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[Azthor]

Heading back to the Capital, yet before the parade, the Emperor sends for slave merchants; this kind of stain could not be tolerated, Clypem had been burnt to the ground in but a single day and so it would, under him, rise from the ashes faster than any other city in history. Arranging for the purchase of 18 units of slaves at 9d, the Emperor orders the city rebuilt to its former glory(-6 slaves, Clypem is restored as a size 2 city) and, in directly reply to the Isolationists' concerns pertaining neglect of the core regions, funds urban improvements all across Hadria ( -15 slaves, +1 size to every city in Hadria)

The parade...

The triumphant legions march into the Capital's streets in a triumphant display, for usually none but the Praetorian and the Emperors' own men may enter the Capital. Free bread is distributed amongst the populace and commemorative silver coins featuring the Emperor and the two Legates' profiles are minted in mark of the victory  (...)

After the parade...

Decisive action now would decide the Hadrian Empire's future, the Senate might oppose it at a later date, but for now, he'd do what he had to for the good of the Empire. Locking himself into one of his offices within the Imperial Palace, the Emperor gathers all information availiable on their new neighbours and tasks the Eye with finding out internal details, producing two letters. Soon, emissaries arrive at the northern cities  (...)

[Caellath]

The Praefectus eyed the letter he had received from an Optimates' Senator with suspicion. The solder was not a fool, and he wondered what the man had in mind with that letter. If he wanted to talk, he probably had something in mind...

"Call for Lori and tell her to come with me when I leave this building." he said to a nearby guard before turning to Kora. "Kora, I'm going out to meet with a Senator. He apparently wants to talk about something, but you are fully aware I am not a very trusting person."

Durant smiled slightly before placing his hand on the elf woman's shoulder. "I do trust some people, and you are among them. Unfortunately, the man who sent me this letter isn't. I do not have any reason to suspect hostility, but you are coming with me just in case..."

After finishing the conversation, hee turned his back, the noble purple cape fluttering from the motion as he stormed out of the building with a determined expression, a retinue of Guards joining him on his way out. "...If he has foolish ideas, we shall be ready."

[Dragor23]

Still by the ruins


Flavius was angry... This shouldn't happen. But the legion were unable to do anything. This city was horribly built for fighting a fire and with all that chaos it was wonder that nobody from the legions died. He sighed and started to write a letter to his friend, Lucullus.

Spoiler: Letter to Lucullus (click to show/hide)

Μυ δεαρ φριενδ Λτηκτηλλτησ,

τηε βαττλε οφ Κλυπεμ ωασ σοκκεσσφτηλ, ωε ωερε vικτοριοτησ. Υοτη σηοτηλδ ηαvε σεε οτηρ αρμυ. Ιτ ωασ γλοριοτησ ανδ α βεατιφτηλ σιγητ το σεε. Τηοτησανδσ οφ δισcιπλινεδ σολδιερσ, τηειρ αρμορ βλινκινγ ιν τηε στην, ρεαδυ το κιλλ. Τηε ενεμυ, λικε ρατσ τηευ αρε, ηιδδεν ιν τηε κιτυ. Τηε εμπερορ cαλλεδ τηε ατταcκ ανδ ωε αλλ ραλλιεδ ιν τηε κιτυ.

Το βε φρανκ, ωε μαναγεδ το βτηρν τηε ωηολε πλακε δοων. Οτητ οφ ακκιδεντ, Ι σωεαρ. Τηε φιρε σταρτεδ δτηρινγ τηε αττακκ ανδ αλλ λεγιονσ πτητ τηειρ εφφορτ το πτητ οτητ τηε φιρε. Βτητ τηε ωηιτεπεακσ σεεμ το δον'τ κνοω ηοω το βτηιλδ κιτιεσ προπερλυ. ωοοδεν ηοτησεσ, δενσελυ cροωδεδ ανδ ναρροω στρεετσ... Ηορριβλυ το σεε αλ τηοσε πλεβσ διενινγ, jτηστ οτητ οφ ινκομπεντκυ. Τηευ σηοτηλδ βε γλαδ τηατ τηευ αρε τηνδερ οτηρ προτεκτιον νοω. Υοτη σεε, Ι ωιλλ σοον ασστημε τηε γοvερνσηιπ οφ ονε οφ  τηε νεω προvινκεσ, σο Ι ωιλλ πρβαβλυ αβσεντ ιν τηε νεξτ σενατε μεετινγ, βτητ Ι τρτηστ υοτη φτηλλυ το ρεπρεσεντ μυ vοιcε ιν τηε κοτηρτ.

