Hopefully Graeme will find his way to the new forum location. He was in Rome, in Rome Wasn't Built In a Millennium, talking to the zookeepers about his elephant. My last post there reads:
"Well, for one thing, she's smaller than any adult elephant I've seen. Also, the ears are wrong." He walks around her, studying her carefully. "Her tusks are awfully small, her face is deformed by those bumps, the tip of her trunk doesn't look right--and the trunk's not wrinkled properly--and her back is bent the wrong way. Her legs are short and fat, and she's got the wrong number of toenails. Oh, and her color is pretty bad. Is she sick, or is she a mutant or something?"I'm eager to see how he will handle this anomaly.--M. J. Young
--M. J. Young
"Well," I say with a laugh, "She was on sale. Besides, it's easier to get her on the bus."
I want to find out if it's possible to board Heph here.
The zookeeper thinks that very odd, but when you ask about boarding her he scratches his chin a moment and says, "Well, I guess there aren't too many things you can do with a mutant elephant in the city, and I'd hate to see her harmed. Still, she'll be expensive to feed, and we'll have to isolate her from the others in case there's something contagious, at least until our vets get a look at her. I'm not sure how many people will be interested in seeing her. It'll be a denarius a day to board her. I'm probably losing money that way, but she needs care and I've a soft spot for pachyderms, even if they're not quite all right."
--M. J. Young
I give him one of my X bills. "Will that cover me for a few days until I get settled?"
"Ten denarii? Sure, that's a solid week. I gather you don't have a phone number yet. Call me when you're settled. Do you want to lead her inside? I'll have to put her in a temporary pen for a few hours while I set up a better spot for her."
Presumably you do, and you pass an elephant run. There are only African elephants in it, larger and considerably different in form than your Hephalump.
The temporary pen is more a truck trailer, but it's not too small, and the keeper shouts to someone to bring some fresh straw for it and some food. You get the sense that he's going to do right by the beast.
--M. J. Young
I say goodbye to Heph and walk back through the gardens, wondering what I should do now. The city seems a whole lot bigger when you're not riding on an elephant. I guess I need a place to stay. I wonder how well Pixie would take to an organ-grinder.
I wander around the neighbourhood near the zoological garden looking for a small pension with a room for hire.
Small hotels don't seem to exist in the downtown area, but there are a few large ones, which have names in Latin which render to Fleet, Admiral, Holiday, and Comfort. Most advertise cable television and Internet connections. The Comfort Hotel appears to have the lowest daily rate, posted out front as two denarii, but weekly rates are not advertised by any of them.
--M. J. Young
Two denarii seems like a pretty good rate. I'll go inside and see if they balk at Pixie. I'll check out the rooms and explain I intend to stay for an extended time to see if they offer reduced rates.
If you're staying for a week, the tenth day is free; if you're paying for a month in advance, they'll knock off twenty-five percent, which makes forty-five denarii for the month.
--M. J. Young
I'll hand over 5 of my X bills to book myself in for the whole month. After hauling all my assorted stuff up to my room I'll go back out and walk around a bit with Pixie to get a feel for the area.
The fact that my spell did something is interesting. I'll keep my eye out for things that might be magical in nature.
You've previously noticed that the busses run clean and quiet. As the day wears on you see more vehicles, and notice that many of them do not touch the roads while in motion.
Wandering around, you also notice the occasional vehicle overhead, probably fifty yards above the street level. At rush hour this becomes a separate roadway running what you would guess to be north and south, with another fifty yards above it running east and west. Periodically cars lift off from the ground to join the traffic above, always at intersections but not at all intersections.
It is evident that the technology here outstrips earth. You see many holographic projections as advertising marquees. There are also people involved in conversations with unseen and unheard counterparts.
The question would seem to be, how do you get through Clarke's Law, identifying what is sufficiently advanced technology and what really is magic?
--M. J. Young
I marvel at the sights! I guess I'm not too concerned about Clarke's Law, technological marvels and magical marvels are all fascinating. However, are there any advertisements or business signs that specifically mention magic? Like, "Marvin's Magical Automobiles" or "Construction Wizards, Inc."
