Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Alea Iacta Story Hour: A Mythic Rome Campaign (Baby Announcement: 8/17)
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Orichalcum" data-source="post: 2989273" data-attributes="member: 3722"><p><strong>Alea iacta XI: Romantic Comedy Chp. X: Storming the Coliseum</strong></p><p></p><p>Curses, Fimmtiu, you caught me! I've been planning on going back and editing that back in. Heilyn-as-monkey took the opportunity during the end of the Great Toga Robbery to curse Publicola, causing boils to erupt all over his face and damaging his sense of perspective. Apparently, Heilyn is a good enough curser that Publicola hasn't been able to find someone to reverse it yet.</p><p>***</p><p></p><p>From the moment we learn the news that the Celtic Liberation Front is not as defunct and dead as we had thought, matters begin moving very quickly. Lucretius returns to the barracks to recruit several squads of Praetorians for a night mission. Heilyn and Llyr go scouting, carefully disguised and polymorphed, and confirm that there seems to be a large amount of activity in and around the sewer tunnels which connect to the catacombs underneath the Coliseum. Metellus and Marcus gird for battle. </p><p></p><p>Meloch briefly draws Cornelia aside. "These Celts...they're just widows and orphans. They're probably terrified for their lives; that's why they're hiding. Do we really have to attack them?"</p><p></p><p>Cornelia looks a little uncertain and guilt-stricken, but then a look of firm, Roman noble resolve crosses her face. "We can't trust that. Many of them are probably Druids, like we've fought before. And who knows what they could be plotting to do in the Coliseum? We'll try and arrest them rather than killing them, of course, but we need to defend Roma. These are her enemies, and we can't put her in danger again from a bunch of known criminals and escaped slaves. We can't just leave them on the loose. And I don't trust Otho."</p><p></p><p>Meloch sighs and leaves her, and, after some thought, goes and asks Llyr and Heilyn the same question. "They're Celts - don't you feel any allegiance to them?"</p><p></p><p>"They're Druids," Heilyn responds sternly, "or the allies of Druids, and they've set themselves up in an arena full of blood sacrifices. That dinna bode well for the true innocents."</p><p></p><p>Llyr pipes up, "Besides, it'll give me a good chance to try out all the new traps I've been working on. We've come up with a plan to drive them into the sewers and into nets and dead ends, where they can be safely arrested."</p><p></p><p>Meloch wonders sourly to me what the punishment the Roman authorities will hand out to those Celts whom they "arrest," and whether it will really be any better than a quick death in battle. Still, the Druids were a nasty bunch. We go and make some quiet preparations for the evening, and the others work out an elaborate strategy for the nighttime raid on the Coliseum.</p><p>***</p><p></p><p>At the beginning, everything seems to go precisely as planned. Meloch and Llyr stealthily follow Otho as he leaves his gaudy, expensive villa on the Aventine and heads towards a back entrance to the Coliseum, mantle drawn over his head. We all watch from cover as he flashes a lantern three times and then a number of exotically (and inappropriately, from Heilyn and Llyr's perspective) tattooed women step forth, and begin exchanging some scrolls for bags of silver. At thet point, the Praetorians surround all the exits, even the sewer tunnels, and loudly demand the surrender of everyone inside. Otho immediately drops his silver and scrolls and tries to run, not very fast; Metellus personally catches him and easily knocks him unconscious. </p><p></p><p>It is, however, at that moment that one of the Celtic women turns and pulls an iron lever on the wall, and the Celts then begin to flee back _into_ the Coliseum tunnels, down one of the side passageways. Several iron gratings begin to open in the floor, and we hear the padding of large feet coming up slanted tunnels, and, increasingly loudly, roars and snarls.</p><p></p><p>Metellus, the only one of us who's actually attended regular shows in the Coliseum, blanches. "Oh no. They've released the wild beasts. I think maybe all the wild beasts."</p><p></p><p>"I thought you said there weren't any shows going on at the moment," Cornelia hisses in shock.</p><p></p><p>"They aren't. Which means that the animals probably haven't been fed in a while - they like to keep them near-starvation; it's cheaper and it makes them more aggressive."</p><p></p><p>"How many animals are we talking here?" Heilyn asks.</p><p></p><p>"I don't know! Maybe forty lions, some giant boars and aurochs, probably a bunch of bears and wolves..." Metellus blurts.</p><p></p><p>And at that point, the animals begin to reach us, and matters turn quickly into a protracted, messy, bloody battle. Each individual animal is fairly easy for any of us to kill at this point, but there are dozens of them, and many seem to be controlled or directed by the Celts standing behind them, firing crude slingshots and arrows and the occasional minor spell. We attempt to flank them by going around in the tunnels, only to find that many of the tunnels are trapped and begin collapsing on us and the Praetorians. Cornelia rapidly uses up all of her Sleep spells. Llyr turns from setting traps to diagnosing them, carefully pointing out where not to step in each corridor as the fight rages on, slowly pressing the Celts back further into the Coliseum complex. Heilyn attempts to control as many of the animals as possible, and shapes the stone to be more stable. Marcus, Metellus, and Lucretius are soon drenched in blood, both bestial and human, some of it their own.</p><p></p><p>At some point in the chaos, Meloch gets separated from the rest of the group by about twenty feet, and cornered by a pack of slavering, starving wolves. He's been careful not to use any offensive magic against humans in this fight, even darting in here and there to pull a Celtic child out of harm's way of one of Marcus' swings. Against beasts, though, he has little compunction. He aims carefully, away from his companions, and casts Fireball, incinerating all the wolves. However, it also takes out the last fragile wooden support holding this part of the tunnel up. The ceiling collapses, appearing to bury him completely. Cornelia looks over, seeing the tons of earth and stone covering the hallway where Meloch was, and gasps in horror.