"Great. First thing I need is to arrange the continuation of my Latin language lessons." I tell him where I'm staying so he can arrange to get my stuff.
Future Roma, Graeme's Game Continues
(280 posts) (4 voices)-
"If you are comfortable where you are, we can arrange transportation by car and transmat to the base; if you would rather be closer to the project, we can arrange quarters for you there. What is this about instruction in Latin?"
--M. J. Young
Thu Jan 31 2008 5:12 am # -
Blue Canary
Member"I'm comfortable where I am, thank you. I take Latin lessons every other day for a half-day. Since I am not from your world I am using artificial means to communicate with you and it is proving to be somewhat unreliable. When can I expect my driver to show up?"
Thu Jan 31 2008 10:59 pm # -
"I am here to serve you. If you wish to go now, we can go now; if you wish to go after lunch, we can do that; if you wish to go tomorrow, that will be arranged. I will have to schedule you for transmat, but you have senate priority so others will be bumped for you. It would be better, though, if we give them more notice, that is, if we let them schedule for us instead of waving our priority every time."
--M. J. Young
Fri Feb 1 2008 4:41 am # -
The servant agrees with your plan, and gives some instructions before leaving with you.
His first question is where you would like to eat.
His second question is, if for some reason you suddenly lose the ability to speak Latin, what should he do?
--M. J. Young
Sat Feb 2 2008 4:08 am # -
Blue Canary
MemberFor lunch, I describe the cafe where I made it rain on my first day in Rome.
"If I lose the ability to speak Latin, you should:
1. not panic,
2. speak to me in English or French."I will contact the language teacher and do my regular stuff until going to the base. I will make sure to have a couple of language potions on my person at all times.
Mon Feb 18 2008 5:56 pm # -
He has heard of French, the barbaric language once spoken in Gaul; he has never heard of English. He does not know any French, but believes there are some about who still speak it. At least, he says, he'll know who to seek if there is a communications failure.
He knows a few cafes that fit the description you give, but with a couple of questions manages to narrow it down to two, and guesses correctly the right one. Did you have any particular reason for preferring this location?
--M. J. Young
Tue Feb 19 2008 5:08 am # -
The cafe is crowded, but you do not see anyone you know today. It was later in the day the last time you were here, and less busy. However, the food here is good, and you have help navigating the choices, so you eat well.
Then he asks who teaches you and where you take your lessons, so you can go meet with the instructor and make arrangements for the next one.
--M. J. Young
Thu Mar 6 2008 2:37 am # -
The translator is able to meet with you tomorrow around the fourth hour, which by now you would recognize as roughly ten in the morning. That will have you free in time to catch an early lunch and transmat over to the lab around noon.
What else do you need or intend to do today?
--M. J. Young
Fri Mar 7 2008 2:48 am # -
They still have Heph in isolation, being quite unsure about what might be "wrong" with her and unwilling to allow the other animals to be exposed. One of the keepers notices you, and asks whether it's all right with you if they do some testing, to figure out why she's so deformed.
She is quite a bit smaller and much different in shape from the African elephants in the zoo.
Their holinesses are pleased to have helped, and wish you the best in your efforts in the future.
His Swiftness questions you. "There was talk of something called a Scriff Disintegrator. I had the impression that it was not what you expected, but that you had an idea what that was. I've never heard of any such thing. I realize that it is probably some top secret military device, but clearly you knew something of it without having breached their secrets. Can you explain it to me?"
--M. J. Young
Thu Mar 13 2008 4:27 am # -
Blue Canary
MemberTo the keeper:
"I assure you that she is quite healthy. I would prefer if you did not stress her without reason. If you must reassure yourself that she is not contagious, then by all means, but nothing invasive."
I will then ask my guide to make sure that Rome pays for Heph's comfortable upkeep and have him prove that Heph and I are in the government's care and to carry out my requests.To His Swiftness:
"I wish that I could explain it to you. Apparently scriff is some kind of state secret but all I really know is that I am infected by scriff and it is this that causes me to travel through dimensions. That's all I know and even if I did, I promised I wouldn't reveal any secret information. We will be in touch."I'm ready to go to the war machine.
