[RTW AAR] The Life of Cnaeus "Victor" Albinus - Another Scipii AAR

**Benz282** · August 14, 2008, 01:05 AM

I'll work on a true introduction to this AAR at a later date, but for now, here's the important stuff...(can't help that I'm "somewhat" lazy

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Hi, I'm Benz.

This AAR is somewhat of a sequel to my previous AAR, "Rome - A Scipii AAR". It uses the same save and is based entirely off Cnaeus Albinus, one of the major characters in my previous AAR. I'm playing as the vanilla Scipii Romans, though I have altered my campaign a bit (mostly new faction colors on the strat map). However, events in this AAR will have few connections with the last AAR (with the exception of the first few chapters and flashbacks Cnaeus encounters), so reading "Rome" is not a requirement for reading this AAR.

Umm...so few pictures in the first Chapters...in their place, environments and situations are created with words. I hope the substitution isn't too much of an issue. There will be pictures for battles and of the strat map once the plot picks up though.

So, sit back, relax, and immerse yourself in the story I am about to weave for you!

-:-

Chapter 1 - The Triumph:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

The gates swung open, revealing the masses of peasants waiting for them. Cnaeus felt satisfaction in the fact that it was because of he that these thousands of people, each with their own individual concerns, took the time out of their day to welcome the triumphant legionaries back into the city; but this, the crowd would never know. For Cnaeus was not only a well-known leader of men, but despite likely belief, he was also a soldier. He had done his share of killing in every battle he led his men into, and he had also witnessed the true nature of men, as had every other soul in his company.

And so, Cnaeus urged his horse forward, with no emotion revealing itself on his face. Behind him followed a sprinkling of Senators, as well as the few loyal friends and companions that had survived the disasters and tragedies of his previous campaigns. Each of them were well-equipped, but not so as to confuse the townsfolk and diminish the importance of the mighty commander whom they all protected.

After Cnaeus and his bodyguards passed, the main bulk of the army passed through the gates; first the mounted legionaries, and then the infantry. As much as the splendid flags and polished armor of Cnaeus had impressed the crowd, it was the legions that would cause the populace to both respect and fear the might of the laws of the Senate. Each man carried a large, emblazoned shield, two pila, and a sword. And then there was the distinctive lorica-segmenta armor that all of Cnaeus' legionaries were equipped with. Indeed, watching the army flow through the gates into the city must have been intimidating. Each man was as expressionless as the last, and with all the metal that was moving about, it would have been nigh impossible to tell one man from another.

By the time the gates had closed Cnaeus, at the head of the army, was already halfway to the square, his destination. The whole march was simply to impress the populace of Antioch, and to let them know that after all these years, Cnaeus Victor had finally fulfilled his promise to end his campaigns against the Egyptians by paying his respects to Servius Virius, who had died conquering the city. Upon reaching the square, Cnaeus and his bodyguard would dismount, while the rest of the army circled the square and eventually marched right back out of the gates to establish a camp around the walls of the city.

Inside his helmet, Cnaeus was having trouble keeping his eyes open. He had had many sleepless nights during the weeks of marching up the coast to Antioch, and he was paying for it in his health. Each step his mount took seemed to increase the weight bearing down on his eyelids, making it harder still to avoid slumping over his horse.

As his eyesight flickered on and off, he became more conscious of the crowd lining the streets. As he led his company around a corner, he caught sight of a peculiar figure amongst the ordinary peasants and riff-raff. Immediately, his drowsiness disappeared, and his attention focused solely on the stranger. The figure was clad entirely in dark clothing, easily contrasting the typical, poor, natural-colored clothing of the peasant. Also unlike those that surrounded it, the figure wore a hood and long robes though they were obviously not the robes of a priest.

And then Cnaeus realized what he was looking at, and an old emotion managed to break the man's usual iron grip on his consciousness. Fear encircled his body, time seemed to move at a much slower pace, and all senses were heightened to extreme levels. His abdomen felt as if it were suddenly absent, and all muscles tensed. The sword that swung freely at his side was gripped in anticipation of the worst. For what seemed an age, Cnaeus stared into the dark recess of the figure's hood, while he could feel the figure's eye's staring directly into his, though he truly had no way of knowing for certain. The cheering of the crowd seemed to dampen, and Cnaeus' ears were filled with the constant, near-simultaneous beating of hooves and feet against the stone beneath them. Cnaeus' eyes closed for but an instant to blink as he swallowed to help ease the discomfort of the dryness of his throat. As the lids parted once more, the figure was gone, and Cnaeus was suddenly brought back to what seemed to be reality; no sweat had gathered on his skin, and even his sword was securely fastened in its sheath, and if Cnaeus had made any sudden gestures or movements, the crowd gave no hint to it. It seemed as if nothing had happened, despite the continued journey through the winding streets of the city.

