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From the diary of Sofia Napea Theophilia, written in private shorthand and mirror-writing in case it should fall into the wrong hands: 3/3 - Uncle took the bulk of the servants ahead this morning, leaving me with a §200 budget to outfit an exploratory trip to the ruins. He also warned me that a Teutonic Knight was on his way, hoping to retrieve a holy relic. I organized Tamara, Decimus, Alfredus, Robyn, and myself into teams to complete the last arrangements. It is an inflexible rule that none of us are to go out alone ever again! I received a presumptuous note from some plebeian, Titus Apius, inviting us to dinner and to "discuss matters of mutual interest." Normally I would have rejected the invitation out of hand, but under the circumstances I did not feel entitled to let my pride interfere with the possibility of gaining solid information on Uncle's foes. The messenger, when questioned, described his master as a rich landlord and employment agent. I replied that a previous engagement prevented our dining with him but that we could spare an hour. I then sent Tamara out to learn what she could. What she discovered distressed me - he is evidently a prestigious master of thugs! According to our little informant, Gaius, he is benevolent as such men go, primarily concerned with keeping order in his district. G actually hopes to be employed by him at some future date, though I hope he may do better. I was tempted to find some employment for him myself, but contented myself with giving him some silver and getting him a proper meal. It may yet be of service to us to have an alert ear friendly to us in Brigantium. Sir Otto, a huge man with a northern accent nearly as outrageous as his name, arrived well before we departed. His manner is a little provincial, but he seems genuinely devoted to the service of Orus, and we have some common acquaintance in Tarantium. I requested that he, along with Robyn, await us outside the Apius villa, to take action should we not emerge after an hour. I trust they would have thought of some effective action had it been necessary. Apius had any number of obvious minions strolling the vicinity, and G had informed us that yelling for the vigiles in Apius's district is a chancy proposition. Judging by his house, the thugmaster profession is a lucrative one, though not one in which refinement of taste is required. He aped the patrician style well enough for his position, I suppose, and was considerate and realistic enough to offer us refreshments which it would be difficult to poison effectively. NB Make sure Alfredus clears his behavioral codes with me before we go visiting again. It was embarrassing to hear him loudly spitting out olive pits behind me. He explained that he did it, not because he didn't know how to behave in proper society, but to show that he knew he was not in proper society, a bit of bravado which I can understand but do not regard as wise under the circumstances. We performed a certain amount of verbal fencing. It appears that his concern is that the attacks made on us in his area were not cleared with him first. We gave him the same information re: Rurik, Faginus, etc., that we had given the vigiles. I could not tell whether he already had this information; nor could I extract any solid information from him. Perhaps if I understood the way such creatures' minds work, I would find he had said more than I thought he had. He asked us about the four irreligious young men who assaulted us at Rurik's behest, and I assured him that they were quite well unless the ship had gone down. This did seem to surprise him, but I pointed out that they had attacked a senator's daughter, and a lady of the cloth to boot, and could hardly have expected a better result. When he asked if we knew anything about the halfling cook who disappeared from that disgraceful establishment * I was dreadfully offended; but, since he seems to have fingers in pies all over town, I repeated a rumor, one I could not confirm, that Rurik and a halfling had been seen in consultation with the confidential servant of a certain senator. At this he seemed satisfied, and dismissed us rather pre-emptorially. This leaves a bad taste in my mouth; but after all, we emerged well before the time limit with no harm done, and if he does not understand the respect due to a senator's niece, he is all the less likely to be intimidated by another senator's servants. If I ever again receive such an invitation, which Orus forbid, I shall delegate the visit. *The Whore's Delight. Sofia can barely bring herself to think the name of this place. 3/4 - G informed me this morning that Rurik was dragged away from his regular table at that disgraceful establishment and beaten soundly last night. I was shocked and saddened to hear this, of course, and I made sure G got an excellent breakfast down in the kitchen to celebrate. Sir O and Alfredus are going to fetch Sir O a horse, the rest of us have our last-minute errands, and in the absence of any further interruptions we should be able to leave at noonday. Later - All according to schedule. The only thing that caused me anxiety all day was the proximity of Primus Felinus (Top Cat, Decimus's familiar) to my Scipio. However, Primus is not a stupid animal, and Scipio told him "Hail Caesar! Amen!" in no uncertain terms, and they seem to have reached a state of mutual respect. Tonight's hostelry is clean and our rooms have no obvious means of illegitimate egress. The fields are newly planted, the spring sun is shining, there are wildflowers in the ditches, and I begin to be glad to be in the country. 