the valley below; a single shield resting on the ground next to it, a golden laurel wreath on a pillar, but it seemed hard to focus on anything much in the distance, and the Wolf moved quickly.</p><p></p><p>Soon we came to a small, purple marble platform dominated by a bronze pole at the center, on which perched a small, shivering golden-feathered eaglet. Smoky black chains, whose mere shadows Heilyn and Wena had caught glimpses of in our world, wrapped the eaglet tightly around and bound it to its pole, leaving only its beak and eyes barely exposed to us. The chain ran off the edge of the platform and stretched out into the hazy distance of the meadows. </p><p></p><p>"This is my task," Marcus intoned solemnly. "Leave me to it." We all stood back several paces. I personally didn't see why I should help get another rival into our group, particularly another useless bird who would probably league with Cato against me and convince Meloch to try monkey for lunch. </p><p></p><p>Marcus lifted his sword high above his head, focusing intently by virtue of his philosophical training, and brought the weapon down on the chain at the point where it crossed the marble platform. There was no sound, and the legionary weapon bounced off the solid metal of the chain. He tried again, to no effect, and then borrowed Heilyn's hammer, but all failed to make even the slightest dent in the foul bonds.</p><p></p><p>The Wolf's tongue lolled out, as she seemed to grin at him. "It is not by metal that you will break this metal, Centurion," she mindspoke.</p><p></p><p>Cornelia grabbed a wax slate and wrote, "Remember what the prophecy said, um...whoever you are."</p><p></p><p>Marcus handed the hammer back to Heilyn, and gave his sword to Metellus to hold, and concentrated on his faith and devotion to the Ninth Legion, his eighteen years of service with her, through war and peace, blood and triumph. He strode up to the bronze pole, and grabbed the black chain, trying carefully not to further hurt the eaglet, and began trying to unwind its bonds with his hands. The cold, sharp metal ate away at his fingers, and his palms began bleeding profusely, staining the eaglet's feathers and the marble below. But he unraveled the chain, link by link, loop by loop, until at last, when the Centurion was barely able to stand, the last link around the eaglet's claws was undone, and the chain fell to the marble below. </p><p></p><p>The eaglet first cautiously and then triumphantly spread its wings, which seemed to grow as the blood of the Centurion touched them. Balancing on the top of the bronze standard pole, it leaned forward towards Marcus, briefly, and touched with its beak his primuspilus brooch, which glowed momentarily and turned from bronze into a bright gold. Then the bird launched itself off the pole and flew high into the heavens, circling upwards amidst the clouds until finally it disappeared from our sight.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Orichalcum, post: 2242135, member: 3722"] [b]Alea Iacta IX: An Easy Descent Chp. 6: The Eagle Comes Home[/b] Thanks for all the kind words! I should have more time for regular updates now that the semester's over and my only project is polishing up my dissertation and preparing classes before we move to Chicago in September. *** We all turn and stare at Lucretius, Cornelia's scales going unremarked upon in the greater shock. Before entering, we prepared ourselves for the likelihood of difficult communication by Wena establishing mindlinks between herself and Cornelia, Heilyn, Llyr, and Lucretius, while the rest of us had wax tablets and styluses. Cornelia immediately asked Wena to ask Lucretius to explain what had happened. Lucretius told Wena to tell Cornelia that the Praetorian would explain later, and surely there were more urgent matters currently. Cornelia demanded an answer back through Wena, and this went back and forth for a few more iterations before the frustrated and irritated Wena pointed out that, after all, her Mindlinks had limited duration, and didn't they have an Empire to save and a Cap to rescue? The Wolf, meanwhile, continued to gaze at us calmly, and mindspoke us all again after a few seconds. "What do you seek, children?" There was a pause, as we considered what to answer, but Marcus was the first to write out on his tablet his most urgent desire. "Mother of the Romans, I seek the Eagle of the Ninth, that I may free it from its bondage." The Wolf lowered her head. "It is quite near here, as we measure such things. We will go there, while your companions ponder what else they may seek." We followed the Wolf as she padded further up the Palatine Hill and down the other side, into the area which in our shadow world contained the hundred rooms of the Imperial Palaces but here mostly grassy meadows and the gleaming Tiber River below us. Here and there, we could make out objects floating in the air or small buildings on the ground - the Temple of Vesta in the valley below; a single shield resting on the ground next to it, a golden laurel wreath on a pillar, but it seemed hard to focus on anything much in the distance, and the Wolf moved quickly. Soon we came to a small, purple marble platform dominated by a bronze pole at the center, on which perched a small, shivering golden-feathered eaglet. Smoky black chains, whose mere shadows Heilyn and Wena had caught glimpses of in our world, wrapped the eaglet tightly around and bound it to its pole, leaving only its beak and eyes barely exposed to us. The chain ran off the edge of the platform and stretched out into the hazy distance of the meadows. "This is my task," Marcus intoned solemnly. "Leave me to it." We all stood back several paces. I personally didn't see why I should help get another rival into our group, particularly another useless bird who would probably league with Cato against me and convince Meloch to try monkey for lunch. Marcus lifted his sword high above his head, focusing intently by virtue of his philosophical training, and brought the weapon down on the chain at the point where it crossed the marble platform. There was no sound, and the legionary weapon bounced off the solid metal of the chain. He tried again, to no effect, and then borrowed Heilyn's hammer, but all failed to make even the slightest dent in the foul bonds. The Wolf's tongue lolled out, as she seemed to grin at him. "It is not by metal that you will break this metal, Centurion," she mindspoke. Cornelia grabbed a wax slate and wrote, "Remember what the prophecy said, um...whoever you are." Marcus handed the hammer back to Heilyn, and gave his sword to Metellus to hold, and concentrated on his faith and devotion to the Ninth Legion, his eighteen years of service with her, through war and peace, blood and triumph. He strode up to the bronze pole, and grabbed the black chain, trying carefully not to further hurt the eaglet, and began trying to unwind its bonds with his hands. The cold, sharp metal ate away at his fingers, and his palms began bleeding profusely, staining the eaglet's feathers and the marble below. But he unraveled the chain, link by link, loop by loop, until at last, when the Centurion was barely able to stand, the last link around the eaglet's claws was undone, and the chain fell to the marble below. The eaglet first cautiously and then triumphantly spread its wings, which seemed to grow as the blood of the Centurion touched them. Balancing on the top of the bronze standard pole, it leaned forward towards Marcus, briefly, and touched with its beak his primuspilus brooch, which glowed momentarily and turned from bronze into a bright gold. Then the bird launched itself off the pole and flew high into the heavens, circling upwards amidst the clouds until finally it disappeared from our sight. [/QUOTE]
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