You do not see anything that looks like purveyors of magic. There are temples and shrines to various gods and goddesses scattered about, most with familiar names from mythology. There are retailers and services of all sorts, but they sell technology or technology-related services, in the main. You see a gym, more than one public bath house, bars, bookstores which seem to focus on electronic media, restaurants, theaters of various types, access to public transportation. No one advertises magic, at least in this part of town.
--M. J. Young
I head to a bookstore and browse some history books. That might help me get an understanding of what I'm dealing with. Afterwards, I'll stop off at some kind of food stall and get something to eat for Pixie and I.
You enter a bookstore.
There are a very few "books" here, made of printed paper. They are all old, and locked in glass-like cases with high price tags on them. It is clear that such objects are antique collectibles.
Most of what is here is in the form of electronic data media. There appear to be several formats and several readers. The most common readers indicate that they can handle trinary, nonary, and septemvigesimal encoded systems, and the more expensive ones have ports for microdisks, integrated circuit-like plug-in chips of several configurations, and cables or devices at least similar to USB connectors. Cheap readers handle trinary and nonary materials of one format with one cable port. All have what appear to be holographic displays plus stereo audio, either internally or by headphones.
Prices for the books range from one Dupondius up to three Antoniniani, most of them being marked as a Sestertius, Quinarius Denarius, or Denarius, with a fair number at one Antoninianus. The readers appear to range up to one Aureus, which seem to be the deluxe models which do everything, down to one Denarius for the cheapest single-format models.
Looking at the prices, you get the impression from the way that they are listed that the order of currency values, from greatest to least, is
- Aureus (Aurei), worth quite a lot. Only very large book collections which seem to be on the order of encyclopedias are more expensive than one Aureus
- Quinarius Aureus, never listed with a number in front of it so probably worth half an Aureus
- Antoninianus (Antoniniani), used singly and in multiples up to six, sometimes with one Denarius after it but never when there are six.
- Denarius (Denarii), sometimes occurs singly, sometimes in multiples, seems to be a preference thing.
- Quinarius Denarius, never more than one and sometimes follows Denarius
- Sestertius, never more than one
- Dupondius, never more than one
- As (Asses), rarely more than one, usually one after a number of larger coins
- Quandrans, up to three listed.
There are "books" on most subjects in all formats, although some of the apparently newer or larger books are only available in the septemvigesimal format.
--M. J. Young
I like the money, but need I point out you thought three or four or so different mile systems was too much for Isle of the Mighty? Roman numeral money....cool and way confusing at the same time. This is a much needed addition, in my opinion.
Clear as mud?
Eric
I pulled the money from an encyclopedia and put it in a document on my hard drive, after taking the time to sort through it.
There is a distinct difference between a referee deciding that he is going to use certain details in his running of a world and a world designer imposing it upon him.
Also, although this is a relatively complex monetary system, no one has to change between in and any other monetary system--everyone in the empire, at least, is using the same system. With your multiple measuring systems, if the character gathered a party of different backgrounds to accompany him, they would be arguing about how many miles it was between two cities because each of them would be using different measures for the mile--and since the referee is playing all of those characters, he would have to know how many miles each thought it was, because whichever was speaking at the moment would have to speak in his own measurement system. I only have to shift into Roman Money when I shift to running Graeme's world, and I was already familiar with some of the coinage, so it's not that difficult for me.
This might someday be a piece of a published gather world, but I don't know whether the monetary system would be included.
--M. J. Young
Wow, forget learning to read, I'm going to have to re-learn how to open a book! Hopefully user-friendliness was included in the technological advances. Can I browse through the books in the store before I buy one?
Each electronic book package has a button on the outside, which causes it to run a demo of sorts, usually the contents, about the author, and sample text from the early sections. The more expensive books have multiple buttons labeled with what each delivers, and generally provide more information; the cheaper ones tend to have the equivalent of back cover notes, although in a holographic moving video display format that provides more information than that.
There is also live sales help, so it might be possible to look at a book you were keen on purchasing, depending on whether you persuaded them you were a real customer.
--M. J. Young
(Sorry, our office is under renovations and I've been without a desk and computer for a few days.)
I'll buy one of the cheaper history books, hopefully not more than a denarius. Then I'll stop at a food stall and buy something for myself and Pixie and sit on a bench and browse the book.
