Valeriana Pia's page

Valeriana looks at Valka with surprise and what might almost be respect.

"Ballio will be lucky to only lose the skin from his back, and Severina will be in a rage that would make Erythnul herself shudder, but you may have cut through to an answer to your problems nonetheless. Do not ever allow yourself to be in her power."

She shakes her head, imagining. When Titus speaks to her she smiles slightly and makes a dice throwing motion with her hand.

"'Let the dice fly high', as my ancestor said, many hundreds of years ago."

She steps forward, raising her voice so that the Coruskians can hear her (though not Ballio), her posture and voice control demonstrating that she has been trained in the art of rhetoric, the confidence and arrogance of generations showing past the torn and dusty clothing.

"If you intend to claim Nikanor's reward, then you may find our goals match, for that reward is liable to be claimed also by Domenius Viusenius and the Vulpus Nigra, though perhaps not in the form of coin. Viusenius is not a man likely to settle for a quarter share, nor one you would wish to owe money to."

The hatred in Valeriana's voice might make even Valka wary.

"My right name is Cassia Aquila Tercia and I was sent here with the unlamented Drusus to try to resolve the problem of your credulous inn-keeper. Viusenius...has a hold over me that only his death, or mine, will break. If you will aid me in bringing justice to him, then I give the word of the Cassii that I will do what I can to assist you. Otherwise, the girl means nothing to me and you can watch her take her last six paces."

I'll try to fix it so I'm Cassia Aquila on the forum from now on

Valeriana looks smug as her assessment of Nikanor's 'curse' is reinforced.

There's no sign that Valeriana is disposing of the Orb at this time, though there is nothing surruptitious about her acquisition of it. Also, since what's left of her dress is probably a bit wayward, she'll see if she can find a belt amongst the stuff to hold it in place, ideally one with a belt pouch. I imagine that finding a more decorous garment is a bit hopeful. Who's carrying our food/water?

"Manricus was a Warrior Priest of Hextor. He conquered the goblin tribes of this region and led them against his foes during his lifetime. He destroyed many of his enemies with a poison unknown before and since, it allegedly took exactly seven days to kill hence 'seven paces'. I do not know of any ever surviving it."

Valeriana realises she is talking to the slave and shuts up.

"Do you speak of Manricus' 'seven paces to the tomb'? That hasn't been heard of for over two centuries. The secret died with him." She pauses and her eyes widen slightly. "I believe he died in Loutharnium." She gestures widely and stops. "I don't know which direction it is. Three days walk."

Having walked slowly around the temple Valeriana returns to the enclosed area and looks over Gravus at the dying (dead?) priest's belongings.

"Six days? That is an unusually precise prognosis, dwarf. The woman looks like she will barely last the night, what makes you think she has a week?"

She looks down at the injured warrior.

"Timoneus Nikanor is not cursed. He is merely a credulous fool. Probably those daughters he claims are not even his." Her voice contains bitterness and an apparently unwarranted hostility to the innkeeper. "Carve some gibberish and his name onto another tablet and present it to him as the proof you need."

She stops and looks around.

"Where has the Milite gone?"

She stares past Bjarturius and her lips move all-but silently, then she smiles sardonically, whispers something unheard, picks up a fallen satchel and stows the orb in it.

Valeriana points to a spot say x12y13 .
"Ballio. Sit there. Do not move."
She looks at Valka, leaning against the wall and the serious wounds that Titus and Gravus bear.
"One old priest and a goblin hag all but bested you?"
She picks up the orb from the floor and studies it. How big, how heavy is it?
"I would guess that this," she prods the fallen priest with her foot, "told the Domina of this 'Eye' and she had you secure it for him in order to wreak her petty vengeances. Though who was using who is not to be known. Does that match with the beginnings of the curses, not including the innkeeper who is probably blaming others for his own misfortune?"
Valeriana scans the ruin, a curl of her lip indicating what she thinks of it.
"I am amazed that even for vengeance Severina Berinia would deign to set foot in this place. Yet why else would she mark the trail here with the Furies? Likely she has a hidden way into her home, but if this creature knows of no antidote, Severina surely will not."
The noblewoman catches herself.
"I don't know why I'm explaining this to you, you surely lack the wit to understand."
Valeriana's eyes un-focus.
"...as the sun was beginning to beat upon the fields, fresh-risen from the slow still currents of Oceanus, they came to a mountain dell. The dogs were in front searching for the tracks of the beast they were chasing, and after them came the sons of Autolycus..."

Valeriana looks severely at Bjarturius.

"So that's the service you performed Severina Berinia? Is this then all your fault? I was concerned I might have goaded Severina too skilfully. What is this Eye? And what could it have to do with your friends' poisoning? There are many antidotes to poison - some of them even work."

Valeriana reaches the ruined temple and looks around, wrinkling her nose at the mess.
"So you're not all dead then. I suppose that's something. What in the name of Boccob and Nemesis happened here?"