Fri Mar 14 2008 12:03 am # -
Are you going to define what you mean by "invasive", or let them define it according to their own notions?
His Swiftness thanks you for the explanation.
You've had your Latin lesson for the day, and are now at the transmat terminal. It is a private terminal, tied into a military and government network, but even so your companion has to produce identification and enter the destination coding into it. He then steps into a booth and indicates for you and pixie to do the same.
"It might be better for your monkey to be next to you rather than on your shoulder during the transfer. Molecular restructuring is more stable if individuals are discrete in the coding."
--M. J. Young
Fri Mar 14 2008 2:50 am # -
Blue Canary
MemberThe zookeeper can take her temperature but that's as far as they go.
"Wait a minute! I thought a Transmat was one of those floating busses! Is this a teleporting machine? That's pretty awesome!"
I do as he says. And cross my fingers. Then spread them as wide apart as possible!
Tue Mar 18 2008 7:41 pm # -
You feel the molecules of your body tingle, and then you feel something familiar--very like versing out.
Then you find yourself adrift, seeing your body from the outside. It goes fuzzy, and you have the feeling of hurtling through nothingness. There seem to be other people--possibly people--standing around as you rush through their midst.
Ahead you see your body, fuzzy but becoming solid. There are a number of people--and at this point you realize that you're using the word somewhat loosely, as they are not all human--floating around it, examining it.
You rush into it, and open your eyes. You are in a similar room as the one you were a moment ago, but the colors are different and there are some differences in the arrangements.
"Welcome, Monsieur Messenger. I'm the Base Commander, Legionaire Lucas de Corinth. My men call me 'Commander', and my superiors 'de Corinth'. What do I call you?"
--M. J. Young
Wed Mar 19 2008 12:21 am # -
There are a couple of technicians, dressed in military garb but obviously working the equipment, and the commanding officer is accompanied by some sort of attendants, two of them, and your guide has also arrived. Otherwise the room is empty.
"Centurion Andronicus de Londinium here has been assigned to help you get oriented to our facilities. He can answer most of your questions, or at least find the people who can. Make yourself as comfortable as the facilities permit, and do not hesitate to ask for me if there's any problem. Gentlemen."
He leaves, one of the attendants with him. The other, apparently the Centurion, addresses you. "Where would you like to begin?"
--M. J. Young
Thu Mar 20 2008 10:09 pm # -
Blue Canary
MemberWell, I'll address the oddity of the strange inhuman figures during transmat later.
"At the beginning, I suppose. So that was Transmat, eh? How reliable is it? Do you ever have problems with it?"
I'll carry on that conversation if they give me some responses.
Then, "I guess we should talk to the scientists and engineers working on the Scriff Disentegration Missile project."
Wed Mar 26 2008 8:32 pm # -
"Well, there are accidents, rarely. Of course, we train our operators, and there's always someone with years of experience and training overseeing all operations, and no one operates human transmats who has not had years of work on cargo systems. Also, rarely people come through crazy, but these are usually people who were borderline initially, and the priests do a decent job dealing with such problems. You'd have to ask them about these."
You are brought to the main lab. Andronicus introduces you. "This is Messenger. He has come to see what we are doing, and to tell us something about it, although he needs to ask some questions. Show him the device."
There is only a momentary hesitation, and then you are handed what appears to be a high-tech bullet. It takes only a minute for you to comprehend what it is and what it does.
The tip of the projectile is pointed and hard, designed to pierce outer coverings and particularly skin. Behind it is an ampule containing a gold metallic liquid which looks like what the Architect described as Scriff; the ampule is some sort of plastic or glass, designed to withstand the force of acceleration but to shatter on impact. Behind that are two electrodes tied to a capacitor, which in turn is charged by contacts on the rear of the projection. It appears to use an electric rail gun type of accelerator, which minimizes impact on the ampule during acceleration but requires a longer barrel than a simple explosive driven delivery system might.
