RomanQuest (6 page)

42

 

Roll one die.

Score 1 or 2 and go to
67
.

Score 3 or 4 and go to
89
.

Score 5 or 6 and go to
107
.

 

Please select an option from the previous page.

43

 

This is a family room by the looks of it, although nobody is about at the moment. It's nicely furnished - several couches since Romans prefer to recline rather than sit and a few heavily carved wooden chairs. There's a table with two beautiful Grecian vases and some delicately made glassware that may have come from the Rhine.

What gets to you is how modern everything seems. This is partly due to the fact that most of it looks new, but it's also due to the fact that all of it looks sophisticated. You sort of imagine that if you go back in time for a couple of thousand years everything around you would be a little bit primitive, but there's none of that feel here.

 

Before you form yourself into an Ancient Roman Appreciation Society, try to remember you have a monster to stop. The only way out of this room is the door in the northern wall to
XXII
.

 

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44

 

“You'll never take me alive!” you yell, dropping into your best karate killer stance.

“We'll see about that,” grins the soldier who approached you first.

 

That soldier is equipped with 30 Life Points and a +3 sword. His companion has 35 Life Points and a +2 dagger. Behind them a few hundred more guards are moving forward to enjoy the fight, so whichever way it goes you've no chance of getting into the Imperial Palace. If the guards kill you, go to
13
. If you miraculously manage to kill them, their companions will let you limp off to
25
to select another destination from your map.

 

Please select an option from the previous page.

45

 

Hey, this is all right! If you weren't in such a hurry to get out of Pompeii, you might quite like to stay here for a while. It's a vast open square area, surrounded by walls and now you've stepped through the gate you can see there's a columned portico around three sides and a swimming pool in the centre. There are even stone platforms for diving.

The place is jam-packed with young people, running, wrestling, swimming or just lounging underneath the two rows of shady plane trees. You've obviously stumbled into the city gymnasium.

At any other time you might have stayed to join in the fun, but with Vesuvius always in the back of your mind and no sign of the Sibyl here, you turn to go. But as you do so, a hand falls on your arm.

You find yourself looking into the brown eyes of a pretty young woman. “Are you feeling all right?” she asks.

“Yes, thank you,” you say stoically since you're not one to complain even if you're dying.

“It's just that we have a first aid section here, so if you are injured or unwell, you just need to pop in and ask for Pierus Celadus - he's our doctor. I mention this because you look like a stranger to Pompeii and you may not know the ropes.”

 

Well, that's a useful bit of information and no mistake. If you're feeling low of Life Points now or later, you can pop along here, ask for Dr Pierus and be certain that you'll get a double dice roll of Life Points restored. Only one treatment per visit, though, since he's a very busy man. Now, make a note of the section number for future use, then return to your map at
150
and pick another destination.

 

Please select an option from the previous page.

46

 

“That's right,” you tell him cheerfully. “That's me. That's who I am.” You look him sincerely in the eye and add, “Master.”

“Well, let me tell you something,” he says severely. “I like to sleep late, so don't be poking your nose in here again until I call you. Got that?”

“Yes, sir. Definitely, sir. Sorry, sir. Shall I go now, sir?”

The bald-headed man pulls the covers over his bald head and mutters, “Yes.” You can hear him begin to snore almost immediately.

 

So what are you waiting for? There's a door in the east wall of this room marked
VIII
and a door in the west wall marked
XXII
.

 

Please select an option from the previous page.

47

 

One thing about the Romans: they knew the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Every road and street you've come across so far runs dead straight and this one is no exception. You stride along it, absently munching a bright red spotted mushroom one of the roadside vendors pressed on you as a sample, until you reach the most famous example of Roman architecture ever, the massive structure of the Coliseum.

You stare up at the building in wonder. This was the very first free-standing arena the Romans ever made. All the earlier ones were dug into hillsides for extra support. But this is a towering example of what could be achieved with stone and concrete. An oval building some 190 m long by 155 m wide, it could hold ... it could hold ...

Swiftly you check your Brief Guide to Ancient Rome.

... it could hold 50,000 spectators at the games to end all -

Wait a minute! Something's badly wrong here! According to the Guide, they didn't even start to build the Coliseum until the reign of Vespasian, who wasn't made Emperor until 69 a.d., some twenty eight years from now. And it didn't actually get going as a show ground until the reign of Titus ten years later when it was opened with a hundred days of games. This can't be the Colis -

The great building begins to waver before your very eyes. It transforms itself into a Day-glo orange frog, then a purple kangaroo that hops off in the direction of the Servian Wall.

It's the mushroom! Those red spots should have warned you. It must be psychedelic. You've hallucinated the whole thing!

 

Find the nearest vomitorium to get rid of the rest of the mushroom, then get back to your map at
25
to select another destination.

 

Please select an option from the previous page.

48

 

Well, you could sit out here of an evening drinking your watered wine, inhaling the fragrance of the night-scented stock and admiring your olive trees. This shady portico overlooks extensive and extremely well-kept gardens, sweeping away to a surrounding vineyard. The whole place is so green it must be supported by a comprehensive irrigation system and so extensive it's difficult to believe you're somewhere in the middle of Rome.

