Monstrorum Misericordia

World of Darkness -- Pax Romana

The Knight

As night fell over the city of Rome on this, the second day of September
the citizenry of Rome mourned the death of its greatest leader Augustus.
The imperator had died only a fortnight before and his body had been
carried from the southern municipality of Nuvlana all the way to Rome. Along
the way the body of Augustus was displayed to a grieving mass of citizens
some hundred thousand of which had escorted the departed Augustus back to the
capital for a state viewing and a public cremation. While the public mourned
their hero's death with wine in the streets, the Senate squared off against
the heir apparent Tiberius, and the equestrian families began selling their
allegiances to whichever side would advance their position the most.
The death of the man who had restored stability to Rome after its last civil war
might well be the cause of another savage struggle for power among Rome's elite at
a time when Rome was especially vulnerable to enemies both foreign and domestic.

With these issues in mind Junius Secundus Cato made his way down the dark and
filthy alley that lay in the nameless warren of streets between the old
Temple of Luna and the Temple of Diana in the lower Aventine. Regularly
he glanced over his shoulder in concern over the possibility of being
followed. A concern that had only grown since he had slipped out of his villa
in the Piscina Publica the low-lying district east of the Aventine Hill and
begun the long walk west along the Via Nova. That street was the lesser of two
roads in Piscina Publica and was less often used after the fall of night.

Secundus had chosen the Via Nova for that very reason hoping to avoid prying eyes
as he made his way towards the Porta Ardeatina a secondary postern or lesser gate
that primarily served cart traffic during the day and which was often closed by night.
The other larger gate, the Porta Appia, was highly fortified and heavily staffed by the
fourth cohort of Vigiles and Secundus had no desire to be stopped at the greater gate that
serviced the heavy traffic of the Via Appia which paralleled the Via Nova, but whose width
and wealth of business made it the most popular road for both wagons and pedestrians headed
into the heart of Rome. Secundus being of the rank of equestrian, a knight, would be recognized
by any of the seasoned watchman and recognition was what the aging knight most wanted to avoid
this particular evening.

To aid in avoiding notice Secundus had dressed in the clothes of one of his man-servants and
and had left behind both his armor and bodyguards. At just over fifty years old Secundus was
still fit for combat if not quite so spry. The gullies along either side of the sloping road
that led up to the Porta Ardeatina were heavy with brush and a well known place for highwaymen
to waylay the unwary or unprepared. Strangely, the old knight had seen no sign of bandits and
had passed through the postern at the cost of only a modest bribe. Still he had felt an uneasy
sense of being followed since passing through the Servian Walls and had taken special effort to
throw off any pursuit rather than lead a tail to this evening's meeting.

Secundus' backward glance revealed the narrow entrance to the secluded alley that separated the
backside of a butchers shop and cheese sellers on one side and a wine shop and brothel along the
opposing wall. The alleyway was no wider than a man's outstretched arms, fifty paces deep and it
formed a narrow canyon on both sides two stories high which only revealed a narrow strip of night
sky if one cared to look up.

The old knight had only glanced upwards once to verify the absence of watchers, there had been none,
rather he chose to concentrate on his footing instead as the floor of the passageway was slick with
refuse. A narrow channel had been dug in the hard-packed earth of the lane which served to bleed away
a steady rush of unidentifiable fluids to the sewer entrance in the crowded street beyond. A powerful
melange wafted from the little ditch rank from a recently emptied chamber-pot, and strong with the
stench of sour wine and curdled milk. Such squalid alleys were commonplace in Rome and occasioned no
surprise for Secundus, rather what triggered his mild curiosity was the absence of both rats who were
Rome's most abundant pest and the mangy cats who primarily fed upon them. But being of single-minded
purpose the old knight dismissed such minutia as irrelevant to his mission this evening and made his
way to the end of the lane where he knew the rear door to the brothel lay.

There a bloody glow from a ruby-tinted lampshade above revealed the outline of a iron-bound door in a
shallow recess of the brick wall of the brothel appropriately named the Fortified Fornix. Opposite the
ironclad door was another doorway that led into the butcher-shop and between the two doors lay a large
pile of offal. Before the mound of fleshy remains sat a large black dog. So utterly still was the beast
and so dark was it's coat that Secundus' eyes passed over it once without registering it before he did a
double-take. Immediately the old knight realized the dog was not a run-of-the-mill mongrel so common to
the streets of Rome, rather it was a noble looking beast, if sinister in coloration and demeanor.

Secundus was not sure what it was about the creature that left him uneasy. It was of course large, as
large as a man if it were to stand on it's hind legs, but here it sat at ease upon its haunches with
front legs splayed and it's tail curled about itself. Perhaps thought the old warrior, it was the ruby
glow reflected so brightly from the dog's eyes that had chilled his blood and left him hypnotized with
an uncharacteristic fascination. Being a rational man and something of a stoic philosopher, Secundus like
his namesake Cato knew that the stories of hell-hounds and chthonian deities were the superstitions of
the ignorant and had no place in the mind of a rational Roman. As the ebony beast had offered no
hostility towards him the old knight turned his back on the creature and rapped upon the brothel door
five times twice and then four more times. The numbers and combination signified the number fourteen,
the number of Secundus' old legion and one that still harbored Tiberian loyalists from the time of the
Pannonian War.

