Decimus Severus’s quarters smell of lamp oil, leather, and damp sand. A sealed schedule and payment tablet lie beside the shield, sword, and harness assigned to Valeria’s next public appearance.
Decimus Severus
I can place Myrina on the Colosseum rolls for one public bout. The purse is registered, but it is tied to attendance and security conditions unlike your earlier contracts.
Aurelia stands beside Valeria, composed and watchful, with a wax tablet ready for copying every term. Decimus keeps one hand near the sealed schedule but does not break it.
Aurelia
Then read the conditions before anyone accepts payment, and let the witnesses hear whether these protections serve Valeria or merely the spectators.
Decimus Severus
The crowd must include invited officials and foreign delegations. Their presence raises the purse, but it also brings guards, restricted entrances, and eyes that report directly upward.
Decimus Severus
You will receive the advance only after the schedule is witnessed. Refuse the security cordon, and the purse becomes void. Accept it, and the Colosseum claims the performance.
Beyond the quarters, attendants move equipment toward the arena gates. Inside, the unopened seals wait between Decimus’s authority and Aurelia’s careful record, leaving the decision before Valeria.
“"These are very unusual conditions. Who is offering this purse?"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Oratory, rolled +0)
Valeria Asiaticus
These are very unusual conditions. Who is offering this purse?
Decimus studies Valeria for a measured breath, then breaks the schedule’s seal before Aurelia and turns the tablet so its heading is visible.
Decimus Severus
The purse comes from the imperial games account, not from a private patron. The authorization bears the seal of the aedile overseeing this festival display.
Aurelia
And whose request caused the account to open? Public money can still carry a private command.
Decimus Severus
The request was entered by the games office after reports of Myrina’s popularity. No sponsor is named, and Varro’s name appears nowhere in the filing.
He slides the payment tablet across the table. Its entries list the advance, the public bout, the security cordon, and the officials’ attendance, each witnessed by the arena clerk.
Decimus Severus
The purse is offered by the state for a spectacle it believes will steady the crowd. That makes it public, lawful, and watched from every direction.
“"Festival? Imperial games? What is being celebrated?"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +0)
Valeria Asiaticus
Festival? Imperial games? What is being celebrated?
Decimus taps the schedule’s heading with one blunt finger. The wax bears the festival date and the aedile’s mark, while Aurelia copies each line onto her tablet.
Decimus Severus
The Cerealia, in the public calendar, joined this year to imperial games. The grain distributions honor Ceres; the spectacles honor the emperor’s household and its generosity.
Decimus Severus
The games office claims the display will reassure Rome after the recent disputes at the Circus. Myrina’s appearance is meant to show order, strength, and popular favor.
Aurelia
So the state feeds the crowd with grain and gives it a champion to applaud. That is public purpose, but someone chose which champion would carry it.
Decimus Severus
The filing names no private chooser. It does name the imperial household’s attendance, the aedile’s authority, and the security cordon. Those facts are sufficient for a lawful public bout.
Aurelia finishes the copy and places it beside the payment tablet. The celebration is now identified as the Cerealia, expanded into imperial games, with its purpose and official terms recorded.
“"That means the Emperor himself will see me. It is a significant honor, and hard to refuse. He did execute my father, but amnestied the family, for which I suppose I should be grateful. I bear him no ill will. If he wants to hear a conspirator's daughter say, 'We who are about to die salute you,' then he shall. It will help him to cement his political position, I think. Let everyone know that all is forgiven, and the Asiaticus family is now among his supporters."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Oratory, rolled -1)
Valeria Asiaticus
That means the Emperor himself will see me. It is a significant honor, and difficult to refuse. I bear him no ill will for my father's execution, since he spared our family. Let all Rome know that the Asiaticus family forgives him and stands among his supporters. If he wishes to hear a conspirator's daughter say, "We who are about to die salute you," then he shall.
Aurelia's stylus pauses above the wax. Decimus remains still, but the schedule in his hand suddenly seems less like an offer and more like a public declaration prepared for the imperial gaze.
Decimus Severus
Then I will enter your words with the bout's announcement. The Emperor will hear forgiveness, loyalty, and the name of Asiaticus spoken without a mask.
Aurelia
Let the record say precisely what she gives: forgiveness freely offered, support publicly declared, and no private patronage accepted in exchange.
Aurelia copies the declaration beneath the Cerealia terms. Decimus adds it to the games office memorandum, where the aedile's seal will carry the family’s restored allegiance into the arena.
Decimus Severus
The announcement will name Myrina as the daughter of Asiaticus, pardoned by the imperial household and returned before Rome as its willing supporter. That will cement the message.
Outside, the arena horns sound for the coming festival. Within the quarters, the schedule is witnessed, the declaration recorded, and Valeria's public reconciliation made ready for the Emperor and the crowd.
✓ Quest Accepted
Leave Decimus’s quarters for the arena
“She tells Aurelia, "The boys don't need to see this, they are too young. People are going to die, probably not me, but someone. Decimus will find you a quiet room where you can wait. And don't be nervous, remember I already won four bouts without a scratch. Just tell the boys to play Terni Lapilli, or what they please, it will take their minds off the games."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Oratory, rolled -2)
Valeria Asiaticus
The boys do not need to see this; they are too young. People will die, probably not me, but someone. Decimus will find you a quiet room. Do not be nervous. I have won four bouts without a scratch. Tell them to play Terni Lapilli, or whatever they please, and keep their minds off the games.
Aurelia’s guarded composure softens. Decimus signals an attendant, who clears a quiet storeroom near the women’s gallery and places a lamp, water, and a barred privacy screen within it.
Aurelia
They will play Terni Lapilli, and I will keep them away from the arena doors. I will not mistake courage for safety, but I will trust your preparation.
Decimus Severus
The room is yours until the bout ends. No official enters without my order. But the cordon costs two attendants, and that expense comes from the registered purse.
The cost is entered against Valeria’s purse in the games ledger. Outside, the horns answer one another, and the sound carries through the stone with enough force to rattle the lamp flame.
Castor
We can play Terni Lapilli. Pollux always cheats when he thinks no one is watching.
Pollux
I do not cheat. I merely see the winning move before you do.
“She goes to the entrance and waits to be called.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled -1)
Valeria leaves the quiet storeroom and walks toward the women’s gallery entrance, her sword secured and her injured hand bound beneath the arena harness. Aurelia remains behind with the twins.
Aurelia
We will be here when you return. The boys will hear only the games, not the danger beneath them.
Decimus opens the barred passage himself. Attendants draw aside as Valeria reaches the entrance, where torchlight spills across the sand and the festival roar presses through the gate.
Decimus Severus
Stand where the officials can see you. When your name is called, enter plainly. No private patron, no hidden message, no one speaks for you.
Valeria Asiaticus
The gate is open, and the crowd is waiting.
Valeria waits beneath the arch, facing the bright arena. Beyond the barrier, horns sound over the crowd’s rising chant, while the imperial enclosure glitters above the eastern seats.
The Herald
Myrina, daughter of Asiaticus, prepare to enter for the Cerealia games. The officials await your appearance.
Quest Complete
Leave Decimus’s quarters for the arena
Skill Upgrade: Melee Combat Great→Superb