RomanQuest (12 page)

114

 

“Wrong!” exclaims Caligula delightedly. He looks thoughtfully into the middle distance. “First I'll have you skinned, then strangled, hanged, beheaded, baked, ground up then sprinkled on the sacred flame of Jupiter's Temple, I think.”

 

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

 

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115

 

This is a temple, but it's like no Roman temple you've ever seen. Above the doorway is the single word:

ISEVM

“Temple of Isis,” your Mercury Phone translates respectfully.

You step through into an interior that's not only redolent with strange incense, but decorated throughout in Egyptian style. Beyond the altar is a larger than life-size statue of a beautiful woman wearing an ornate horned head-dress. Obviously the Romans must have taken over this Egyptian goddess the way they took over so many of the gods of Ancient Greece.

“What do those inscriptions mean?” you ask quietly as your eyes are drawn to some painted hieroglyphs.

 

 

“What am I - a tour guide?” hisses the Mercury Phone. “If you want to read hieroglyphs, go buy yourself a copy of the Egypt Quest gamebook and adventure your way through that!”

 

Good advice, if you haven't tried that adventure already. But for the moment you'd better get back to
150
and select another destination.

 

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116

 

For a moment it seems you've stepped outside of time. The crowd freezes. All sound stops. Caligula's eyes widen.

Then the moment passes and you can hear Caligula shouting. “That's the creature who tried to assassinate me! Get him! Get him now!!!”

You find yourself gripped by strong hands which drag you to the edge of the Imperial Box and fling you down into the arena where you are promptly eaten by a lion.

 

Which, fortunately, will regurgitate you a little messily at
13
.

 

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117

 

“Well done!” exclaims the young man as you emerge, having nipped round the side to avoid having to go through the maze. “This means you get to keep the amethyst and since you've passed your Ordeal and are now an Initiate, I have a few goodies for you.”

With which he presents you with a box containing a sheepskin apron, an embroidered sash and a bottle of some evil-smelling herbal liquid.

He glances around furtively. “Don't mention this to anybody, but now you're an Initiate you get to make three calls to 96 where you could be lucky enough to get help in an emergency.”

 

That's good news. If and when you do decide to pay a call to
96
, don't forget to make a note of the section number you're leaving so you can get back safely afterwards. The other good news is that foul smelling liquid is actually very good for you since a swig will restore a double dice roll of Life Points up to your natural maximum. Roll one die now and add four to discover how many swigs are in the bottle. Now put on your apron and your sash and parade secretly to
150
to select another destination.

 

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118

 

Oops, you've just walked into a group of soldiers playing dice. They look up as you enter.

“Who are you?” one asks.

“What do you think you're doing here?” asks another.

“Did anybody ask you to wander around the boss's house?” demands a third.

“Why are you wearing funny clothes?” frowns a fourth.

“Nobody, nothing, no and they're the only ones I've got,” you tell them quickly. “Well, I'll just be going now.”

The largest of them climbs to his feet. “No you won't,” he says. “I'm feeling bored so I'm going to insist you join us in a game of dice. We're playing Jactus.”

“I don't know how to play Jactus,” you tell him quickly.

He grips your arm so tightly that you'd have to rip it off in order to get free. He smiles at you and breathes a cloud of garlic in your face. “Easy peasy,” he says.

“I'm sure it is, but the fact remains I'm unskilled in this game so it's going to be no sport for you if I play, no sport at all, so why don't you just let me -”

“Sit down!” growls the soldier.

You sit down.

“Now Jactus, as I said, is very simple,” the soldier tells you. “There are five of us, including you. My name's Quintus, this is Sextus, that's Septimus and the bald-headed one is Eric. Don't tell me your name, we don't want to know. Now, we sit round in a circle like this ...” He signals and everyone moves into place.

 

 

“Now,” says Quintus, “everybody throws one die to begin with to find out who'll go first. Highest score wins and if there's a draw, the people concerned throw again. Let's do that now ...”

Throw one die for yourself, then for Quintus, Sextus, Septimus and Eric. Highest score goes first in the game. The others follow in clockwise order round the circle.

“Once we've settled that,” Quintus grins evilly, “the fun starts. Everybody puts one gold piece in the middle -”

“I haven't got any gold pieces,” you tell them hurriedly, “so I'll just leave you to your game and -”

“We'll accept a Life Point in lieu of each gold piece you owe,” Sextus puts in.

