"There's a man who can certainly help me and might help us all put some pieces together. He lives out of town, once we find Ruth we could go there. Stratos knows something about Lycurgus as well. None of it is good and we're going to need all the help we can get. He's a witch and a very powerful one."
"Then we're agreed? To find Ruth. So easy to move when you own nothing, isn't it gentleman?"
"Now a shave."
"I'm breaking my own rule here, but you can use one of my scalpels."
"Oh and it's sharp."
"ouch"
"Nobody is gonna notice you with all those cuts."
"How do I look?"
"Well, I hardly recognise you, so that's probably a good sign."
"Perhaps a change of clothing... Paper you have an extra toga I can borrow?"
The change to Hrothgar is remarkable. Modius shaves him well, leaving a fine blond stubble and a shocking pale pink skin. Switching clothes helps as well. The small room is very crowded with all of you in a single fifteen foot square. The rain starts again. You all just missed it. Introductions are made. There is still some light in a pale grey band below the oppressive lintel of the clouds. The fastest way to get to the hills of the dead would be out of the gate to the wharfs a block away, then along the wall on the strip of land between the wall and the Bosporus. In this weather, no-one will be out there. There will be some parts of the trail that are a little slick and treacherous in the rain.
"You have, for good or ill, become involved in my troubles. Some of you have lost blood for me, and one has lost his house. I owe you all, and I will do my best to repay you. This city is not safe for me. I will get my wife, and not come back this way. Isat has a tube of gold coin, that was mine. I grant it equally to the five who helped me last evening, out of kindness. It is not enough to discharge my debt to you, so I will tell you a secret." He looks briefly at Stratos, sizing him up. He seems to decide it is safe to talk. "In the hills of the dead, there is an old tomb, that was robbed many years ago. Although thieves took all there was to be seen by mortal eyes, they were unable to see the true door to the tomb. It was hidden to all but arcane sight. I will show you this tomb, and the door. It is the tomb of Anaparos the sorceror. There will be wards and guards on the tomb, but also fabulous wealth. Enough to keep you all in luxury for a year, at the least. That is where my wife may be hiding. I am to meet her at midnight. We have a few hours. I can give you torches, and will help you in other ways. What you find in the tomb is yours. I have means. What say you? May I repay you for saving my life by showing you a tomb of old treasures from before Paul and Peter and the Christ?"
The tube contains sixty gold coins. There is a poison needle trap, which Levis shows Isat the trick of. There is also a spring inside, which keeps the coins within from rattling and provides the motive force for the barb. He hands Isat a tiny half-inch brass tube, sealed with wax.
"This is venom from the Manticore of Rhodes. It numbs the intellect, and kills in large enough doses. It is four centuries old, and still potent."
Modius makes the sign of the cross.
Recovered from his spiritual shock, Modius steps back and looks at Hrothgar in the makeshift toga.
"Maybe we should shave his back, too."
"Whose back, Modius?"
"Have you ever looked at your back in a mirror, Hrothgar? I swear you like an Aquitanian bull."
"This is venom from the Manticore of Rhodes. It numbs the intellect, and kills in large enough doses. It is four centuries old, and still potent."
Struck into uncharacteristic silence by Levi's offer, Isat thoughtfully adds the Manticore venom to his pack.
Taliesin
Does Levi give us any clue how this stuff needs to be administered? Isat can offer up a Knowledge check of some kind.
Carefully opening the tube, he divides the gold among them.
"I'll keep the tube. You never know when a trapped container might come in handy. Meanwhile we don't know if we'll have to split up. Better take the money now."
Paper examines the freshly-shorn and togated Hrothgar
"Hmmm .... not exactly Roman, but if you can stump about like you have a pickle shoved in your podex you could pass for a Picentine."
Paper ponders the statements Levi made, casting his mind back to see if he remembers anything about a tomb similar to what he mentioned.
The division of gold works out to 120 silver each. Remember that silver counts as gold pieces. The poison works if introduced to the bloodstream. It is the poison on the needle in the tube.
Paper
Paper has only seen one thing out of the ordinary in his eventuful life. A Goth turned into a wolf to run, in the aftermath of a battle. He got away, and only Paper saw it happen.
"Hey, Paper! I'll have all the Roman women now! Ha ha ha!"
"Hey, Paper! I'll have all the Roman women now! Ha ha ha!"
Paper sniffs at Hrothgar
"Perhaps you will if you add a good long bath to your disguise. "
"I think we all need a bath."
"Certainly. But if you think running the gauntlet of my landlady's questions to get one is a good idea, I don't. If Red's ready to be an officious Roman, I suggest we all start looking very humble, provide him with a retinue and get out of here."
"Agreed. There are some nice public baths fairly nearby."
Paper knows that all baths are closed for the storm.
It is eight thirty. Getting to the hills of the dead will take two hours if you go outside the walls, or three hours if you stay on the streets.
The storm is building up to be quite a display.
Rain will keep patrols off the streets, but to avoid notice will be easier outside the walls.
If you decide to stay in Hrothgar's apartment, it will make two nights that Levi's wife must fend for herself in the tombs outside the town.
If you want to get clean, there is a shower outside :)
"Let us become the streets, brothers."
Modius pulls a bottle of oil and a rag from his belt pouch and spends a few minutes oiling his sword and the buckles on his leather harnesses.
Modius may make the stealth check. Others may aid another with a DC 13 check. The rain and darkness both make hiding you all easier than normal.
Modius' modified result will be the DC of any guards on the wall to see you all.
