Decimus turns the laurel-stamped wooden token beneath the records gate’s light, then compares its mark with arena enrollment seals. Marcus stands beside Valeria; Murmilla remains sheltered at the Asiaticus house.
Decimus Severus
This branch is not a school mark. I have seen it on delivery tallies from a training yard near the Campus Martius.
He sets the token beside a sealed enrollment tablet, revealing the same shallow cut beneath the laurel. His expression hardens as recognition settles.
Decimus Severus
The supplier is Gaius Marcellus, or one of his runners. He deals in equipment, introductions, and private exhibitions that prefer no official ledger.
Marcus Flavius
Then Livia was measuring whether Murmilla could be bought, and whether Valeria’s written protections could be bypassed.
Decimus Severus
Exactly. Her questions tested who may summon you, alter your purse, or claim authority through a sponsor. The school wants access before it names its master.
Beyond the gate, clerks continue their work while the token rests between them. The discreet school near the Campus Martius is now a direction, not yet an answer.
“"So, slave gladiators, I presume? Roman citizens cannot be enslaved, unless convicted of some crime, but they can be tricked into contracts that are much like slavery."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +0)
Valeria Asiaticus
So, slave gladiators, I presume? Roman citizens cannot be enslaved, unless convicted of some crime, but they can be tricked into contracts that are much like slavery.
Decimus Severus
That is the danger. The school may call them free, while its contracts bind their bodies, earnings, and movements to an unnamed master.
Decimus turns the token over and points to a faint notch beneath the laurel. A matching mark appears on an old delivery tally from the Campus Martius.
Marcus Flavius
Then the first question is not who fights there. It is who may leave. A lawful contract names its term, payment, witnesses, and right of refusal.
Decimus Severus
I can give you the yard’s recorded location and summon its registered supplier through the arena channels. That makes this an inquiry, not a raid.
He writes the address on a wax tablet, naming a narrow training yard near the eastern edge of the Campus Martius. The supplier’s name is entered as Gaius Marcellus.
Decimus Severus
Take this copy to the magistrate if needed. If anyone claims Murmilla, demand the contract, the witnesses, and the clause permitting her departure. Without them, their promise has no lawful teeth.
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine whether the Campus Martius training yard operates lawfully
+ New Item Acquired
Yard address tablet
“"I will have a look at the place myself, before taking any legal action. If people there have been tricked or coerced into such contracts, it should not be hard to persuade them to tell me about it."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Oratory, rolled +0)
Valeria takes Decimus’s wax copy and goes to the narrow yard near the eastern Campus Martius, with Marcus beside her but no official escort. Its gate stands open beneath a faded laurel.
Inside, a young woman with a lean build, cropped dark hair, and a faded red tunic carries practice shields past a roofed ring. Her wary glance fixes on the wax tablet.
The Young Shield-Bearer
If you came from the arena, I have done nothing wrong. I signed for instruction, not service.
Marcus remains at the gate while Valeria examines the yard: no posted terms, no witness board, and equipment marked with Gaius Marcellus’s laurel notch. Two other fighters listen from the shade.
The Young Shield-Bearer
They promised wages and lessons. The writing took my purse, my movements, and the right to leave only when the master agreed. They keep saying the master will be named later.
The Older Practice Fighter
It is the same for us. We can leave together if someone records that we were never lawfully sold, and that our contracts name no term or witness.
The fighters agree to speak openly if Decimus or a magistrate hears them. Valeria now knows the coercion is contractual, organized, and tied to Marcellus’s supply network.
Secure witnessed testimony from the coerced fighters
Quest Complete
Learn who stands behind the dangerous training offer
Skill Upgrade: Lore Great→Superb
Quest Complete
Determine whether the Campus Martius training yard operates lawfully