In short, the bullet penetrates the skin of the target, dumps scriff into it, and hits the victim with an electrical jolt.
"Would you like to see it work? We've got some test animals in the animal room up the hall."
--M. J. Young
Thu Mar 27 2008 12:25 am # -
Blue Canary
MemberI roll the bullet around in my palm and say, "I would certainly NOT like to see it work! I am called Messenger because my role here is that of Messenger of the Gods."
I hold up the bullet and slosh around the gold liquid for them. "This! This what I call Scriff and Vulcan refers to as metal that is not metal and fire that is not fire. It deals what Vulcan sucinctly calls death that is not death. I have been infected by this substance. It did not kill me. Instead, at the time of what would be my death, I simply travel suddenly to another dimension, another universe, another world. You are not killing the barbarians, you are simply sending them to the next world. Jupiter has told me to tell you that in this you are making a big mistake."
Thu Apr 3 2008 5:57 pm # -
As you hold the device, the gold liquid moves out of level, as if drawn toward you.
They stare at you in silence for nearly a full minute.
Then one of the techs says, "So what's the problem? I mean, what's the difference, whether we send them to Hades or send them to some other world? They're out of our world, aren't they?"
"The difference," one of the senior men answers, "is that the soldiers we think we're killing are carrying their weapons and their goals into other battlefields, battlefields where we cannot reach them--and perhaps too, that those of our people who have died here in accidents related to the research are in those worlds, soon to be badly outnumbered by the enemy troops we will be sending against them."
There is again a brief silence, and then another researcher speaks.
"But how do we know he's right? How can we even test such a theory?"
Scrunching his brow, the elder seems to be exploring this.
"Well, he knows quite a bit about scriff already, and I don't see how he can know this unless he learned it somewhere outside our control or the gods told him. He's obviously not Azmayincan, and he's equally clearly not Mongolchin, and anyway our Senators and priests are persuaded that he is not a spy. We should thus consider that he may well have this knowledge from being a victim of a similar weapon elsewhere, in this other universe he claims to know. So that gives credibility to his account."
"It does not prove it, though," the third man says. "If the Mongolchin somehow had learned of our weapon, and wished to derail the program, what better way to do so than to send a spy who could pass for one of us? We know that they have science we do not understand, and we cannot be certain they could not alter one of their own to look like someone from our provinces."
"That is a lot of presumption," the elder says. "However, given that we are very near the technology to disguise our people as theirs, and we are improving our satelite surveilance systems to the point that we can see much that they believe is hidden from us, it would not be safe to assume they cannot do the same."
He turns to you.
"Not to cast aspersions on your character or honesty," he says, "but, can you prove what you claim?"
--M. J. Young
Thu Apr 3 2008 8:24 pm # -
Blue Canary
Member"I bear the words of the Gods. Disregard them at your peril. I do not know what proof you require but I'm sure you can detect that I do indeed contain Scriff, as does Pixie here, and my belongings. You see how the scriff in this projectile is attracted to me - I am similarly attracted to it. I can accurately detect the Scriff in my belongings regardless of where they are. I do not know if this is proof enough for you, but I would be happy to demonstrate."
If they want a magic show, I'll give them one. I'll unbuckle my spiked collar and have them put it wherever they want - even transmatting it somewhere - and I will point directly at it. Other than that, I doubt I could produce any thing or information that would be considered "proof".
Thu Apr 3 2008 9:23 pm # -
You call attention to the scriff in the vial, and one of the scientists reacts.
"I've never seen it do that before," he says. "We've seen that it tends to draw itself together, but it's never been attracted to anything but itself. Any you say the monkey is the same?" He takes the bullet and holds it near Pixie. "Indeed, it seems that you both have this affinity to the scriff, unlike anyone here."
The room goes silent for almost a full minute. It's clear everyone is thinking about the ramifications of your statements.