You select a cheap single-format reader and what appears to be a very basic grade school level introduction to "world history". The reader costs a denarius and the book a dupondius. You hand them one of your "X" bills and receive back a handful of coins: 4 Antoniniani (silver), 1 Quinarius Denarius (silver), 1 Sestertius (bronze), and 1 Dupondius (bronze).
You are able to get bread baked with meat and/or cheese and/or vegetables cheaply, getting two such loaves for a Dupondius; each makes a satisfactory meal. There are fountains with fresh water throughout the city, and people drink from the spray; you can also buy wine or beer cheap if you prefer, fruit juice or milk at a higher price.
It appears that the Roman Empire is still run by a rather powerful emperor and a rather impotent senate, but that it has advanced in great strides, ruling the entire civilized world. This entire "civilized" world, though, ends somewhere around India and the Ural Mountains, does not include Antartica, and reaches Iceland but not Greenland. Otherwise Rome holds sway over all of Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, all of it by right of conquest.
There are various religions represented, most of the what we would call pagan polytheisms or mystery religions or gnostic religions. The spiritual power within these religions is recognized, and priests of many faiths are called upon to work with the government and the armies as a matter of course. Some of the emperors have been recognized as gods, but the current one makes no such claim despite having divine ancestors.
There is some history of wars on the borders, which appear to be ongoing in the present. Of course, everyone outside Roma is a barbarian, but there appear to be two distinct kinds of barbarians. To the east are the Mongol-chin. From all appearances, their science is extremely limited--they have gunpowder, but there is no evidence of electrical generation or motor vehicles. Even modern satelite imaging has not found any trace of technology. Further, Roman priests claim that their land is so barbaric that not even the gods are welcome there, and there is almost no magical energy beyond the eastern boundaries of Rome. Yet somehow these Orientals have found ways of traveling in space, without space ships or suits, orbiting the planet on simple wooden platforms.
To the west, meanwhile, are the Azmayincans. These people are somewhat easier to understand. They excel at magical powers, being able to work wonders beyond anything ever seen in Roma and even using their magic to travel through the vacuum of space. However, they seem to have no concepts of the lever or the wheel, and it is thought that they still start fires by prayer.
Both barbarian groups seem to have some power that renders Roman technology ineffective, and thus it has not yet been possible to bring these barbarians under the proper authority of the Roman Emperor.
There are more details concerning the succession of emperors and the conquest of the civilized world, but the conquest was over centuries ago. Latin, or a modern version thereof, is the only language spoken throughout Roma at this point, although there are a few scholars who can read Greek and so study the Greek philosophers in their original language, and a few other ancient languages including Egyptian heiroglyphs and sanskrit are still studied as scholarly pursuits. The barbarians have their own languages.
--M. J. Young
Well, that's certainly interesting! That Rome's influence extends so far, and that at the edges of the empire their very technology falls apart...
I've always had a love of the old Greek (and by association, Roman) myth stories. I'll look out for them again to see which ones are nearby. I know them better by their Greek names but I remember the main Planetary gods. I wonder what Hera is known as in Rome?
I'm not sure what I'm going to be able to do here. In a land of such advanced technology, my engineering knowledge will be pathetically out of date. Even my carpentry skills are probably obsolete. I could go back to school to learn, but money will be a problem. Someone's bound to eventually notice that all my money is identical.
I'll buy a newspaper to check the job listings and wander around some more and see if there are any "Help Wanted" signs. I'll also head back to the Colliseum and see how much a ticket is to see the spectacle.
Yes, temples to the major Roman gods are here; Jupiter's wife is Juno, which you discover because there is a prominent temple to them as patrons of Rome quite near the Colliseum.
Newspapers start at three Quadrans and run up to a Dupondius, but you have to match the format to your reader. You find one in your format for one As. You already spent your Dupondius, but you give the newstand bot a Sestertius and it returns to you a Dupondius and an As.
The paper boots up with a run of the immediate headlines followed by an advertisement and then a table of contents. The contents are not unlike modern newspapers, including editorials, entertainment, comics, games, city news, "world" news, business, want-ads, and the like.
Today's ad is for the Colliseum show.
The headlines include the appearance of the Emperor at a speaking engagement in Gaul and his expected visit to the troops later this week; rumors of a new weapon in development; a settlement in the garbage processors contract talks.
Seats for the show range from one As for standing room at the top to four Aurei for box seats near the Emperor's box. In essence, you can name your price and there will be a place in the colliseum available at that price, unless it's already sold out.
