RomanQuest (14 page)

133

 

“Wrong!” exclaims Caligula delightedly. He looks thoughtfully into the middle distance. “Boiled in oil, I think.”

 

After which painful experience, you can make your way to
13
.

 

Please select an option from the previous page.

134

 

“What are you running for?” screams Caligula. “Stop that young person at once!”

At which point everybody in the Royal Box falls upon you with their swords.

 

One way of stopping you, I suppose. Go to
13
.

 

Please select an option from the previous page.

135

 

A huge man with a chest like a pigeon strides up to you. “You're late!” he barks.

You blink. “Late? But I'm only here to see if I can find the Sib -”

“No excuses!” barks the man through a menacing 5 o'clock shadow. “Can't make excuses when you're in the arena! Come with me.”

“Hey, wait a minute-” you protest as he grabs your arm, but his fingers close like a vise and he drags you into the building you have come to investigate.

Inside in a huge chamber, empty of all furnishings except weapons racks around the walls, teams of men are hacking at each other with swords, stabbing at each other with spears and tridents, trying to net each other, lasso each other, trip each other and generally do each other a great deal of damage.

“Ecce hic est!”
roars the huge man.

“Look who's here,” translates the Mercury Phone, perhaps a little freely.

The fighting men stop fighting at once and turn in your direction.

“It's our new recruit!” exclaims the huge man. “Our newest little lamb to the slaughter, eh?”

There is a roar of coarse laughter.

“Orl right,” goes on the huge man, “who's going to help me with the training?”

A villainous-looking brute with close-cropped hair and a squint steps forward. “I will, Marcus,” he grins.

Marcus turns to you and grins in his turn. “Welcome to Gladiator School,” he says.

 

This clown has obviously mistaken you for somebody else. The question is, do you tell him so and slip away quietly to
150
to select another destination. Or do you risk standing your ground at
103
in the hope that a little gladiator training might come in useful if it doesn't kill you?

 

Please select an option from the previous page.

136

 

“Hup
duo tres
... Hup
duo tres!”

“Hup two three ... Hup two three!” your Mercury Phone wakes up suddenly and translates.

But the last thing you need is a translation. The character bouncing towards you is like every gym teacher you've ever known - beefy, hearty, thick and suffering from far too much energy.

“Get moving!” he calls to you encouragingly while jogging on the spot. “Vigorous exercise is what you need! Get the circulation moving. Get the pores open. Get the heart pumping. Get the brain active.”

“Didn't do much for yours,” you mutter under your breath. But you do a few quick arm bends to keep him happy before taking a quick glance at your Brief Guide to find out what's going on.

The entry under Roman Baths solves the mystery. There was usually a room devoted to vigorous exercise just before you entered the baths themselves and this seems to be it.

“Hup
duo tres
... Hup
duo tres!”
the idiot in charge chants like a looped tape.

 

Before you fall over from exhaustion, I'd better tell you the southern door from this place is labelled
CXXXI
while the door to the west is marked
CXXXXI
.

 

Please select an option from the previous page.

137

 

“Wrong!” exclaims Caligula delightedly. He looks thoughtfully into the middle distance. “Forced to eat yourself alive from the toes up, I think.”

 

After which painful experience, you can make your way to
13
.

 

Please select an option from the previous page.

138

 

The building is open to the public although few enough people have entered. The sign above the door reads:

ARA PACIS

“The Altar of Peace,” whispers your Mercury Phone.

It's obviously something to do with the Emperor Augustus since the altar itself, which takes up much of the interior, is covered in reliefs showing aspects of the new age brought in by Augustus's reign. You can see depictions of a sacrificial procession and others of individual members of the Imperial Family.

As you turn to leave, a hawker grips your arm. “Today's special offer!” he exclaims. “A ticket to the Theatre of Pompey!”

You turn on him angrily, “How dare you disturb the peace of this beautiful place!” you snap. “Your sort shouldn't be allowed in here!”

“The ticket's free,” he tells you. “No purchase necessary.”

“Oh, all right then!” You snatch the ticket before he changes his mind.

 

And make your way back to the tourist map at
25
to select another destination.

 

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139

 

“Wrong!” exclaims Caligula delightedly. He looks thoughtfully into the middle distance. “Trampled by elephants, I think.”

 

After which painful experience, you can make your way to
13
.

 

Please select an option from the previous page.

140

 

“Perhaps I will, perhaps I won't,” you tell her cautiously. “I'd need to know who you are and how you want me to help you.”

“I'm the sibyl -” the wild-eyed woman tells you wildly.

“Hi, Sibyl,” you nod politely.

“No, no, I'm not Sibyl - I'm the sibyl. My name's actually Antonia, but you don't have to worry about that now.”

“You're ... the sibyl,” you say uncertainly. “You mean like that loony prophetess they had back in Ancient Rome?”

She shakes her head. “No, not like that loony prophetess they had in Ancient Rome. I actually am that loony prophetess they had in Ancient Rome. Or one of them anyway.”

This old girl is definitely a nutter's nutter. You decide to humour her. “If you're a sibyl in Ancient Rome, what are you doing here?”