--M. J. Young
Sat Apr 5 2008 2:40 am # -
Blue Canary
Member"Well, while you're all puzzling that one out (and I don't think I have to remind you again that most of your gods think this scriff weapon idea is a big mistake), could someone tell me about these barbarians and why you need to develop this weapon in the first place?"
Sun Apr 6 2008 4:07 am # -
They look at each other. The one in charge says, "Marc, I think that's probably your job; anyway, you probably know best."
A man in his forties nods. "Come on, Messenger; I'll buy you a cup of tea and we can talk in the cafeteria."
Of course, the tea in the cafeteria is free, and they don't have any blends that you know, but it's still tea.
"Two millennia ago, a bit more, Rome rose from obscurity to an empire. The gods told us our destiny was to rule the world, and charged us to fulfill it--and for the first few centuries, Rome advanced, south through to the tip of Africa, north to the northernmost land masses of Europe, west across the ocean to Iceland, and East into Persia and to the mountains in the north. During this time, the gods blessed our scientific and technological advances, and favored us with their magicks, so that we were, and indeed still are, the most advanced people in the world.
"Then we were stopped. To the east of us there was a great empire, the Mongol-Chin alliance. There technology seems primitive--they have gunpowder and steam engines. Yet they have some way of fighting against our weapons, of making our best technologies ineffective. Atomic weapon guidance systems went haywire, and the bombs themselves failed to detonate.
"We thought they were using magic against us, but our priests and wizards were unable to work any but the simplest magicks in their lands, and could not duplicate what was being done against us. The battle has held on roughly the same boundary for over a millennium now--when they cross into our lands, we can defeat them with our superior weapons, but when we pursue them into theirs, whatever force it is that disables our systems takes away our advantage. Meanwhile, they are able to attack us with powers unlike anything we know, as long as we are in their realms. Why they do not use these powers against us in our realms, we do not understand.
"Our generals thought perhaps the defenses were established along the border, and so launched an ambitious campaign to send ships around the world to attack them from the other side. That was when we encountered the Azmayincans. There had been skirmishes in the past, but we had always assumed that it was the Mongolchin we were fighting. There was, we discovered, a third great empire in the world, holding sway over a previously unknown continent and its surrounding islands. These were, if anything, even more primitive in their science than the Mongolchin; yet they were far advanced in magic, doing powerful things unknown to our priests, things we thought impossible and still have not understood nor mastered. They use this power even to travel in space and explore other planets, which we have only reached with our rockets and hyperdrive engines. They also have the power to neutralize our machines, to an even greater degree than the Mongolchin.
"The Azmayincans and the Mongolchin also believe it is their destiny to rule the entire world. It is perhaps fortunate for us that they are also fighting each other, for were they to ally against us they would have the resources between them to finish us for certain. Our safety, our future, lies in conquering Terra, but they have proven to be formiddable enemies against whom we have no truly effective weapons.
"I realize this must be difficult for someone from outside the created world; but I can try to explain if you tell me what you don't understand."
--M. J. Young
Mon Apr 7 2008 12:11 am # -
"We've sent manned and unmanned probes to all the planets, moons, and larger asteroids of Sol, and established a few working colonies out there. We've also sent exploratory missions to the ten nearest stars, using hyperdrive engines, and found planets around them, but no life forms. We've done some terraforming, but it's slow going even with the blessings of the priests on the plant life.
"Yes, the Azmayincans and the Mongolchin are out there, and that's also strange, because they don't have space ships of the sort we've used. Our astronauts report seeing the Mongolchin seated in a circle, as if praying together, on simple wooden platforms surrounded by some sort of force shield and traveling with some unknown propulsion system; and as to the Azmayincans, they seem to walk through space, but as blurred images traveling thousands of miles with each step. Then we find that we cannot overcome their settlements--we have the same problems when we attack them out there that we do down here--but they still are unable to bring their weapons and defenses to bear effectively against us when we are in our ships or our colonies. They, too, have been terraforming areas, but they use techniques our scientists have not been able to fathom. The Azmayincans, in particular, have been able to create tiny patches of lush jungle on otherwise barren hostile worlds. We would love to know how they do this, but of course they are our enemies and certainly not interested in sharing their secrets."