</p><p></p><p>"Watch over her, my partner, and enjoy all the warm baths," a weak voice whispers in my head.</p><p></p><p>"Fare well, partner. I will, I promise." I think back.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Orichalcum, post: 2989273, member: 3722"] [b]Alea iacta XI: Romantic Comedy Chp. X: Storming the Coliseum[/b] Curses, Fimmtiu, you caught me! I've been planning on going back and editing that back in. Heilyn-as-monkey took the opportunity during the end of the Great Toga Robbery to curse Publicola, causing boils to erupt all over his face and damaging his sense of perspective. Apparently, Heilyn is a good enough curser that Publicola hasn't been able to find someone to reverse it yet. *** From the moment we learn the news that the Celtic Liberation Front is not as defunct and dead as we had thought, matters begin moving very quickly. Lucretius returns to the barracks to recruit several squads of Praetorians for a night mission. Heilyn and Llyr go scouting, carefully disguised and polymorphed, and confirm that there seems to be a large amount of activity in and around the sewer tunnels which connect to the catacombs underneath the Coliseum. Metellus and Marcus gird for battle. Meloch briefly draws Cornelia aside. "These Celts...they're just widows and orphans. They're probably terrified for their lives; that's why they're hiding. Do we really have to attack them?" Cornelia looks a little uncertain and guilt-stricken, but then a look of firm, Roman noble resolve crosses her face. "We can't trust that. Many of them are probably Druids, like we've fought before. And who knows what they could be plotting to do in the Coliseum? We'll try and arrest them rather than killing them, of course, but we need to defend Roma. These are her enemies, and we can't put her in danger again from a bunch of known criminals and escaped slaves. We can't just leave them on the loose. And I don't trust Otho." Meloch sighs and leaves her, and, after some thought, goes and asks Llyr and Heilyn the same question. "They're Celts - don't you feel any allegiance to them?" "They're Druids," Heilyn responds sternly, "or the allies of Druids, and they've set themselves up in an arena full of blood sacrifices. That dinna bode well for the true innocents." Llyr pipes up, "Besides, it'll give me a good chance to try out all the new traps I've been working on. We've come up with a plan to drive them into the sewers and into nets and dead ends, where they can be safely arrested." Meloch wonders sourly to me what the punishment the Roman authorities will hand out to those Celts whom they "arrest," and whether it will really be any better than a quick death in battle. Still, the Druids were a nasty bunch. We go and make some quiet preparations for the evening, and the others work out an elaborate strategy for the nighttime raid on the Coliseum. *** At the beginning, everything seems to go precisely as planned. Meloch and Llyr stealthily follow Otho as he leaves his gaudy, expensive villa on the Aventine and heads towards a back entrance to the Coliseum, mantle drawn over his head. We all watch from cover as he flashes a lantern three times and then a number of exotically (and inappropriately, from Heilyn and Llyr's perspective) tattooed women step forth, and begin exchanging some scrolls for bags of silver. At thet point, the Praetorians surround all the exits, even the sewer tunnels, and loudly demand the surrender of everyone inside. Otho immediately drops his silver and scrolls and tries to run, not very fast; Metellus personally catches him and easily knocks him unconscious. It is, however, at that moment that one of the Celtic women turns and pulls an iron lever on the wall, and the Celts then begin to flee back _into_ the Coliseum tunnels, down one of the side passageways. Several iron gratings begin to open in the floor, and we hear the padding of large feet coming up slanted tunnels, and, increasingly loudly, roars and snarls. Metellus, the only one of us who's actually attended regular shows in the Coliseum, blanches. "Oh no. They've released the wild beasts. I think maybe all the wild beasts." "I thought you said there weren't any shows going on at the moment," Cornelia hisses in shock. "They aren't. Which means that the animals probably haven't been fed in a while - they like to keep them near-starvation; it's cheaper and it makes them more aggressive." "How many animals are we talking here?" Heilyn asks. "I don't know! Maybe forty lions, some giant boars and aurochs, probably a bunch of bears and wolves..." Metellus blurts. And at that point, the animals begin to reach us, and matters turn quickly into a protracted, messy, bloody battle. Each individual animal is fairly easy for any of us to kill at this point, but there are dozens of them, and many seem to be controlled or directed by the Celts standing behind them, firing crude slingshots and arrows and the occasional minor spell. We attempt to flank them by going around in the tunnels, only to find that many of the tunnels are trapped and begin collapsing on us and the Praetorians. Cornelia rapidly uses up all of her Sleep spells. Llyr turns from setting traps to diagnosing them, carefully pointing out where not to step in each corridor as the fight rages on, slowly pressing the Celts back further into the Coliseum complex. Heilyn attempts to control as many of the animals as possible, and shapes the stone to be more stable. Marcus, Metellus, and Lucretius are soon drenched in blood, both bestial and human, some of it their own. At some point in the chaos, Meloch gets separated from the rest of the group by about twenty feet, and cornered by a pack of slavering, starving wolves. He's been careful not to use any offensive magic against humans in this fight, even darting in here and there to pull a Celtic child out of harm's way of one of Marcus' swings. Against beasts, though, he has little compunction. He aims carefully, away from his companions, and casts Fireball, incinerating all the wolves. However, it also takes out the last fragile wooden support holding this part of the tunnel up. The ceiling collapses, appearing to bury him completely. Cornelia looks over, seeing the tons of earth and stone covering the hallway where Meloch was, and gasps in horror. "Watch over her, my partner, and enjoy all the warm baths," a weak voice whispers in my head. "Fare well, partner. I will, I promise." I think back. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Alea Iacta Story Hour: A Mythic Rome Campaign (Baby Announcement: 8/17)
Top