Chapter 2 - The Dream:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

I could feel the grass swaying in the breeze, each blade rubbing up against the exposed skin on my arms and legs. It was a somewhat pleasant feeling, laying in a sea of grass, staring into the endlessly-circling white clouds above me, with no worry or care in the world, but this state of peace was constantly being interrupted by the itchiness the grass caused. After a while, I became used to the sensation and was able to silently lay in the grass and close my eyes. I didn't seem to be aware of the passing of time at all, all that my senses were aware of was the heat of the sun beating down on me, the wind passing over me and the scent it carried with it, and the rustling of the plants around me.

After laying there for an unknown period of time, I became aware of a new sound, as something walked through the field of tall grass around my clearing Somehow, I already knew what was causing the disturbance and part of my mind told me to get up, but my body continued to resist, not wanting to end the trance I was in.

- "Hey, sleepyhead! Get up!"

I groaned in my mind, but I immediately opened one eye to see a small boy standing over me. His short, curly brown hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat. He wore little more than a small beige shirt and pants, but in his right hand he carried a fallen branch, though he obviously fancied it a mighty sword, like the one his father carried around (but would never let him touch).

As the boy used his left forearm to wipe his brow, he said: "You know, you didn't have to hide once you reached the top of the hill, we were just having a race."

This was true: after we had each found a good sword amongst the other rubbish on the forest floor, we decided to have a footrace to see who could reach the hill first. We both knew I would win, since I was always the more athletic one, but it was still fun for both of us. I pulled ahead early on, and by the time I reached to top, he was still in the forest. I was tired and sweaty at the end of the sprint, so I sat down in the grass to rest as he made his way up to meet me.

The boy gave little time for me to respond, for by the time his arm had returned to its original place, he was pointing the tip of his sword at me.

In a voice that imitated his father's, the boy looked out to an invisible audience in the middle of the wilderness and said quite loudly: "Should I spare this noble gladiator's life, or shall I defeat him once and for all?"

Not wanting to wait for him to receive whichever response his mind thought to come up with, I glanced quickly over to my own sword, which was several paces to my left; too far to reach.

It seemed the boy noticed my glance, and in the same voice, he spoke again to the invisible audience, this time declaring: "Ah! It looks like this one still has some fight left in him! Prepare to be enthralled as I defeat him in noble combat!"

It was at this point that I decided to launch my attack. In the blink of an eye, I had rolled onto my stomach, wrapping my legs around his in the process, trapping them. The boy must have realized what was about to happen, but it seemed that he chose to pull his arm back behind his head to strike at me as I lay unprotected, with nothing to block his strike. However, as I continued my roll, he lost his balance and fell to the side. By the time I was on my stomach again, my sword was within reach. As soon as I grabbed it, I rolled forward, reducing the chances of him hitting me as I pulled myself back to my feet. I allowed him to get up as well, and a fierce sword-fight ensued.

They both knew the weapons were far from deadly, but in their minds, the sticks were swords sharper than a thousand knives, and they were famous gladiators, fighting an epic duel to the death in the center of a packed coliseum. The various noises made by the wilderness and the songs sung by the birds were in fact the cheers of thousands of fans, all eager to see the outcome of the battle. The clouds were all circling around this one battlefield, as the gods themselves watched each strike with great anticipation.

It was a long while before either of the boys were struck, but even when such an even did occur, they continued with their bout as normal. This contest was not about winning; it was about having fun. Beyond that, what else do children seek to achieve? At the end of the day, the gladiators would be bruised, battered and tired, but they would both walk out of the arena as champions.

After many minutes of intense fighting, I grew tired of the static positions and prepared an all-out strike on him, first by knocking his sword away from his body, leaving his body exposed for striking. I gripped my sword with both hands and drew it over my head. The other boy saw this and prepared to block the blow by holding his sword vertically above his own head. I saw this, but decided to attack anyway, and as our swords connected, a loud snap was heard.

In an instant, the cheering of the crowd was gone, and we were suddenly placed back in the middle of the field, staring at half of a stick as it lay motionless on the ground. What the boy was left with was not enough to fight with, as I would have a much, much longer striking distance than him, requiring him to get very close to do any damage.

Almost simultaneously, we both looked back at the forest, knowing that in order to continue our duel, we must go back and fetch a new stick for him to fight with.

We both realized it would be a long walk there and back, and we were already half-spent simply from these few minutes of sparring. And so I said: "We can just wrestle for now, I guess."

My friend nodded his head, but then changed his mind and said: "Nah, I'll just disarm you and take your weapon from you. Then you can run back and find a new sword to play with. I need to sleep a bit too."

I didn't want to have to go all the way back to the forest to get a new stick, but then again, I couldn't refuse his challenge without him calling me a "sissy". Besides, after-all, I did have the advantage, didn't I? So I nodded and crouched down, preparing for him to charge at me in an effort to grab a hold of my sword.

Well, as expected, he did rush forward at me after he thought I was ready. However, instead of going for my sword, he continued running, plowing me right over. I managed to push him off of me, but for some reason, we both started rolling down the hill at an uncontrollable speed.

