FIRST POST
One day you wake up with an unmistakable urge - the urge to RAID. Today's the day for your expedition to set off. What kind of house did you wake up in?
1) A turf-and-wood longhouse on the cold, rocky shore nestled in a majestic fjord. (Nordic-based culture, because you like the classics)
2) A semipermanent wood and canvas barracks with regiments training formations outside. (Expeditionary arm of a Romanesque legion.)
3) The floor of a cheap drinking-house near the docks of the port city of Nagakuro. (Think Wako pirates during the turn of the century. Black powder weapons available.)
4) A somnishelf in a crowded, run-down Outer Arm station known as The Mooring. (sure you can be space pirates if you want)
5) Got a better idea? Propose it.
First to six votes gets chosen. Later choices will require less votes, but this one's important.
>>46422777
5) A short squalid little pre-fab shack just on the outskirts of Nova city, a hive of scum, villainy and hookers.
>>46422777
>5) Got a better idea? Propose it.
A penthouse apartment in Neo Toronto.
>>46422777
Zeppelin sky pirates, in a largely unexplored expanse of sky, dotted with inexplicable floating islands of various size. Similarly inexplicable gravity seems to pull everything that isn't a floating landmass down into the increasingly murky depths that stretch downward for perhaps an infinity.
>>46422777
>2.
Lets be Romans, buckos.
>>46422777
>4) A somnishelf in a crowded, run-down Outer Arm station known as The Mooring. (sure you can be space pirates if you want)
Spess pirates a best pirates.
>>46422972
I'm down with Romans, sounds good to me I suppose.
>>46422777
>2) A semipermanent wood and canvas barracks with regiments training formations outside. (Expeditionary arm of a Romanesque legion.)
>>46422777
5)Mongol
In a large tent, your horse waiting outside and the smell of leftover food thick in the air. The general noise of the camp drifting through the entrance-way.
OR>>46422972
>>46422777
A run down grimy room on the backdrop of a seemingly endless line of sky scrapers. (Pretty much in the future everyone lives in a tower shindig. People raiding other towers. Tower wars. Trump tower, etc.)
>>46423153
>>46423177
>>46423265
Aw yeah, my fellow patricians, lets get to raiding and conquering the Gallic barbarians.
>>46423328
Hell yeah, lets see if we can become a general and pull a coup
>>46423309
WE WILL BUILD A WALL
>A turf-and-wood longhouse on the cold, rocky shore nestled in a majestic fjord. (Nordic-based culture, because you like the classics)
RAPE PILLAGE AND BURN
>>46423610
Going for the naval option I see, Otters.
SORRY I THOUGHT I DELETED THIS BECAUSE I WANTED TO DO MORE PREP
I doubt any of you original faggots are still here but if you are we're doing roman because I fleshed it out in prep more than anything else so uhhhhh hope you come back sorry
>>46425388
WOOOOOO, 'BOUT TIME, BUNDLE OF STICKS!
ROMAN, ROMAN, ROMAN, ROMAN, ROMAN! BURN CARTHAGE AND SALT THE EARTH!
So we're in a world dominated by the IMPERIUM ETERNIS. We could be one of three people:
1) an EVOCATUS veteran who knows no life but the Legions
2) A regional governor's EIGHTH CHILD looking to make a name in the military
3) An AUXILIARY enduring the term to citizenship
>>46425447
>2.
Fuck bitches, slaughter barbarians, and lead the Senate.
I'm going to go ahead and wait a little while on this choice because it is also very important. In the meantime for people that are here, let's talk about the system a little bit. I consider myself old-school, so action decisions will be made based on player input. For each story point, I will suggest a couple of possible actions as examples and always leave further possibilities up to the mob. Each mob-suggested action is only legal if it is suggested with a d100 roll. I will choose the next action based on a balance between what will drive the story best and what is most liked by the mob. If 2-3 of the suggested actions seem to work together well, it is always a possibility that I may combine them and their rolls.
>>46425520
So wait, does that mean I have to do my vote for the Eighth Child choice again with a d100 roll?
>>46425549
No, because it's not an action. We're just setting up the story right now.
>>46425447
>2
Hell yes, a noble who's not afraid of getting his hands dirty with the grunts.