I am assuming that you are moving north out of the gate, and travelling West on the narrow strip of coast between the horn and the Greek Wall. There is a footpath there, as the route is a popular shortcut. The gap between the forty foot wall, and the short ledge of sandstone that drops into the water, varies from thirty feet to five feet. There are two rough patches. A drainage pipe from the wall has left a slick mossy stream, and rain has made one part marshy. Neither is perilous, and the only injury caused by a misstep would be to your pride.
After an hour and a half of stepping carefully in the damp and dark, The storm comes down in force. Lightning is followed in less than a hearbeat by thunder. Wind whips the rain like a charioteer. You reach the join where the Theodosian wall and Constantinian walls meet. There is a guard post at the join, and you are forced to move to the water's edge to avoid notice. Visibility is fifteen feet. Three people suddenly loom out of the dark. After a tense moment, you see three fishermen carrying nets over their heads. Behind them are four fishermen carrying a punt. They give an unheard greeting in the storm.
Now that you are past the walls, the hills of the dead are vague presences in the night ahead. The construction on the Theodosian Wall is complete in this section. Water has pooled against the wall, and flooded the plain. You are up to your knees in muddy water, but there is plenty of raised land around here. A corpse that is mostly skeletal bobs in the marsh. A grave was not dug deep enough.
Levi quietly heads into the lead. He seems confident in the dark.
Perception checks please, DC 20.
Deception (aid another)[9,8]=(17)
Perception [7,7]=(14)
Distracted by the darkness and the difficulty of finding a safe path, Isat fails to notice anything beyond his own feet.
As he leads his companions, Modius fades so well sometimes his own friends can't see him.
Modius guides everyone through the storm. He gets in touch with the night, and is able to evade all notice from every possible witness. Even the flashes of lightning do not illuminate your doings.
Modius is the first to see a figure slightly silhouetted on one of the low cairns. Whoever it is is sheltered under a cloak, and laying prone. You would not have noticed, except that the man dug a drainage channel to deflect the rivulets of water coming down the hill, and a flash of lightning showed the right angle of his channel, in contrast to the chaotic lines of the rest of the water. No detail is distinguishable, except that whoever it is is being very still, and looking at the city wall. The guard is two hundred feet away. At first, Modius thinks that you have all been spotted, but closer watch shows that that is not the case. You are hidden to him, and as long as you don't move much, may evade his notice. The falling rain has hidden you all from him. Levi is still walking ahead, and may be spotted if you don't stop him.
It is this way. We should hurry.
Modius stops Levi and pulls him under his cape. He moves slowly to cover.
"We must move cautiously. There is a guard."
As long as you talk quietly and get to cover, you can evade notice. Make your plans. The guy under the cloak is a guard, or spotter. He is two hundred feet away.
Stealth: 1d20+2=20, Perception: 1d20+4=13
Paper hurries along with the others through the storm. He halts when he sees Modius stop, feeling wary that the small Iberian has seen something.
Due to the unusually good stealth roll, I am going to rule that you are all hidden until you deliberately do something to change that, or choose to reveal yourselves. Until further notice, you are all able to move invisibly through the stormy night with Modius.
To Paper and Modius, who are close to him: "Can we get close enough to catch or kill the guard?"
"Red could. With his new-found Roman respectability, the guard's not likely to be wary of him."
Isat wills himself to stay still and quiet. Darkness brings back memories he may not be able to control.
"Where there is one, there may be more. Gentlemen, I am sorry. I don't have the stomach for this. I am not sure why I came, but there is nothing I can do for you here. I am scared, to put it bluntly. I have powers, but I have never used them against a living person, and I don't think I should. I will go back now. Sorry again." Stratos edges away, and looks to be creeping back toward the wall.
Hisses "He knows too much to let him go! What if he is caught?
That sentry is not from the city. I worked on this wall. There was no night guard set in the hills. That is an enemy set to look for us. I am sure of it. The city patrols here, but they do not hide and watch. There is a chance that this is a grave robbery, but it is more like to be Rafi's dog.
In Persian to Stratos
"Stratos! Don't move. No true Persian should allow his fear to conquer him. My brothers will not take kindly to behaviour that can endanger them."
Moving back toward you all, hunched low. "I will keep a watch for you all outside the tomb, but I will not kill for you, and if I am in danger, I will run like the wind. I am a scholar, and I have only just found the true path. I will not throw my life away for trinkets."
"Levi believes we will find far more than "trinkets". Stratos, I have never killed a man and would not ask it of another. I think our paths are crossing for a reason, and who can truly understand the ways of the gods? They call us where they will. You know this."
To modius, quietly. "I know that you are a Christian, and you may think my gifts are from the Adversary, but I tell you now, my magic was penned by Solomon himself, and is the magic of the very heavens. I may need to show my power tonight, to protect what is mine. If I do so, do not interfere. I swear to you that I am on the side of good, and may God strike me blind if I lie to you."
He watches for a reaction.
Stratos speaks softly in a strange tongue, that is like Greek, but has more consonants and vowels. He ties a leather strip around his arm, and makes a series of quick gestures. The rain seems to slow as it reaches his skin. There is a thin band around him, like armour.
"I will not go into a tomb. You are welcome to the spoils. I will watch for trouble outside one, and signal if I see it."
Under his breath"Power is wasted on the meek."
The sentinel has still not seen you. Dark clouds continue to pour in from the sea. The river is swollen, and rising. This is no ordinary rain. The route you followed to get here may be submerged soon. Lightning hits a guard tower, and you hear shrieking and screaming over the wind. The band of thin gray light on the horizon is gone now, and the darkness is suddenly close to total. Unless you use a light source, you will all be moving at half speed. the only light is the stroboscopic lightning, which is a pulse every three to five seconds. Sheet lightning is ripping the sky over the city, and the wind is strong enough to cause damage to property. The storm is stronger than your estimates, and there may be worse to come.