The newspaper asks for your search parameters for the want ads.
--M. J. Young
(What are Asses made of?
It is not an easy adjustment to an electronic newspaper. Still, I do my best. This whole imperial conquest thing bothers me, especially at the rumour of new weapons being developed. It suggests things have not reached any kind of stagnation and that the fronts are still a bloody waste of human life. I wonder what North America is like - full of "Noble Savages" and nothing like I remember it. Well, nothing like either way I remember it anyway. I wonder if I could make a living as some kind of travelling Barbarian freak show. I'm sure there are lots of Roman citizens who wonder what it is like beyond the borders. It would help raise awareness that barbarians are humans, too. Unfortunately, I'm from European stock and I probably couldn't pull it off despite not knowing Latin.
I'll spend my dupondius on a ticket for the show.
I'll do a few searches for jobs: "Entertainer", "Engineer", "Magician", "Carpenter"
Asses and quadrans are made copper; sestertii and dupondii are bronze; antinoniaini, denarii, and quinarius dinarii are silver; aurei and quinarius aurei are gold.
I am surprised not to find computer use skills on your character sheet. I'm sure it's an oversight (you are, after all, using a computer to participate in the game). I would rather umbrella the data reader in as a computer use skill than create a new skill for it, but I'll need some notion of your facility at using "user friendly interface" computer devices and programs. The search of the newspaper will be based on that skill use.
--M. J. Young
I'm really quite good at using windows programs and the like. I seem to have a knack for being able to find the commands I need from the menus and people are always asking me for help in the office here. I use a large variety of computer programs, especially AutoCad for draughting and Excel (or QuattroPro) for computations. I have also programmed in Basic, Visual Basic, Pascal and Fortran back in the day but the requirement to know how to program in these days of user-friendly customizable software is much reduced.
2@8 Computer Use T11@0
2@3 Computer Programming: Basic, Visual Basic, Pascal, Fortran T11@1
You find quite a few ads for "entertainer"; there's an entire section, divided into subsections. The subsections include clowns, gladiators, animal trainers, actors, singers, and indeed magicians--which you also find in significant numbers, considering the rarity of the job, not less than ten, although six of these appear to be for specific one-time events (parties of some sort).
You also find a call for engineers and lab assistants to work on a weapons project. Rome is landlocked, so you don't find anything in the way of maritime engineers.
You don't find "carpenter".
--M. J. Young
On the off chance, I'll try "Augur" and "Druid". I try searching for 'magic', 'wizardry', 'miracles' and 'gods' in the history book I bought. I'm looking for references to magic performed by people.
The last thing I want is to be involved in a weapons project.
When is the Colliseum show?
I think I will pop my head into the temple to Juno and see what's up there.
Colliseum show: 4:00 in the afternoon, daily. You have a ticket for tomorrow afternoon, as it is approaching evening by now; you've already paid for your room, and had a late lunch.
There are a significant number of private augurs willing to divine your future for a price. There is one ad promising to teach you the secrets of the Druids of the Saxons.
You would of course pick a pagan faith with which I have minimal familiarity. Let me put the question to you: Juno is wife of Jupiter, mother of several of the gods, patronness of Rome, patronness of marriage and motherhood; what would you expect to be happening inside her temple in the early evening? I expect there won't be much in the way of temple prostitution, but there might be sacrificial feasts (minus the drunken aspect of Bachan rights). What else do you anticipate?
--M. J. Young
A line of young women receiving fruit baskets in the shape of cornucopia; pregnant women getting their extended tummies daubed with sacred oil...
As a goddess of the sky, women and marriage, I would expect woman priestesses, perhaps pregnant women as Eric describes, marriage ceremonies, perhaps Rosie the Riveter feminist icons, and an altar for sacrifices. According to a very quick Google search, she seemed to be a major god in the pantheon and festivals to her included all-woman Olympics. Prostitution I would expect at the temple of Venus.
I'll bookmark the ad for the Druidic teachings and after being the tourist at the temple of Juno (snapping a few photos, if allowed) I'll call it a day. The next day I'll try to answer the Druidic ad and head over to the Colliseum for the show in the afternoon.