--M. J. Young
Tue Apr 8 2008 10:42 pm # -
Blue Canary
MemberThis is interesting. I had a theory that if these peoples god-given destiny was to conquer Terra, then the other planets would have been outside that mandate. But this doesn't seem to be the case. The whole issue of space travel by hyperdrive and magic fascinates me, but I should probably stay on target.
"Do you know which gods the Mongolchin and the Azmayincans worship?"
Wed Apr 9 2008 3:36 pm # -
"What do you mean, which gods? Are there other gods?"
--M. J. Young
Thu Apr 10 2008 1:49 am # -
Blue Canary
MemberAh...
I shrug. "I have no idea, but on my home different peoples, such as the Mongolchin and the Azmayincans, worshipped their own gods. It was the cause of much strife when they tried to 'convince' each other whose gods were superior. But I guess you haven't yet had enough contact with them to find out their customs."
"But anyway, back to the subject at hand. If your technology and magic won't work in the lands of the Mongolchin and Azmayincans, why do you think that this new scriff weapon will?"
Thu Apr 10 2008 4:09 pm # -
"That's the beauty of it: it's really generally very simple in its technology. There's a kinetic pressure injection system and an electrical capacitive discharge circuit. It's a bit above anything we've seen them use, but experience says the more complicated our technology is, the less likely it is to work. With this, we need only make the missle fly--a simple magnetic rail gun--cause the target to be injected--the needle point penetrates and the impact collapses the container--and deliver a jolt of electricity. It's been quite effective in animal tests, and we've tested it in sheep driven into Mongolchin territory. Their dampening fields, or whatever they use, make them slightly less reliable statistically, but they are still quite effective at disintegrating--"
He breaks off, realizing that according to your information, they have not actually disintegrated anything--or rather, they have not done so in a permanent way.
"Well, that was the hope."
He puzzles on the idea of different gods for different peoples, and then says, "Who knows? Maybe the gods themselves are trying to prove who is superior."
--M. J. Young
Thu Apr 10 2008 9:29 pm # -
Blue Canary
Member"Yes, those were my thoughts exactly. I think now that I've made my point about the scriff weapon being an ill-conceived idea, I should pay a visit with my priest friends once again. I've got a few more questions I need to ask them."
I'll probably be needed back for more convincing of the brass all the way up the chain to the emperor, but I think tomorrow will be spent visiting the temples again.
Thu Apr 10 2008 9:37 pm # -
You catch the transmat back to Rome. Once again you have that impression of something waiting by your body as you return to it.
The next morning you will be visiting temples. What is your plan in this regard, and what are you doing about the language (a twenty hour language spell obviously lapses daily)?
--M. J. Young
Sat Apr 12 2008 12:25 am # -
Blue Canary
MemberOne question: When the romans say that the empire extends south through to the tip of Africa, do they mean the southern tip of Africa?
*shudder*
I'm really going to have to talk to the temple priests about transmat madness...I should have plenty of language potions - I brewed a whack of them. In fact, if preparation for the big meeting I had 27.
Your post regarding the failed rolls here:
This twenty-five would be in addition to the two you still have from before, so you have twenty-seven. (Since the spell is completed by quaffing the potion, you won't know if they are successful or botched until that moment, although some of the failed rolls might mean that you knew it didn't work at some point. In play, this will mean that some failed rolls will simply mean you had one less potion on you and that the statement you were going to drink one didn't mean that one, but a roll for the next.)I used 1 potion for the meeting, then I went to the military base the next day and presumably used 1 potion more. So, I have 25 left.
This morning I have Latin lessons at the 4th hour, so I won't drink another potion until after that.
In the afternoon, after my lesson, I will first go to the temple of Apollo (as god of healing) and question them about transmat madness. I want to know what they think causes it and if any of them have experienced the weird surveillance feeling I get each time. I ask them if they have any charms or anything for luck or protection during transmat.
