Marcus shoulders open the service entrance and brings Valeria and the exhausted Titus Celer into the theater’s backstage maze. Attendants hurry past with props and buckets, barely looking up.
Marcus Flavius
Celer carries no tablet. I carry his account, every name and seal. Keep him among the attendants until your bout is finished.
Titus bends over, breathing hard, while Marcus guides him behind a rack of painted screens. Nearby, Myrina waits under guard, her helmet resting beside her.
Marcus Flavius
The hollow coin was no charm. Inside it lay the Empress’s direct command, addressed to the hand that found it. That is why they watched your purse.
A stage official strides from the wings, tablet raised. The audience’s restless murmur swells beyond the curtain, and the guards turn toward the waiting gladiatrix.
the stage official
Myrina enters now. No delay, no private conference. Let the witness disappear among the workers, or the theater will search every face.
Celer slips into the attendants’ stream as Marcus remains beside Valeria. Her injured hand is tightly bound; the gate opens, spilling torchlight across the stage.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure Titus Celer’s testimony beyond the palace’s reach
“Valeria lets Marcus hold the evidence for her. After the bout, if she is able, she plans to give sacrifice at the Temple of Demeter, which will give her a good excuse for preserving the evidence in the archive there.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -2)
Valeria leaves the hollow coin and its hidden command with Marcus. He tucks the evidence beneath his tunic as the stage official signals her entrance.
Marcus Flavius
I will carry it, and Celer’s account with it. Fight cleanly. Afterward, Demeter’s archive gives us witnesses no palace clerk can easily erase.
Valeria enters beneath the torchlight. Her opponent presses hard, but Valeria keeps the injured hand guarded, wins the exchanges, and forces the officials to halt the bout in her favor.
The victory costs her: the swollen finger splits beneath its bandage, staining the linen, though she remains standing and the purse is secured.
Marcus Flavius
You can walk. Good. We go to the Temple of Demeter now, before anyone decides your evidence belongs elsewhere.
At the Temple of Demeter, Valeria purchases a modest sacrifice with her prize money. The attendant records the offering, and Marcus presents the hollow coin and Celer’s account for archival preservation.
The High Priestess
The evidence will be sealed beside the offering record. Your sacrifice gives it a lawful place, and your witnesses give it a memory beyond the palace.
Quest Complete
Secure Titus Celer’s testimony beyond the palace’s reach