Alea Iacta X: Chp. 10: A Little Investigation...
Sorry for the long delay in posting, folks, but the combination of a new job and the extra fatigue relating to an expected cohort for Cerebral Paladin and I in August -
- caused a temporary shutdown. Now that it's summer and I have some free time, I hope to catch up the SH to real time, at least for now, as that's only about 2.5 sessions.
***
Just as a summary review:
Metellus is running for election as a judge in Rome, against 4 other candidates. 3 candidates this year will become judge, although you gain the most prestige by coming in first in the number of ballots. All of our group have split up to investigate the other four candidates:
Thrax: The military hero who Marcus suspects might have been involved in the death of an incompetent superior officer;
Publicola: The young lawyer, incredibly eloquent despite having been fairly tongue-tied the last time we encountered him at the soothsayer's trial;
Fabius Maximus: The formerly dissolute extremely elite nobleman.
Otho: The thrice-defeated candidate who is throwing around money, food, and wine to buy voters' support.
Current PC status:
Cornelia: Young Roman noblewoman sorcerer, dealing with the discovery of her descent from volcanic dragons, her confused romantic feelings towards Metellus and Llyr, her disobedient slave, and her deeply frightening mother.
Heilyn: Brigantian smith-spirittalker, now exiled by geas from Britannia, client of Metellus. His current personal quest is to create a lightning bolt to pay off a debt to the god Mercury.
Llyr: Brigantian prince/Roman auxiliary engineer (ranger/rogue), currently back in Britannia sorting out family matters. Also, in love with Cornelia.
Lucretius: Praetorian guard decurion (paladin), charged with the safety of the royal family - apparently of somewhat confusing gender.
Marcus: Loyal client of Metellus (psionic warrior), primuspilus centurion and only current soldier of the revived 9th Legion.
Meloch: A pygmy slave sorcerer of Cornelia's, as well as a fertility enabler for the Caesars and the companion to our hero and narrator, Shast the Monkey.
Metellus: Young noble tribune running for office as a judge and trying to figure out who to marry.
All PCs are currently 8th level.
***
While Marcus was pursuing fairly orthodox information gathering tactics in the taverns and Cornelia and Metellus were gossiping with Roman nobles, Meloch and Heilyn decided to take a more direct approach. Both were very curious about Publicola's highly magical toga, and, as the acknowledged magic-workers of the group, they decided to investigate more directly.
Unfortunately, neither was particularly inconspicuous under normal circumstances, nor well-versed in the arts of hiding and sneaking. So they began their evening's reconnoitering by Heilyn turning himself into a monkey. I found this flattering, at first, although, of course, he wasn't nearly as golden-furred or well-groomed as i am. When Meloch suggested i stay behind so that there wouldn't be the confusion of two monkeys, I agreed - after all, it was time for another bath, and this plan sounded foolhardy at best. Still, I kept in touch through our link.
Meloch and Heilyn-the-monkey paid a slave to find the location of Publicola's small apartment in a less-than-fashionable section of Roma. As soon as it was dark, Meloch cast invisibility on himself and climbed up the wall to the small open window, trusting Heilyn to be inconspicuous on the grounds of size alone. They both peered through the tattered oilskin curtain.
On the couch beyond, they could see Publicola, toga somewhat askew, sipping wine with an extremely attractive if scantily dressed young woman. Meloch, well-versed in such matters from his years in a brothel slave, whispered quietly, "Courtesan. Expensive one, by the jewelry and looks." The woman was fawning attention on Publicola, and soon after they began watching, she dashed the cups to the floor and began an enthusiastic seduction of the young advocate. Meloch took advantage of the couple's distraction to renew his Invisibility.
Heilyn, meanwhile, whispered to Meloch, "I've done some more divination magic. That toga has some very powerful enchantment magic on it. I'm pretty sure it's the cause of his sudden popularity - on all fronts. We can't let him keep it."
"All right, then, " Meloch said, "We'll try and steal it."
Unfortunately, while the toga had been partially removed in the course of dalliance, the watchers saw Publicola carefully hold onto it and then place it beneath his head, as a pillow, before falling asleep with the courtesan on the couch. Still, they seemed to have gone undetected.
Meloch, very quietly, shot both the girl and Publicola with two of his blowgun sleeping darts, obtained long ago in Britannia. He then cast Invisiblity one last time and crept over the windowsill. There was no stirring in the room.
While Heilyn watched on the sill, ready to cast if necessary, the pygmy crept over to the couch and began trying to ease the toga out from underneath Publicola's head. The courtesan turned and rolled in slumber, startling him, and Meloch pulled a little harder than necessary. And at this moment, Publicola's eyes flew open in confusion and Meloch tried to sleep-dart him again - and missed, at the range of a foot. The young advocate awoke in shock to the sight of a suddenly materializing pygmy, dragging a brilliant white toga over to the windowsill.
"Help! Vigiles! Thieves! Pygmy Witch Thieves!" he shouted, and the courtesan woke up and added her screams to the fray. Meloch dashed to the window, grabbing the toga, and jumped from the second floor, using a combination of magic and the buoyant draperies of the toga itself to lessen his fall. Heilyn, caught by surprise, began climbing down the wall after him, but not before the nude Publicola, carrying an oil lamp, had run to the window and seen him.
"Help! Pygmy and monkey thieves! They've stolen my toga!"
Heilyn jumped onto Meloch's shoulder and they ran for their lives as the tramping of the Vigiles, the City Watchmen, began to enter the street outside the apartment.