After that, I will visit His Swiftness. Mercury, as messenger, might have some information to impart about the gods of the Mongolchin and Azmayincans. If the high priest doesn't know himself, I will ask him to consult with his god on my behalf. I will also give him a report on my day, not telling him anything secret, but letting him know that the message was delivered.
Before the end of the day I will drop in on Julia at the temple of Juno and report my progress. I hope the emperor's mother will be able to make inroads with this new chink in the emperor's armour.
Mon Apr 21 2008 10:42 pm # -
Yes, the entire African continent is part of the Roman Empire. As near as you can tell, every land mass but Antarctica is part of one of the three empires, but you're not certain about the southern polar region.
The priest questions you about "transmat madness". Then he attempts to reassure you.
"You are not going mad," he says. "Those are disembodies spirits, hoping to seize an empty body. As long as you remain conscious during transmat you should have no problem returning to your new body."
His Swiftness has never heard of "other gods" either, but agrees that this is something that is worth consulting Mercury.
Julia is pleased to hear from you, and asks about everything you can tell without pressing for secret information.
--M. J. Young
Wed Apr 23 2008 3:48 am # -
Upon your arrival at the Temple of Mercury, you are ushered into the private chambers of His Swiftness, who then dismisses everyone including the servants before sitting across from you. His mood is somber.
"It seems that you are right. Mercury is reluctant to speak of it, as Jupiter does not want it noised abroad--but there seems to be a sort of war in the heavens being fought on the earth. The Gods of the Azmayincans are very open about this, driving their worshippers toward world domination; the gods of the Mongolchin are very secretive, and their own people do not know their names nor pay them homage, but are nontheless working toward those goals.
"And this seems to be why there is a battle: the gods have different ideas about how the world ought to be run, and they are battling over control so that they can impose their will over the entire world.
"This is a heavy burden for me. I have seen that we are not one world but three, each vying to devour the other two. The gods are wise to hide this truth from men. I do not know what to do with it."
--M. J. Young
Thu Apr 24 2008 8:35 pm # -
Blue Canary
MemberJust as I suspected...
"I'm surprised he confided in you at all, actually. You may be High Priest but you're still a mortal in his eyes. I'm not really sure what to do about this but I'd keep it under your caduceus for now. Normally my advice would be to reject the gods entirely, but not only would it put you out of a job, it would give a vast advantage to the other two civilizations and certainly lead to the fall of Rome. The way I see it, the only way out of this is to somehow forge a peace between the mortal civilizations. If the gods want a war, they should have to fight it themselves. Unfortunately, Mars has the ear of the Emperor (or perhaps even is the Emperor) and there are probably similar arrangements with the leaders of the Mongolchin and Azmayincans. It's a precariously balanced and deadly triangle. Even if we convinced the Emperor and the Mongolchin to sign a peace treaty, the Azmayincans would immediately gain the upper hand. It has to be all or nothing. Except I'm sure I don't have to tell you that without even nominal diplomatic relations with the other civilizations, it will be next to impossible to arrange."
Fri Apr 25 2008 12:04 am # -
"Yes, I can see that. What we need is some sort of neutral arbiter--someone who is not part of any of the empires, who can travel between them and attempt to build the connections. But then, there is no such person even among the gods."
--M. J. Young
Tue Apr 29 2008 11:29 pm # -
You have the daily attendance of the slave assigned to your care; he will ask each day whether you wish to return to the base, or whether you have some other intentions, and what he should do for you.
--M. J. Young
Fri May 2 2008 5:31 am # -
Blue Canary
MemberI ask him to keep in communication with the military and to inform them that I am waiting for them to let me know the outcome of their deliberations regarding the scriff weapon.
What is his name, by the way?
I also ask him where he comes from, what he did before becoming a slave, and what it takes for a slave to become free in Rome.
Fri May 2 2008 5:30 pm #
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