As the reverberations of Secundus' staccato strikes upon the armored door faded, the portal opened
revealing a massive masculine form caparisoned in dirty leather armor and punctuated by a pair of cold
dark eyes, a crown of filthy unkempt hair and a set of teeth like a broken comb. Secundus had barely
offered the hand-sign of the goat and the password Capricorn when he was engulfed in a burly hug that
stank of old sweat and stale wine. Secundus pushed the door guard away laughing and clasped forearms
with the man.

Tullius was a Lombard who had also served in the Fourteenth Legion Gemina during the Pannonian War
five years ago. Both men had nearly died during that fateful campaign and bonds forged in the heat
of battle often superseded social station and in Tullius case, hygiene. Secundus was rudely pulled
into a darkened hall and the door firmly shut and bolted behind him. The older man looked Tullius
over as they conversed in hushed whispers. The Lombard had lost none of his prodigious strength, but
had most certainly lost more teeth, still his old friend was better off than many of the companions
they had each lost during the war, but he had obviously failed to rise further in the world and ranked
as only a brothel-house door guard. This saddened Secundus, but had nothing to do with tonight's meeting.

From deeper in the brothel came the sounds of music, laughter and general merrymaking. The party at
the Fortified Fornix was in full swing and the patrons were clearly unwilling to show Augustus his due
by drinking and fornicating with some degree of respect for the honor of a fallen patriarch of Rome. This
kind lascivious behavior left Secundus disgusted with disapproval for it lacked self-discipline and
seriousness for the dignity of the occasion. Tullius must have recognized Secundus' sour expression for
he jabbed the old knight in the ribs and showed what was left of his teeth as he pointed deeper into the
den of iniquity.

With humor turned all hard professionalism Tullius spoke in the harsh and guttural Latin of the Lombards:

"The Mother of the house waits for us Oldman. There is no more time for chit chat."

And with that pronouncement Tullius led Secundus down the darkened hall towards a flight of wooden stairs guarded by a muscular young Sirian whom the Oldman had met, but whose name escaped him. A quizzical look towards Tullius triggered a response.

"Gabr. Also of the Fourteenth Gemina, good man, but after your time."

Secundus merely nodded. At their approach the young man saluted with fist-to-heart as Tullius gave him instructions to guard the backdoor and called one of the two men guarding the atrium where the girls and the customers socialized.

Secundus noted aloud: "Your discipline is not as lax as such a setting would imply Legionaire."

Tullius simply showed more missing teeth and led the way upstairs. The second floor consisted of a balconied walkway which surrounded the atrium and all along its rectangular length stood doorways whose interiors were screened from outside view by simple cloth hangings or beaded curtains. True doors would be a security risk in case a guest became rough with one of the whores and would impead the guards in ending any funny business.

As the two former soldiers walked towards the far end of the balcony, Secundus noted that before each occupied room stood a water-boy, the term wasn't very flattering, but it did describe the services rendered even as it diminished their importance. Such men, and all the water-boys were men, stood guard while patrons satisfied their baser urges with the whores and then provided a bucket of both warm and cold water with which to wash after their carnal exertions and a towel for drying. Absently the Oldman noted that nearly every door had a water-boy which merely meant business was booming and that they were a rough looking lot, but as the neighborhood was poor it followed those employed here would also be likewise.

Just then Secundus returned his full attention to what Tullius had been saying that Iovita, the house-madame or mother as such women were often called in Rome, had asked for the aid of the old knight personally, saying only that it was of the utmost importance to the security of Rome.

Tullius had led them to the last doorway on the second floor and Secundus noticed that it actually did have a wooden door and that it was guarded by a large blond warrior who held a Germanic long-sword blade unsheathed and pointed earthward. Tullius introduced the Oldman to the guard who only spoke broken Latin, but who looked fully capable of killing anyone who approached uninvited or unannounced. At a word from the Lombard, the Germanic guard stepped back and opened the door for them. As Secundus stepped through the open door he had no idea precisely what he had been summoned here to do, but that the summons came from such an important woman suggested a matter worthy of his attention.

The Beast

The black dog remained sitting in the filthy alley next to the pile of offal as if it were his master's throne. The beast unconsciously cocked his head and pricked up his ears as he strained to hear what was happening within the nearby whorehouse.

The creature waited patiently, for it knew something of what was to come about this evening, not the totality of it all nor the specifics. But his patron had been quite emphatic in her request for accurate and detailed information. If her patronage had been any less significant he might have found reasons to dicker the price of his services for this evening, but she knew him well and had appealed to his nature and the black dog did enjoy a good hunt.

Just then

The Whore

Iovita

Death

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porta_San_Sebastiano

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regio_XII_Piscina_Publica

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigiles

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_in_ancient_Rome

https://www.historynet.com/espionage-in-ancient-rome.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Roman_legions#Early_Empire_legions

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellum_Batonianum