>>46425597
You do realize that the Roman legions during the time of Caesar and Augustus were predominately composed of men who owned land and thus, it wasn't uncommon to see the sons of minor nobles and such in the ranks, right? It was actually expected in a lot of cases since Roman politics placed a lot of emphasis on military service.
An AUXILIARY enduring the term to citizenship
self made motha
You are LIVIA SORTITUS, fresh-faced LEGIONNAIRE and eighth child of the governor of ASTILIUM PROVINCE. One day you want to be a SENATOR, and this is your first step on that path. You hold the rank of TESSERARIUS, third in command to the CENTURION VILIUS ATRIUS (polite but distant) and his OPTIO MARIUS ARGENTEUS (very much a veteran; you’re not quite sure why he’s not a centurion himself), also acting (mainly) as administrative assistant to LEGION LEGATE GAIUS QUIRINIUS (the rising star of the IMPERIUM). Your position isn't very important in the grand scheme of things, and even a Governor for a father didn't get you the usual fast-track position of TRIBUNUS LATICLAVIUS in the Legate’s direct staff. That position was actually taken by your older sister, VICTIA. (She’s your father’s second child. This bothers you a little.)
You love being a part of the LEGION XLII INCENDIA, the newest Legion of the IMPERIUM ETERNIS. No one knows yet which part of the world the legion is being sent to, but everyone knows it’s going to be sent somewhere exotic and rich to conquer for the glory of the IMPERIUM.
Where do you HOPE the Legion is being sent?
1) The dark jungles of VEDA, originally conquered in the days of IMPERATOR ISKANDAR and lost soon after to the KHANIM BARBARIANS
2) The new continent discovered by the PORTO ISLANDERS far to the west, said to be streaked with gold and green. It is unofficially called the TERRA NOVUM.
3) The KINGDOM OF MIRRORS deep in the southern continent, a civilization that claims it has existed long before the IMPERIUM. Of course they are fools to believe such heresy, but their culture is so different that you have always secretly thought it could be possible.
>>46425898
>2
Also, women in the legion? HERESY! Nah, I'm cool with it.
>>46425964
Mainly in administrative roles.
>>46426007
Makes sense, but damn, stupid sisters getting the good jobs....
>>46426051
The fact that VICTIA got the job in the Legate's command bothers you a little more when you remember that your rank gives you 1.5 times the pay of the base legionnaire, while she's getting 15 times.
>2
Our glorious empire will always be the NOVUMest. Down with the pretenders!
>>46425898
As you rise from your cot in the barracks, you realize that you were awoken by the sound of the CORNICEN blowing the OMNIS ALARUM. You race to equip yourself as befits a proud Tesserarius and get to the parade ground along with your compatriots. You see Marius languidly stretching his neck - it seems like he might have slept in his armor. That’s an Evocatus for you.
At the parade ground a few minutes later, you fall into formation just to Marius’ right and behind the Centurion, Vilius Atrius. You are a member of the command staff of the Third Century of the First Cohort - an eminently respectable position. (if not quite as respectable as a TRIBUNUS LATICLAVIUS). As you’re waiting for the LEGATE to appear and make the announcement you’ve been called for, do you talk to any of your fellow soldiers?
Rolled 45 (1d100)
>>46426327
>Speak to Marius
"Do you believe we'll be heading for Terra Novum, Evocatus?"
>>46426327
Backing this >>46426402
Rolled 14 (1d100)
>>46426402
Supporting
>>46426402
Marius turns his silvered head to you by a sliver of a degree and smiles at about the same angle.
"I'm quite sure we're about to find out if that is so, Sortitus. I suppose I could confess to a certain preference for the Vedan barbarity, however. Something more... historical to it."
The legionnaires around you seem to lean in slightly. None of you have done much more than light training together for very long, so to hear the renowned Evocatus' opinion is a thrilling chance. The legionnaire to your right, a young man you know only as Faustus, pipes up.
"It would be nice to follow in the footsteps of Imperator Iskandar, Evocatus. But have you not heard the stories of gold in the Terra Novum? More than was ever mined in the mountains of Aurilanium!"
"Piss on the wind," is Marius' terse reply. "No land that didn't bother to come under the Imperial purview for five millenia could be so rich."
>>46426603
As you follow the further chatter around you, you catch a small movement from the command stage. It appears that VICTIA, your older sister who probably doesn't bother you THAT much, is attempting to surreptitiously catch your eye. Do you respond?