Αλσο, Ι ωοτηλδ βε ηαππυ ιφ υοτη vισιτ με ιν τηε φορεσεεαβλε φτηττηρε.

Υοθρ δεαρ φριενδ,
Φλαvιθσ.

[Tiruin]

"Lori? She's coming along?" Kora said after agreeing to go with the Prefect. "This will be interesting, then. Do you have any ideas on what else we've to do when we get there Praefectus?"

[Caellath]

"Sent someone to fetch her." the Praefectus said, motioning with his hand. "She is my advisor to most legal matters, since she's better at me at the language most Senate members are so fluent at."

He kept walking, turning his gaze to Kora. "We will just talk to the Senator. I do not think there is much trouble to be had, I am just being careful."

[Sheb]

"I thank you to come to my villa at such a short notice Praefectus. If you would but send your guards in that side aisle, I had my servants prepare a light snack for them. We of course have some better fare waiting for us in the Nacre Room. But I think you have not introduced me to that lady by your side?"

[Skyrunner]

Lori hurriedly walked down the main street of the Capital, following the armored guard (Guard?) who came to fetch her. She readjusted her bag of various supplies, including a flask of water, a pen, a replacement pen, and a backup for the replacement pen, then a couple tightly sealed ink bottles and a stick of charcoal, a slate, and other tools of her (side-)trade. Her pair of spears, one long and one short, drag at her other side and swing freely, but she wasn't able to do anything about them, as she was called unexpectedly and was scrambling to get her things together. Any poor citizen who got in the way of her wooden sticks would have to duck according to their ability or not. She stopped in front of the building the Praefectus would be in, and carefully tucked her bag so it wasn't visible as easily behind her cape, and goes to meet Durant, perhaps barging in on the Senator's greeting.

[Caellath]

"You are welcome, Senator." he said before motioning for his retinue to stand guard in the room adjacent to his. "If you have called me here, I suppose the matter of Hetairos is both urgent and important. Do not mind my retinue, they ate before we left our quarters."

He then motioned towards the female elf by his side. "This is Kora, one of my most trusted soldiers" the Praefectus said before noticing Lori arriving slightly late. "And this one is Lori, my personal assistant. If you have anything to talk to me, I trust them enough that they can stay with me during our conversation."

[Sheb]

"Well, I had hoped to see you in private, but who am I to order my guests around. Please proceed this way, I'll order my servants to make the necessary arrangements for our extra guests.

Moments later, confortably lying on the lectus triclinaris or eating couch, Lucullus started nibbling on a few honeyed apricot, a fruit he was the first to grow in Hadria.

"Well, as you know, one of your younger and more excitable Senators decided to make a few speeches in the Forum concerning a bill he wanted to present in the Senate. I know this is not the standard way, but he, boys will be boys, right?

Now, apparently some good-for-nothing plebeians used the stirring our young Hetairos provoked in the crowd to commit some acts of vandalism. Of course, we already dealt with the matters within our ranks, and Hetairos apologized to the persons that lost properties and stopped his speech for the moment.

I mostly wanted to make sure this was also clear with the Praetorians. The boy is really distressed by what he has brought, and I would hate if you were to add to his worries...

Lucullus waited for Durant to answer, looking at his three guest, but letting his gaze linger on Kora.

[Tiruin]

Kora nodded to the Senator as her name was introduced, and only until he finished speaking did she give her say.

"If I may, Senator...We do understand the man's plight, if that is the very same man we're talking about. He didn't mean to cause harm, but his words were misinterpreted by the people, on a wide-scale. I believe we are here to..." she trailed off from the last sentence into a silence as she saw Durant's expression. It was hard to read, being that he usually kept himself coordinated and composed, but she knew he had something more important to say.

[Caellath]

"I understand those matters, Senator." Durant started, his face basically unreadable as he talked, his gaze firmly locked on Lucullus. "The information I was presented with is that it was not in his intentions to cause any riots, although I was considering a more through investigation on the content of his speech."

He smiled slightly before continuing. "I already made some questioning in the last city he has been as well, and the people there did not seem as impressed and decided to cause property damage. My report to the Emperor shall contain the truth, and you can be assured no words will be twisted." he said, before completing:

"If reason for further investigation is seen, so be it. For now, this case seems to rest...For now. We have yet to see what will happen during the next Senate meeting. I wonder if there will be a new wave of riots."