“What??”

“I said we'll accept one of your Life Points in lieu of your stake. For every round the game lasts, each of us puts in a gold piece, but you get one Life Point hacked out of your arm, your leg, your bum or wherever's convenient.”

You stare at him appalled, “But what happens if the game lasts so long it kills me?”

“Then you go to XIII!” Eric says and everybody laughs.

“But it probably won't come to that,” Septimus tells you kindly, “because you'll probably win a bit of gold for yourself as the game goes along.”

“Unless you're very unlucky,” grins Eric.

“Right,” Quintus puts in briskly. “Each of us takes turns to throw the dice. You throw both dice twice, then one die once - five throws in your turn altogether. The object of the game is to throw a Jactus Venerius , which is five fives. First player to throw that gets all the money in the pot and this little statuette of Venus -” He shows you a rather neat little ceramic figure. “ - which finishes the game so we can all go home.”

“And that's it?” you ask. Jactus really is simple.

“Nearly,” Quintus tells you. “Any player who throws five ones can claim a single coin from the pot. Any player who throws five of any other number - five two, five threes, five fours, five sixes - can claim two coins from the pot provided he barks like a dog because this move is known as the Jactus Canicula, the Little Dog's Throw. For every round of play, each of us donates one coin to the pot and you donate one Life Point. Clear?”

You nod dumbly. “Clear,” you echo grumly.

 

Well, this could turn into a bit of a mess and no mistake. As against that, of course, it's a chance for you to earn a bit of gold. Play the game through, either with friends taking the parts of Quintus, Sextus, Septimus and Eric, or rolling the dice for them yourself. If the loss of Life Points kills you at any time, go to
XIII
. If you survive, take whatever winnings you've accumulated and disappear swiftly through the eastern door to
LXXIX
or the northern door to
CXXXI
.

 

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119

 

“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.

120

 

That's it! That's the name you've been trying to remember! Caligula!!!

“Caligula? You want me to do something about Caligula?” you gasp in astonishment. The Roman Emperors were a fairly loony bunch, but Caligula was a nutter's nutter. He had folks killed the way some people pick their teeth. Nobody was safe. Get within sight of him and he might take a notion to feed you to the lions for no reason at all.

“He is a very evil man. Something needs to be done about him.”

“Was a very evil man,” you correct her. “He's been dead nearly two thousand years. Nothing to do with anybody now.”

“That's where you're wrong,” says the wild-eyed woman earnestly. “Caligula set standards of government that have been an inspiration for politicians ever since. Why do you think the world's in such a mess?”

“Hadn't noticed,” you tell her.

“Take my word for it,” she says. “Your world as well as mine will be a better place if you do something about Caligula.”

“What do you want me to do?” you ask. “Kill him?”

The sibyl gives a little laugh. “Good heavens no - that would make you no better than he was. I want you to go back in time before his birth and stop his parents ever meeting. There's a particular point when you can manage that quite easily. If his parents don't meet, he never gets born. It's as simple as that.”

She fixes you with a gimlet eye. “But we've stood here talking long enough. Will you do it?”

 

Last chance to back out (politely) at
80
. But if you really want to go ahead with this nonsense, you can take your chances at
20
.

 

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121

 

“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.

122

 

Why this was marked on your map is a mystery. These buildings are Rome's main grain stores, locked and guarded twenty four hours a day. There's no way you can get in even if you wanted to - and why would you want to just to stare at a load of grain?

 

Return muttering to yourself to the tourist map at
25
and select another destination.

 

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123

 

“Look,” you tell the guard patiently, “I just want a quick look inside in case the Sibyl happens to be hiding in there.”

“Sacre bleu!”
he exclaims and hurls himself upon you.

“Sacred blue?” muses the Mercury phone in your ear. “Did the Gaul say ‘sacred blue'? What a meaningless turn of phrase - no wonder we conquered them so easily.”

 

But you have no time for these philosophical and linguistic musings. Having lost your chance of a first strike you've got a difficult fight on your hands whatever Mercury might think. The guard has 60 Life Points. His sword strikes at +5 and his breast-plate will deduct 5 points from every damage blow scored against him. If he happens to throw a seven at any time during combat, he will invoke the name of the Gaulish hero Asterix and automatically score double damage with that blow. Should you be killed in this fight, go to
13
. Should you survive, you may enter the shuttered villa at
82
.

 

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