Rolled 75 (1d100)
>>46426722
Nod to our sister, making it clear that we caught the signal.
>>46426722
Surreptitiously indicate to meet out of sight of the others and see what she wants.
>>46426794
As Victia sees your nod, she slips you a very rude gesture under the shadow of her arm very quickly. You're quite sure that no one else saw it, and you're even more sure that it did actually bother you a little bit. Even though you're DEFINITELY SURE it was meant LOVINGLY.
At least you're a little gratified to see VICTIA blush a little and straighten her spine as her commanding officer walks in front of her up to the podium.
The Legion Legate, Gaius Quirinius, knocks the butt of his spear against the stage twice, the second knock suddenly deafening. The army around you snaps to attention. Some might find it surprising to a see such a fresh legion so responsive, but nearly the whole of the legion is composed of veterans that have been transferred. This is an elite new incursion force, and all the more respected for that. This adventure is going to rocket you to the political heavens - if Victia could get OUT OF YOUR WAY for once in her life. As you fume, the Legate speaks.
“I am Gaius Quirinus. I am the Legate to the Legion XLII Incendia. DOES MY LEGION STAND BEFORE ME?”
It’s a well-known formal opening , but even expecting it, your ears ache a little with the sheer quantity of the gathered voices replying, “YES, LEGATE.” The legion isn’t particularly riled just yet, but there sure are a lot of you.
Rolled 77 (1d100)
>>46426985
>Join in the response
>>46426985
“This Legion represents the elite of the Imperium. Each one of you has served in some capacity in the Legions before this day, and will serve the Imperium even better going forth. For in the next week, we MARCH to a land untouched by the Imperator’s custodial hand to bring it into the fold. We march to the western shore, and we SAIL to the Golden Land of which you have heard, inhabited by Barbarity Untouched by the civility of the Imperium.”
You see his stance shift and hear the change in his voice as he quotes the Epics. “‘And just as the snake ate the nestlings and the mother, eight in all and the mother made nine, so we will be at war as many years. But in the tenth! We shall take the broad-streets of that city.’ So said Calchas! And now it comes to pass. Stand your ground, you bronze-greaved Eternans, till Scipio’s great city falls.”
The quote does not fall on uncultured ears. You find yourself standing a little straighter, being compared to heroes. “I, your Legate, will share in this exhausting march and this perilous campaign. It will be natural enough to lose heart, thinking that you might do this work so that those safe at home reap the rewards. But it is not so! You and I, legionnaires, will share the labor, and share the danger, and the rewards are for us all! The conquered territory belongs to you; from your ranks the governors of it are chosen. So the Imperator Omnium has decreed - this Legion conquers to rule! So, I ask again: ARE YOU THAT LEGION?”
Rolled 96 (1d100)
>>46427189
"YES, LEGATE!"
Rolled 7 (1d100)
>>46427189
For the Imperium!
>>46427189
As you look around you, the zeal and the fervor of conquerors fills each face. And you see a bit of a different glint in each eye. Victia's - a touch of greed. Faustus - hope for glory. Marius - a strange sort of peace. Even your centurion, Vilius, can't help but break that Stoic mask for a optimistic smirk.
You're going to raid that land raw.
(While I do some more planning, why not some discussion about Livia's personality? We know she wanted to be a senator - but would ruling a new land be good enough? How much does Victia bother her, really? What's her command philosophy? Does she look forward to glory in battle or just the quiet glory of keeping her century well-supplied?)
>>46427340
>Her
I thought we were a son, but okay.
>Senator or new land
Either would work, only that we eventually have power to call our own eventually
>Victa
Not much beyond sibling rivalry, the higher position goes to the eldest first so it is irritating.
>Glory
Glory in battle is nice, but survival is better.
For the record of people who care, now that we've settled on a character and a quest, I'll be rebooting this in a new thread with a new summary after I get some planning done. Thanks for coming to the prologue!
>>46427793
You're doing this tonight?
>>46427908
Nah. Gonna mock up a map with some fog of war, name most of the Legion, that sort of thing
>>46428064
Well, do you have a day in mind for starting the first chapter then?
>>46428134
Glad to see that at least one person is interested! I dunno, probably gonna wait around until next weekend to try and draw some population. It'd be weird to start chapter one on like monday night, right? I'm busy tomorrow night
>>46428208
Fine with me.