[Sheb]

"Well, I am sure he would be glad to help you if you so wished. However, I would advice against pushing the matter any further than strictly necessary. After all, safety in Hadria is your juridiction, and you were unable to prevent a single hothead from provoking riots or controlling said riots."

Lucullus stopped for a moment to drink some wine.


What if instead of our young friend, a dozen agents from Whitepeak started instigating and leading those riots? Our proud Hadria would be in rubble. How can the Emperor wage war abroad if you cannot watch his back.

Now, of course, I know that your forces are stretched. The Guards is not what it used to be, before the Emperor decided to create an Imperial Guards to concurrence it. But still, were the Senate to look into the matter, would it not be better if the conclusion was that the Praetorian need more men?

I am a conservative man, and I respect the Praetorians. My own uncle served there, before the Gods called him back. But in the rough world of the Senate, no one is going to strengthen an enemy. Let us be friend, Praefectus, and we will both gain from that friendship!

[CyberGenesis]

Well, that didn't go as well as we had hoped...

He sent a messenger to find Eris for another chat. It took several hours before he was even found, and two more before he arrived to speak with Cain.

None of this came as a surprise to Cain after the messenger arrived to report with a black eye...

"You summoned for me Sir?"

"Well yes, but I've nearly forgotten why now..."

"I apologize for my delay - I was busy", Eris gave a slightly uncomfortable shuffle.

"I assumed as much, I hope that it was more productive than he last outing I sent you on?" Cain was growing impatient, he had work to do and the tools of that work were dull and tarnished. What he needed was a whetstone and some polish.

"Time, as usual, will bare the fruits of our labor - and for a given value of ripe," Eris smiled a bit at that.

Cain understood his meaning:  There was a lack of funding provided for Eris' adventures into the city. Of course this meant there was an equal lack of results, Eris was good - not a miracle worker, however.

"I know, we have time for now. I'm not looking to harvest in the near future. Continue with your work, we can use whatever we can get."

"Very well Sir," and with that Eris bowed his head slightly and left.

Cain sat pondering thoughtfully for a while before heading to bed.

I swear the gods have set me up to fail...

[thatkid]

Oh my, seems I've acquired a few admirers. Surely a few drinks will set this little trifle straight...

Calmly walk to the nearest inn and seat myself down. Buy three drinks. If the men follow, bade them sit.

[2+1] You manage to remain calm as you mobilize towards the nearest inn: [4] One which, while not very posh by any means, is able to accommodate patrons from a wide array of the social strata. It certainly won't look good to spend a lot of time here, but there's nothing wrong with being here either.

[2+1+1] Your purchase of drinks is more than enough to entice the men over, though it might very well be that you didn't need to do that to begin with. [1] One is relatively burly, and looks like he might be more than capable of handling himself in a brawl. He sits at the side of the table, just a little closer than arm's reach to you. [6] The other is a wiry, scrawny man with a rat-like face and a mop of chestnut hair. He sits across from you, and seems far less capable in a fight than his counterpart, but [6+1] you easily note that he has a dagger concealed in his sleeve, and, missing nothing, you can tell that he knows you know.

[1] After a moment, you realize that they are both elves. Neither one has spoken yet, perhaps waiting for you to break the ice.

[Caellath]

"My fellow Senate member" the Guard said "It would also be in your interest to know the reason only minor damage was caused was due to the Guard's reaction; I assume you heard there weren't any deaths or major problems, I assume? Moreover, the rioteers weren't many, acted with haste and soon disappeared...I assume you understand what this may mean."

He kept his calm demeanor and his inscrutable face as he talked, apparently unfazed.
"I am also sure your comparison isn't a good one, Senator. If Whitepeak agents rose riots, they would be exposed, arrested and executed."

"You are as aware as I am that investigations about the behavior of Senators have to be conducted with a certain measure of respect, unless you are saying you wanted me to deal with Senator Hetairos the same way I would do to an enemy agent."

Durant prepared to leave, motioning for his retinue to follow. "I would like to talk to you more, Senator, but maybe later, on equal grounds. When you abandon vague assumptions about the Guard's competence, for example."

Th Praefectus  offered Lucullus a short gesture of goodbye and turned around, not without letting show a brief smile as he left. "I also think Senator Hetairos is in his late forties. Hardly a 'boy' or a hotheaded youngster, I believe."