Plebs RPG Part II

Last week, on Plebs:

Having found themselves inadvertent heroes for killing a mummy while trying the steal two large crates of silk from an Egyptian merchant ship, the group plotted how to get away from the Navy yard in which they were being feted and retrieve the crates so as to run off to a much better life.  It was decided they would take the carriage offered by Commander Decimus and go to the pier where the silk was held.  Varinius would then leap out disguised as a mummy and frighten away any guards.  Unfortunately, Varinius was a bit premature in donning the disguise which was noted by Decimus as the party walked to the carriage.  Although Jahls tried to cover for the ruse, Varinius suddenly decided that it was time to practice his mummy act.  A shocked Decimus ordered his men to attack the "monster"...

Simodo tried to calm the situation by calling out that Varinius was an actor practices a play he was writing about the destruction of the mummy. 

To support this, Jahls and Stapulus began ripping the bandages off of Varinius' face but they got in each others way, and ended up slapping Varinius repeatedly. In response, Varinius walked away while Jahls and Stapulus continued to slap each other.  It finally ended when Stapulus struck Jahls with his stapling hammer and Jahls responded by driving his staple remover into Stapulus throat.  Each heavily wounded, they were easily subdued by the encircling marines.

Pignus tried to distract the Navy troops by bellowing an alarm.

He soon learned that sounding an alarm on a military base might attract unwanted attention.  He and Simodo were also subdued.

Varinius began walking toward the piers while the marines struggled with Jahls and Stapulus.  Decimus noticed this and stamped his foot done on a bandage edge that was trailing behind Varinius.  The force of the stamp caused Varinius to be flung backward, head-butting the miscalculated Decimus and knocking the trierarch to the ground.

However, his men soon subdued the errant "creature.'

In all the tumult, Cursoria quietly sauntered toward the waiting carriage and told the driver to take her out of the Yard.

Just as the carriage exited onto the street, an elegant litter escorted by two lictors blocked their path.  The Aedile had arrived and his lictors ordered everyone to be held for his questioning.

The whole party was taken back to the VIP quarters they had previously enjoyed.  This time however they were in chains, awaiting the fearsome Aedile.

This proved to be a 16 year old sprat in a too big Senatorial toga.

"Hi, I'm Quintus!" he chirped cheerfully. "Although I guess you should call me Licinius Crassus, because I an Aedile now, my first job on the cursus honorum!"

Despite his youth, Quintus seemed fairly well informed.  He assumed that the party had been trying to rob the Tefnut when they encountered the mummy.  He declared this a lucky break.  The authorities had been quietly investigating the man to whom the mummy was to have been delivered, a wealthy Egyptian thermae owner named Tutmoses.  He was suspected of dabbling in illegal occult activities for which he had been importing mummies for several months.  Quintus could not take direct action against Tutmoses, who had powerful friends at the Imperial Court, without more proof. If the group could find that proof, ie more mummies, Quintus was willing to forget all of the various capital offenses they had committed.  

"Do a good job and don't try to run out on me, OK?  I'd hate to have to crucify you!" He beamed.

The party agreed. Escorted by one of Lucius, one of the lictors, they were taken to a rich neighborhood on the Viminial Hill just as dawn was breaking.

The elegant bathhouse owned by Tutmoses dominated the neighborhood.

Lucius told the party he would wait at the foot of the hill.  Once they found the evidence or if they needed help, they should send someone to him.

As the party approached the recently opened thermae, they realized that at this time of the day, it was ladies' hours.

they first tried to bully their way in but were rebuffed by the several large bouncers, the leader of whom was obviously some type of battle-hardened veteran.

While Pignus loudly and annoyingly distracted the guards, Jahls and Varinius slipped down the side of the bathhouse to the public fountain.  Jahls stealthily leapt into one of the lifting buckets.

He easily gained the roof without anyone noticing.

"Ladies" Varinius called out as he pushed past the two women gossiping at the fountain.  As he tried to clamber onto the roof, they asked what he was trying to do. Why, sweep of course!"

When they said "You sweep the floor, not the roof," he covered their discovery by chastising himself for making such a foolish mistake.  He set off further down the alley.

Stapulus had observed this and ran after the ianitor.  He suggested that he give Varinius a boost onto the roof at the back of the thermae which was much lower.

Meanwhile, Jahls scrambled over the roof to the main part of the bathhouse.

Cursoria decided she would make a direct approach.  She indicated that she had been given a guest pass from her boss, Flavia, for a spa visit.  Although she was not on the guest list, she charmed the attendant to let her in.

Inside, she was met by an elegant woman, Lavinia, who would be her guide.

Lavinia gave her a tour of the elegant establishment

She extolled all the delightful facilities and services available.

Finally they arrived at the cozy garden.  Cursoria was offered wine and sweetmeats while she waited for the massage table to be free.

As she relaxed under the skilled hands of a German masseuse, Cusoria could not for the life of her remember what she had been sent into the thermae to do.

Meanwhile, Jahls scambled over the high vaulted roof above the baths themselves.

An old man approached Stapulus and Varinius, suspicion in his eyes.  He noticed that they seemed prepared to climb up the wall.  Suddenly, he beamed at them, " Ladies hours!  I remember when I was young!'  He walked off smiling.

With Stapulus help, Varinius was able to reach the roof surrounding the garden.

Back at the front door, Simodo was finally able to determine what would distract the guards, wine!  When Simodo asked if anything strange was going on in the neighborhood, the guards revealed that there was word of a strange, half-burned creature wrapped in bandages lurking around the bathhouse.

Realizing that the mummy they had battled must have survived and returned to its home here, Pignus ran off and found an old blanket and rubbed some straw and mud into his hair so as to disguise himself as a woman and be able to enter the bathhouse.

Varinius looked about the garden from the roof, unseen.

Seeing a basket of towels in a corner, he slipped down unnoticed and began covering himself with some of the towels to disguise that he was a man.

Meanwhile, Jahls had clambered to the back roof.  He saw Varinius slip down into 

the garden and followed after.

Unfortunately, his landing was not quite as dexterous as Varinius' but he landed softly in the basket of towels.  Varinius picked up the basket, Jahls and all, and headed into the bathhouse.

Pignus had managed to force his way into the bathhouse, claiming he was a worried mother looking for her errant daughter, Cursoria.

Realizing that the main floor of the bathhouse was unremarkable, Jahls and Varinius decided to check if there were any underground passages or rooms.  They decided to check the reading room first.  While Varinius scanned the ceiling, Jahls found a lever hidden within the scroll rack.  When he pulled on the lever, the reading table drew back reveling stairs to a lower level.

Pignus found Cursoria in the garden and attempted to rouse her by whispering that the mummy was somewhere inside.  Lavinia soon appeared at Pignus' elbow, inquiring what the disturbance was.

Realizing that he could not climb over the wall himself, Stapulus found a nearby entrance to the sewers and assumed that the water system for the baths must connect somewhere to the sewers.  He headed into them.  This was noticed by Simodo who was still drinking with the guards near the side of the building.

Lavinia shushed the pair and asked them to step into the reading room where they could discuss things without making a scene.  Once Cursoria and Pignus had entered, Lavinia reached for an unseen lever and a trapdoor opened beneath the pair's feet.  Cursoria and Pignus fell into the darkness below...