It's beginning to look like it's time for the Monty Python battle cry.

I dunno, I kind of like the idea of not knowing exactly how badly damaged I am. Of course, I have the dubious of luxury of being two hundred and fifty yards away from danger. I hope no one is expecting any sympathy when you come trooping back poisoned and injured.

Only a few seconds (thirty yards or so) after the group leaves, Titus and Bjarturius again hear Valeriana's voice in their ear.

"I am not used to performing outside and I have misjudged the distance, if you need my help, you'll have to shout. In the mean time, I'll take care of the slave. Who you have left here, unsearched and unbound."

Guess who just worked out the BBCode tags.

As Titus gets to about ten yards away he hears Valeriana whispering as if she were standing at his shoulder.

"Do not panic, Milite. You and the Coruskian can hear me and I can hear you reply to me. I can maintain this communication whether I can see you or not. This way, when you need rescuing I'll know."

"I think the choice to oppose Severina Berinia was taken from your hands hours ago, Coruskian. I have no doubt that she is ultimately responsible for the harm done to your sister, though she claimed she 'dreamt' of a disease falling on Valka Spartica."
Valeriana's calm gaze passes over Valka dismissively and turns on Titus, her fingers tapping on the whip coiled at her waist.
"You are a fool to treat your word given to a slave as any more binding than a slave's word given to you. To bring the Domina Berinia's eyes and ears with us..." She shakes her head. "You should perhaps at least search him for weapons."
Valeriana looks out at the rocky ground in the direction that the guide-marker seems to indicate.
"I would dearly love to have seen Severina struggling across this wasteland." She sighs and looks down at her dress, already dirtied and slightly torn from the journey here. "Ah well..." With clear regret but no shyness she draws her pugio and cuts and tears the lower portion of the garment so that while it now lacks in modesty or elegance it no longer impedes swift movement or climbing. "Lead on, Priest of Kord."

(Out of Ballio's earshot, or in a low enough voice that he cannot hear).

"My dearest cousin is not so knowledgable as she would like to think, I doubt very much that the curse tablet or any poison that is beyond your dwarf's knowledge has come directly from her. Perhaps her slave can inform us of who in the household might be her guide in such matters, though I doubt he has direct knowledge."

She points at the carving.

"This is Severina Berinia's work, her favourite oath and inspiration, the Furies. This one," she taps the central figure, "is Alecto, the Guide of Vengeance. Does it seem to you that she is perhaps pointing that way?" Valeriana points away from the villa (NNE, although she's probably fairly vague on that detail).

"I imagine that we could force our way into the villa, and perhaps even find what you are looking for, but what then? Think you you could explain such an action? It was probably a mistake to bring the slave with us. Maybe a fatal fall would be best."

Valeriana takes in the information about poison without comment.

"I last saw Severina Berinia just before dawn. She spoke of going to the priest of Hextor to ensure the disease afflicting Valka Spartica would not harm her 'fair Eboracum'. I do not imagine her concern would stretch to individuals tied to those she has chosen to harm."

She looks over to Bjarturius.

"What service did you previously perform for the Domina Berenia?"

"There is no scent of sorcery here that I can determine. What has befallen in the night?" She looks around her. "I would come with you, though you could perhaps do me the courtesy of making it look like I am coerced."

"Be careful how you speak to me, Titus Albanus," Valeriana says icily. "I have a message for the giant Coruskian from Severina Berinia."
She allows herself to be led into the (crowded?) domus. Once out of earshot of Ballio her demeanor softens (slightly). In a low voice so that the boy can't hear (or after he's been shoved out of the way).
"I do not know what evil has befallen, but Severina Berinia spoke of going to the priest of Hextor so that it did not harm the people of Eburacum. I anticipate that the milites of Hextor will be attending this place shortly and it may be wise to ensure that they find it empty."
Assuming Bjartorius isn't too hard to spot Valeriana turns to him.
"My dear cousin," some irony is evident in her voice, "wishes to know that you will still serve her, and promises you further rewards as you have received from her before." Was that a genteel leer? Surely not.
"I feared that this errand of the Domina's might be to bring her ire to you but neither myself nor the slave have any such thing about us. She and some of her household worked from sundown in private and I was woken before dawn and sent here. I wonder..." Her voice trails off, concerned.
"I will search for another curse, but we must leave. Now."

"I think that would probably be as well, though I may be stepping into the dragon's maw."
Valeriana Pia smiles at the suggestion of altering the tablet.
"If only it were so easy. But she may not be at fault, it might even be an enemy of hers. Is there anyone new to the village whose arrival shortly pre-dates the first curse, not including Timoneus Nikanor's problem? Or did Severina Berinia purchase a new slave about that time? Knowledge of these sorceries is hard to come by."
At the further mention of Dominius Viusenius, she makes a dismissive gesture.
"He has nothing to do with this puzzle and we would do well to try to solve one problem at a time. I will tell you more when I am sure this will not put us at odds."