“I've come to your century to find someone.”

“You mean like a lost relative?”

“I mean like a hero prepared to take on impossible odds, happy to face unimaginable danger, delighted to stare down death, a hero who laughs in the face of terror, strong enough to overcome the most fearsome monster the world has ever known, brave enough to -”

 

Boy, is she ever in the wrong shop! If you want to give her the bum's rush (politely) you can do so at
80
. As against that, if you've nothing better to do, you can ask her a few pointed questions at
50
.

 

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141

 

“Hello?” you call. “Anybody here?”

The chamber is like a Turkish bath. There's so much steam you can't see from one end of the room to the other. In the public baths you would normally move from the exercise court to the calidarium or hot room then on to the sudatorium, or steam room to be scraped with a thing called a strigil to get rid of the sweat. But here the calidarium and sudatorium seem to be combined, probably to save space.

You have a look round to see if the steam is generated the same way as in a sauna by pouring water over heated rocks, but discover it's coming up from under the floor through some sort of sophisticated piping system.

Phew, it's hot in here!

 

Maybe you'd better move before you melt. There are two doors in the eastern wall. The northernmost is marked
CLIX
, the southernmost
CXXXVI
.

 

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142

 

The man looks at the ticket, looks back at you and scowls.

“This is a forgery,” he says, raising his club.

 

Looks like you've been conned. Grind your teeth, release a little smoke from your ears, then get back to your map at
25
and select another destination.

 

Please select an option from the previous page.

143

 

There's a large, bustling crowd around this gate out of the city. For a moment you think you've stumbled into a market - possibly even a slave market - but what you're seeing doesn't quite fit.

As you move towards the high arch, a burly man calls out, “Hey, you - yes, you with the funny-looking clothes. You look like a willing young person. Want a job?”

“Job?” you echo, frowning. “Why would I want a job?”

The man sniffs. “Well, you've come to the Hiring Gate, haven't you? This is where everybody comes in Pompey when they're looking for employment. Now come on, what do you say? It's light work and I pay a full sestertius a week.”

“No thank you,” you call and turn towards freedom through the gate.

Another man with close-cropped hair steps into your path, his hand on his sword. “Just a minute you,” he says sourly, “how do we know you're not an escaped slave?”

 

You really don't have time for this with the volcano about to erupt at any second. But you have three choices. You can take your chances that Vesuvius doesn't blow and stand around arguing with these louts at
93
. You can mount a surprise attack and fight your way through the gate at
111
. Or you can turn back to
150
and pick another destination from your map.

 

Please select an option from the previous page.

144

 

“Wrong!” exclaims Caligula delightedly. He looks thoughtfully into the middle distance. “Minced up and fed to lions, I think.”

 

After which painful experience, you can make your way to
13
.

 

Please select an option from the previous page.

145

 

You are definitely in the wrong place here. One glance tells you you've arrived at the Praetorian Camp, the barracks of the elite guard pledged to protect Caligula with their lives. The last thing you need is to get involved with these boys.

 

So why are you standing there staring. Get out your tourist map at
25
and select another destination, preferably one as far away from this place as possible.

 

Please select an option from the previous page.

146

 

“Dagger?” you echo. “What dagger?”

“You haven't brought the dagger?” Cassius screams in rage and frustration as he signals one of his men to teach you a much-needed lesson.

 

The Praetorian has 50 Life Points and a +5 sword. If you survive the encounter, you can stagger off to your map at
25
and select another destination. If you don't, you can only stagger off to
13
.

 

Please select an option from the previous page.

147

 

The door swings open and to your profound embarrassment you find yourself staring at a little man sitting on a lavatory.

“Can't you read?” he demands angrily. “I hung up a KEEP OUT notice.”

“I'm sorry,” you stammer, backing out. “I'm a stranger here myself. Not familiar with the language. Please forgive -”

“If you're not familiar with the language, why don't you get yourself a Mercury Phone?” he snaps. “They're so simple even a Greek could use one.”

“Yes, I'll do that. Thank you. So sorry to disturb you while you're - so sorry to disturb you. I'll just be going now. Sorry.”

As you start to close the door, the little man says, “Wouldn't happen to have a little Venus statue about your person, would you? I need one for my collection. I can trade you an Emperor's Pass if you have.”

 

If you happen to be carrying a Venus statue, you can swap it for an Emperor's Pass and the little man will be so grateful he'll show you a short cut to
LXXIX
. If you haven't, sheer politeness would dictate you return at once to
CXVIII
and stay there until you win one after which you can come back here and make the trade.

 

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148

 

“Just try to stop me going where I want to go, you sad-faced old scumbag!” you shout angrily. “I'll have you know I'm a friend of the Sibyl.”

“Then she should have predicted you're about to come to a sticky end,” says the sad-faced man gloomily, drawing his sword.

 

The sad-faced man has 50 Life Points and his sword is sharp enough to hack bits out of you at +5. If he hacks enough to kill you, go to
13
. If you get the better of him, step over the body and head for
132
.

 

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