3/7 - I suppose too much peace was not to be anticipated! About midmorning, when Decimus was reprimanding Primus for some intemperate behavior and I was looking out the window to keep from laughing, a well-armored ruffian stepped into the road and motioned us to stop. In the absence of any insignia indicating that he had a right to require such a thing, Sir Otto, who was leading our little caravan, rode him down. Seeing deadly-looking archers appear from the fields on either side of the road, I took the precaution of blessing our party. The skirmish was a distressing and bloody one, but mercifully short. I did not see much of it myself. Early on, some mean-spirited archer shot and wounded one of our horses, and a young wizard, or perhaps sorcerer, appeared from nowhere to cast Tamara and our driver into sleep. I understand Tamara got off an excellent shot with her crossbow before sliding gracefully off of her horse in a dead sleep, that Alfredus was perfectly terrifying, running down our attackers and cleaving them in two, and that Robyn calmly defended us with his bow. For myself, I was largely distracted by the horses running away with the carriage. Sir Otto was gravely wounded and then fell under our carriage wheels, a fact which caused me greatly to fear for his life. Decimus had bravely climbed onto the box to wake the coachman and bring the horses under control, but in order to reach Sir Otto in time to save him I was obliged to leap out before he had succeeded. I have now fired my crossbow in anger twice, for all the good that it did. It is much better that I should leave combat to those who understand it. My energies are much better employed after the fighting is over. Sir Otto is much better and rode part of the afternoon, finding it crowded in the carriage with the prisoners and myself. Alfredus and Robyn both stood in need of healing. I must make more scrolls when we reach the Villa - I hope Uncle has laid in enough supplies! And we were able to save the spellcaster and one of the archers for questioning, though they are at this moment still unconscious. We gathered up the corpses of the remaining archers - two, alas, escaped; it would be much better if those who send their minions against Uncle were left wondering what had become of them - and carried them to the next hostelry to be decently disposed of. The publicans seemed a bit shocked at the sight of them, but forbore to question us too closely, as is only right, since we clearly identified ourselves as being part of Uncle's household. None of the bandits had anything that would identify their purpose. The caster had one slightly tarnished magical ring with a red stone on it. I thought at first that it might be an invisibility ring, since he had appeared from nowhere, but Decimus pointed out that the dweomer was of transmutation magic, which might mean it was a teleportation ring. He is carrying it on his person for Uncle to examine. 3/8 - I brought the spellcaster around this morning and made him as comfortable as possible. The sight of all of us clustered around his cot seemed to distress him, and he appeared braced for who knows what hideous tortures, but I explained to him how good we can be to people who answer our questions in an honest, straightforward manner. It does my heart good to see how well even professional criminals respond to a little kindness. The ring is indeed a teleportation device, and would have taken him directly back to his employer, so it is a good thing Decimus stopped me from trying it out. He is not a regular servant of his employer, who recruited the group from Brigantium and a couple of other cities and teleported them in batches to the cave where they lay in wait for us. The employer is definitely not Senator V - a thin, sharp-featured, Tarantine, but without a patrician accent, who can cast teleport at least twice a day, in addition to owning the ring. We have decided not to trouble the local authorities with this incident, but to leave the entire disposition up to Uncle. 3/9 - The archer confirms the wizard's story. We are passing relatively comfortable days in the carriage, where I read to them from relevant portions of the holy scripts and discuss where and how they would like to live if Uncle chooses that fate for them. They have no families, I am happy to say. Sir Otto, though feeling much better, rides with us for part of the day. He is one of these evangelicals and I think his rather forceful mode of expression tires them; but enthusiasm is a fine thing to see, and hearing Scipio punctuate his discourse with delighted "Amens" is most amusing. Sir Otto is seeking the Skull of St. Vibius. The elders of his order have been seeing visions that it needs to be rescued from Uncle's heathen ruins. He speaks a great deal more of the foul heathen influences that can be expected to hang about there than Uncle did, but then Uncle is primarily interested in the treasure-trove of knowledge. We shall see what it is like when we get there. Uncle has as good as promised that I will be one of the first to explore parts of it. 3/10 - Villa Simpronius at last! I cannot get over all the wonderful smells - gardens everywhere, not one tannery, and the stables well downwind. Mostly unpacked. Very tired. Found a good secure space for Scipio. Uncle satisfied with our report of the trip and TA's visit, and relieved Decimus of the ring, to his relief. He'll decide what to do with the prisoners in the morning. Prayers first, then a bath.
Last Updated:
Saturday, 26-Apr-2003 21:26:31 CDT
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