"Take or send your wife away for a time, if she and this thing are far apart then she may indeed recover over the course of a few weeks. If so, simply have it taken far from here and buried or thrown into the sea. If not, then have it destroyed. Advise your wife, if she recovers, to be more civil and hope that whoever is responsible is satisfied and will not seek to afflict you again."

Valeriana holds the lead tablet out for a few more seconds, if Ferto doesn't take it, she drops it.

"Do not talk of this, do not think of it." She stares fiercely at Ferto and Brinno. "Such things are dangerous."

There may be more conversation here, but once out of earshot of Ferto and Brinno.

"A tour of Eburacum visiting each place where this blight has struck will undoubtedly reach Severina Berinia's ears, and having seen the prayer to Erythnul carved on that thing it is likely she is at least in part responsible. Besides, I understand Vilmia is dead, there will probably no longer be a sign of such a sorcery and until I know what Timoneus Nicanor's relationship with Dominius Viusenius is I am reluctant to enter his lair. Instead, what would you do about the Domina Berinia, and her offer to buy or otherwise obtain the dwarf?"

"I do not believe there are others nearby. Such things give off a...kind of smell. Somewhere, there is a twin to this which allows the curse on Tamila Ferta to be maintained."
Valeriana Pia looks at the lead sheet with some dis-ease.
"Whoever made this is very skilled. Destroying it might free the victim of the curse, but would almost certainly reveal to its owner that it had been tampered with. Moving it away from the house, far away, might also free her without showing that it had been discovered."
She notices the anxiety of Ferto and Brinno.
"My grandmother was a sybil and I can sometimes see things that others cannot."
Valeriana (who has presumably had to pick the thing up in the first place), proffers the object to Ferto.
"Do with this as you will."

To Titus Albanus.
"That depends very much on what kind of man Timoneus Nikanor is. Domineus, he is a very bad man." She uses the name as a curse.

Ignoring, perhaps even oblivious to, Bjarturius' scrutiny, Valeriana Pia watches the search of the area, her eyes focussed, staring hard at the ground and buildings. Just as Titus Albanus appears convinced that nothing was missed by 'Nikanor's thugs' she walks to the back of the domus and brushes her fingertips against the plaster.
"Your pugio, please, Valka Spartaca." She holds out her hand for the tool and, assuming it is presented to her, scrapes at the recent plaster. "There's a shadow here."

(If Valka is loathe to part with her weapon, Valeriana taps the wall and requests that she scrape away the plaster just there).

I will join them. When Ballio shows up I'll tell him that the Milite will take responsibility for my safety and for returning me to the villa later and to convey my thanks for his service to Severina Berenia.
Valeriana doesn't 'chatter' but she does listen and she seeks to gain knowledge of the other curses and of Timoneus Nikanor (i.e. unless anyone objects I'll assume knowledge of what has gone before further up the thread).
"The creature dissolving into blood. Legend has it that Erythnul's blood, when shed, comes to life in the form of monstrous servitors. On the other hand, I have my doubts that T Nikanor's affliction is caused by a curse. Such misfortunes happen to many men."

Valeriana returns Titus' smile, though it does not reach her eyes. Assuming there are no slaves (other than Gravus) or other patrons in earshot she responds.
"No. But seeking MY secrets won't bring you closer to the Domina's. Although she asked that I approach the heroine here, it probably would be unwise for me to while away the whole afternoon talking with you and I should return to the villa soon. Perhaps your Coruskian with his great height could find Ballio to escort me back when our conversation is done? Although I am Severina Berenia's guest and have the freedom of her home I do not know what to search for, though I have discovered that she has a private room warded with magic. Would you perhaps wish for me to encourage her to invite you to her villa? Or, using Valka Spartaca's example, maybe I should say that strangers are asking questions about curses and simply ask her what is the truth of the matter, one patrician to another." She swirls the remainder of her wine in the cup. "More risky still would be to tell such a tale of insolence on your part that she is moved to lay a curse upon YOU." She looks sideways at Titus. "Sometimes a sharp sword and fair warning are proof against the darkest of magics. Sometimes."

Valeriana Pia smiles with uncharacteristic candour.
"Your friend the Legionnaire has already adopted the shockingly bad manners of the barbarian, how unfortunate that he hasn't also adopted your directness in action."
She pauses to digest what Valka has said to her.
"I was aware of the possibility of a curse on Timoneus Nikanor , that there are other curses is new to me. Severina Berinia has a fascination with the arcane, and could she inflict vengeance on others in that way I am sure that she would. How much risk are you willing to run to find out what she is capable of? She has suggested that she might wish to...inherit...your dwarf were you unwilling to sell him."
She looks around the forum briefly.
"As for what I want, there's a task that's probably better suited to you than convincing patrician ladies to reveal their deepest secrets. Ask Timoneus Nikanor how he would feel about being beholden to one Domenius Viusenius."