Yes, prostitution at temples of Venus/Aphrodite, and also (perhaps surprisingly) at those of Diana/Artemis. There might also be some at mystery religion temples.
You aren't in the temple of Juno long at all before an elderly priest approaches and asks whether he can be of any assistance.
Back at the hotel: The bed is comfortable, the room air filtered and temperature controlled. There is a holographic version of a television with a remote control of some sort. The shower has electronic temperature, pressure, flow, and focus controls, and the drain system allows you to hold the water at a set level and recirculate it through jets to clean and massage your feet, up almost to your knees.
There is an odd piece of furniture in the room, a wooden stand with pegs atop which is a padded basket with partial dome above it. Pixie heads directly into it and settles down comfortably.
--M. J. Young
Mystery Religion!? That sounds great! Venerating the likes of Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle. Or step on up and spin the wheel and a random religion will assess your needs... Or worship all you like, but we'll not tell you who you're worshipping until you piece together the clues...
I'm about to say that I'm from out of town and just looking around when I decide that I actually do need help. "Yes, um, I'm not sure how this works, exactly. I have recently arrived in Rome and I am looking for a direction to lead my new life. I would like to ask for Juno's advice on the matter. I can offer...these (indicating my antoniniani)... as an offering. Or something else, if she prefers." I heft my bag.
Back at the hotel, pleased that this culture provides for our animal friends, I enjoy a nice shower and play with the holographic television a bit until I figure out the controls. I channel surf a bit taking in some of the local pop culture.
Only half paying attention to the TV shows I dig out my magic journals and browse through them, reminding myself of the rituals and words of power. It's risky, but since I'm sitting here with a TV, I point the remote at the TV and say "Show me what the woman I met at the cafe today is doing right now!"
Mystery religions were mostly combinations of non-Greco-Roman deities with gnostic philosophy and strange rites that had strong sensory components--like being showered in the blood of a sacrificial animal as it is slaughtered on a grate above you. The concept seems to have been that the worshipper is joining a secret and exclusive society of the chosen.
The priest smiles at you and takes one of the coins. "Direction for the life of a traveler is a small thing," he says, "and easily managed by her benevolence." He pinches a bit of incense into a brazier along the wall, and sings aloud a prayer for insight into your life.
He then looks at you, and the smile is replaced by something of shocked awe.
"You--" he stammers and recovers. "You have come to Rome from beyond the edges of the world. You bring wisdom, a knowledge our scientists do not have which they need to know. I cannot see what it is; it is beyond me. However, without what you can tell them, they will make a terrible mistake."
--M. J. Young
Uh oh. "Hera, I mean Juno, is wise." A terrible mistake? What could that be? Oh no. The new weapon under development. Nukes?
"Ahh, Would you be so kind as to represent Juno in introducing me to the Emperor? If so, I will return the day after tomorrow."
"Oh, I am flattered, but you think too much of me, an elderly priest of Juno. And you know the old names, too; I imagine that our goddess has been known by many names by those devoted to her in the past, when there were still many languages within the empire. The Emperor hears only those favored by Mars, as he is eager to win these wars with the Mongolchin and the Azmyincans.
"I can introduce you to the high priestess here; she trusts my visions, and has the ear of the Emperor's mother. I do not know whether that will get you the audience you seek. Priestess Lydia will be here tomorrow, all day, but I do not know her schedule beyond that."
--M. J. Young
"Very well, I will come back tomorrow evening." I thank the priest and head back to the hotel.
In the morning I will answer the Druidic ad to see what comes of that and then I have tickets for the Colliseum in the afternoon.
I should check out a temple of Mars and see what they say but I'll decide about that after talking with the Juno priestess. In fact, I should see what all the temples have to say about the matter - Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Neptune, Saturn (well, maybe not Saturn), and Pluto would be my chief stops. Diana, Minerva, Apollo, and Vulcan too.
At what time do you expect your language spell to lapse? I have that it lasts twenty hours; that means sometime probably before lunch the next day you will no longer be able to understand any of the local language.
--M. J. Young
Oh, that's right. To start the day off, I'd better spend some time brewing up a couple more language potions. I also perform my Remove Fatigue ritual to perk me up in the morning.
Sorry--you cast your Remove Fatigue spell, and something goes wrong with it; the room fills with a pleasant, relaxing aroma, and you find yourself falling back to sleep.
--M. J. Young