You inhale deeply, enjoying the scents and the slanting sunshine.

 

Sorry to be the one to spoil this little idyll, but you've got better things to do than smell the flowers. There's a door to the north to
XXXVI
and another to the south to
CXIII
. Take one of them.

 

Please select an option from the previous page.

49

 

“Wrong!” exclaims Caligula delightedly. He looks thoughtfully into the middle distance. “Roasted alive, I think.”

 

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

 

Please select an option from the previous page.

50

 

“How did you get here?” you ask.

“We're very well in with the gods,” the wild-eyed woman tells you. “I got Jupiter to pull a few strings.”

“The planet?”

“The Greek God Father. Used to be Managing Director on Mount Olympus before he changed his name from Zeus and moved to Rome. They called the planet after him.”

You stare at her thoughtfully. She looks bats and she sounds bats, but there's something about her that's starting to get under your skin. “Look here,” you say, “supposing I believe you, which I don't, and agreed to help you, which I won't, what is it exactly that you want me to do?”

“I want you to do something about Gaius Caesar Germanicus.”

“You want me to do something about some old Roman?”

She nods enthusiastically.

“Back in your time?”

She nods enthusiastically again.

“How do I get back there - then?”

“Jupiter will arrange it.”

“How do I get back here - now?”

“Jupiter will arrange that too.”

You shake your head. “Naw, it would never work. I can't even speak the language.”

“I could talk to Mercury about that,” says the woman promptly. “He's god of communication among other things. I expect he could arrange a simultaneous translation for you, or something of that sort.”

First Jupiter, now Mercury and apart from that there's something vaguely familiar about the name Gaius Caesar Germanicus, as if this was someone you should know about, maybe called something else ...

You stand frowning as the more familiar name of Gaius edges towards the tip of your tongue ...

She leans forward until her mad nose is only inches from your own. “Well, what do you say?”

 

Well, what do you say? Do you continue to humour her by agreeing at
120
. Or decline politely at
80
. Probably won't make any difference since her story can't be true anyway, but is there a case for finding out more about this Gaius Caesar Germanicus character at
30
before you make up your mind?

 

Please select an option from the previous page.

51

 

The Circus Maximus turns out to be a massive U-shaped structure with seats on three sides and a low wall running down the middle of the arena. As you find yourself a seat, you can see a line-up of chariots at the starting point, harness rattling as they wait impatiently for the signal to begin the race.

“You for the Blues or the Greens?” asks a wild-eyed red-haired man who looks as if he's wired to the far side of the moon.

“Hunh?” you ask intelligently.

“Which will you bet on - the Blues or the Greens?” He nods towards the waiting chariots.

You notice suddenly that each chariot sports a colour and they are indeed divided into Blues and Greens. There must be two opposing factions in these races. “I'm not much of a gambler,” you tell him, conveniently forgetting how often you've gambled with your life since you embarked on this adventure.

“I'd stake anything,” he tells you. “Tell you what. I'll bet you a tour of the Imperial Palace against all the money you have in your pocket that the Greens will win the next race. I'm a Green man myself.”

“You can get me into the Imperial Palace?” you ask warily.

“My uncle's Captain of the Guard,” he tells you. “What do you say?”

“What happens if I've no money in my pocket?” you ask.

He grins broadly. “That makes it an even more interesting gamble. Come on - they're about to start!”

“You're on!” you tell him.

There is a sudden roar from the crowd as the chariots burst from the starting line to race around the low wall in the middle of the arena.

 

Roll two dice. Score 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 and the Greens win, in which case turn to
7
. Score 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 or 12 and the Blues win, in which case turn to
94
.

 

Please select an option from the previous page.

52

 

“Right!” exclaims Caligula delightedly. He grins wickedly. “Not kidding this time. Now, your next question in the Quiz of Death is this: Who is next in line to be Emperor after me, assuming I ever decide to die, that is? Is it Claudius? Is it Germanicus. Or is it Nero?”

 

If you think it's Claudius, turn to
157
. If you think it's Germanicus, turn to
144
. If you think it's Nero, turn to
121
.

 

Please select an option from the previous page.

53

 

There is a strong smell of horse manure as you approach this gate and you can see from the wide opening that it was probably designed for mounted traffic, along with carriages and chariots.

Briefly you wonder if there is any chance you might hire a horse since it would certainly carry you away from the doomed city faster than you could travel on foot. But there does not seem to be anyone about at the moment and you don't want to hang around when Vesuvius could erupt at any moment. With a huge feeling of relief you skip through the gate and onto the road out of town.

You've escaped! You're out of Pompeii before the fateful eruption! Now all you have to do is get far enough away to make sure you're safe when the volcano actually blows.

You're still skipping gaily down the road when there is a terrifying roar as the peak of Vesuvius splits open and a black pine-shaped cloud erupts from the volcano showering massive red-hot cinders and great globules of molten lava.

“Arrrgh!” you howl as a great globule of molten lava lands directly on your head, burning off most of your face and eating its way through the bone of your skull.

 

After which it becomes quite difficult for you to continue your adventure. Go to
13
.

 

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