The cypress trees crowd close beyond the weeds. Hobnailed prints and glistening olive-oil smears lead straight toward a narrow break in the grove.
Gaius Neratius
There. That oil marks the tablets' false ledger seal. Whoever follows us has handled the accounts.
Leather scrapes against bark. A hooded man steps between the cypress trunks, blocking the path. His short sword remains sheathed, but one hand grips its hilt.
The Hooded Man
Tutor, give me the sealed tablet. Lucius Varro wants his household records returned, and he will pay more for you alive.
Gaius Neratius
They are not household records. They name the Roman patrons who falsified grain accounts and bought silence with stolen coin.
Behind the hooded man, a second line of fresh prints turns toward the schoolhouse. More agents are circling, while the tutor presses the tablet beneath his cloak and waits for Frumius to act.
✓ Quest Accepted
Get past the hooded man
“I feint toward the grove break, then drive past his sword hand.”
FAILURE (Great Melee Combat, rolled -4)
Frumius snaps his shield toward the grove break, selling the feint, then lunges past the hooded man's sword hand.
The hooded man reads the movement. He pivots hard, catches Frumius's shield rim with his forearm, and knocks the charge aside before the gladius can pass.
The Hooded Man
You are quick, arena-born, but not quick enough.
His turn opens the grove behind him. Beyond the cypress, a crouched figure rises beside the schoolhouse's rear window, one hand signaling toward the tutor.
Gaius Neratius
There! The watcher came from the schoolhouse. The tablet must leave with me now.
The hooded man's grip slips from his sword hilt as he turns toward the exposed watcher. The tutor steps toward the narrow grove break, but the watcher raises a short spear across the escape.
The Hooded Man
Hold him there. Do not let the tutor reach the trees.
“I drive between the tutor and the watcher”
SUCCESS (Great Strength, rolled -1)
Frumius drives between the tutor and the watcher, forcing his shield into the spear's line and opening the grove behind him.
The spearhead scrapes across Frumius's upper arm before his shield knocks it aside. The tutor is no longer exposed to the watcher.
Gaius Neratius
The path is clear. I can reach the cypress.
The tutor slips behind Frumius's shield, clutching the sealed tablet beneath his cloak. From the shrine, a raven strikes the altar, and the sudden crack silences the grove.
The Watcher
Step aside, gladiator. You have bought him a breath, not freedom.
The watcher lowers the spear and retreats one pace toward the schoolhouse window, exposed now in the open. The hooded man turns from the path, caught between pursuit and the revealed tracker.
The Hooded Man
Watcher, hold your ground. If he leaves with that tablet, Varro will know who failed him.
“I press past the hooded man with the tutor”
SUCCESS (Great Strength, rolled +1)
Frumius drives forward, shield first, and forces the hooded man aside from the cypress path.
The Slave Tutor keeps pace behind the shield, carrying the sealed tablet safely beneath his cloak.
The Hooded Man
You will answer to Lucius Varro for this.
The hooded man stumbles clear of the path. The tutor has passed him and stands beyond his reach, among the first cypress roots.
Gaius Neratius
The schoolhouse is behind us. The grove gives us cover.
By the rear window, the Watcher remains exposed with the spear lowered. The raven's silence leaves every movement plainly heard, and the Watcher turns toward the tutor's escape route.
The Watcher
Do not take another step toward the trees.
Get past the watcher
Quest Complete
Get past the hooded man
Attribute Upgrade: Strength Great→Superb