We kept rolling for quite some time, and in the process, I let go of my sword/stick. We finally came to a stop at the bank of the creek, and as my head stopped itself from spinning, I heard a set of footsteps approaching. I managed to sit myself up and as I whirled my head around, searching for the source of the stepping, I was greeted by a wonderful sight. In front of me, was the prettiest girl I had ever seen. She had long, brown hair that was slightly wavy at the ends and wore a simple dress that identified her as a peasant, but not even that could detract from how pretty she was, even in the eyes of such a small child.

Apparently she had walked over to my friend to help him up first, but they were holding hands and talking. I couldn't hear much, since my mind was still blurry from the tumble down the hill, but I could still focus on watching every one of her simple, but nonetheless graceful movements. Then she suddenly broke the link between her and my friend and came rushing over in my direction. I could not help but get butterflies as she approached.

- "Are you ok?"
- "Yeah, I'm fine."
- "I was just picking flowers for my mother down here by the creek with my kid brother when I saw you and your friend rolling down the hill. I didn't know what was going on, but I could tell you weren't doing it just to have fun."

She cared about me. We hadn't even known each other that long, and she already cared enough about me to see if I was okay after a little accident. I was dumbstruck, and I couldn't find the words to respond to her. As I stood there dumbstruck, my friend approached us.

- "Say, what are your names, boys?"

Again, I was unable to answer. I knew I knew the answer to her question, so I opened my mouth, but no words came out. It was my friend who spoke first.

- "My name is Cnaeus, I am the son of Marcus Lucinius. And this is Nero Balbus, my cousin and best friend."

She giggled, then smiled and spoke to me: "Hm...'Nero', that is a nice name."

-:-

Cnaeus awoke with a start, suddenly jumping up in his bed. After realizing that he was actually in reality, he sighed and rubbed his eyes before examining the room to make sure nothing was out of place. Once he felt his bedroom was indeed secure, he got up and walked out onto the balcony, looking out into the city.

It was a truly spectacular view, the great city's tall monuments outlined against the dark mountains that surrounded it; with the light of the moon illuminating the streets. From his perch, Cnaeus could see most all of the city's residential and temple districts, but instead of admiring the view and studying the layout of the streets, Cnaeus' mind was preoccupied elsewhere, namely on why he was having these weird dreams.

As he quietly thought to himself, the eerie silence of the city engulfed him, and in his mind, he spun around in a never-ending abyss of a water-like liquid darkness. Then, this state of mind was suddenly shattered by the creaking of a wooden door and it shut. As Cnaeus turned around to look back into the room, the door rapidly slammed itself shut, leaving Cnaeus alone to wonder what caused it...

**D.B. Cooper** · August 14, 2008, 01:22 AM

Very nice, I will be reading. I have to ask though, why do you stick to Vanilla?

**Benz282** · August 14, 2008, 01:29 AM

Originally Posted by Ar-Pharazon

Very nice, I will be reading. I have to ask though, why do you stick to Vanilla?

I'm sticking with vanilla with this one because I felt the first one wasn't finished, and I didn't want to go through the trouble of creating a provincial campaign on a mod that would reflect the positions at the end of "Rome - A Scipii AAR" (way too much work....lol).

I chose vanilla to start with because...I don't know, lol. I just started playing a campaign and half-way through it I said to myself "Ya know, let's make an AAR with this!".

Story of my life

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**Xavier Dragnesi** · August 14, 2008, 03:00 AM

Even with Vanilla, it's absolutely great

**Aldgarkalaughskel** · August 14, 2008, 03:50 AM

Promising start, can't wait to read more. Some pictures could be included in the next chapter...

**Jingles** · August 14, 2008, 05:49 AM

Great work, Benz. This will make for some good reading I'm sure.

**Benz282** · August 16, 2008, 03:33 AM

Chapters 2, 3, and 4 will be coming out in the next few days (likely all at once). I've got most of the plot worked out, so all that's left to do is to "film" the stuff. I'ld like to note that this AAR will be updated once a week (but generally these updates will be large, adding several chapters). This is due to the fact that school is approaching again and this will be the only do-able system for me.

I'm also going to be experimenting with 1st person perspective, so please give good critique on it.

**RVFVS** · August 16, 2008, 03:42 AM

As always impecable Benz

**Benz282** · August 17, 2008, 03:40 AM

Chapter Two done...started at 2 am and finished at a quarter till 5, so I apologize for any rambling/mistakes there are in the text (though I hope you will still enjoy it).

**D.B. Cooper** · August 17, 2008, 11:16 AM

I like it, Ch. 2 got me wondering about what's going to happen. It was kind of jarring to figure out the whole thing was a dream. Very nice!

**Benz282** · August 17, 2008, 01:46 PM

Originally Posted by Ar-Pharazon

I like it, Ch. 2 got me wondering about what's going to happen. It was kind of jarring to figure out the whole thing was a dream. Very nice!

It was actually a flashback of sorts, but instead of viewing it from his own perspective, Cnaeus was forced to see it from that of Nero's (his life-long friend and cousin, who died at the start of his campaigns in Egypt). This "dream" actually has significance, as it recalls one of the defining moments of Cnaeus' life, as well as Nero's. In a way, it was much more so a nightmare (shown in Cnaeus' abrupt re-awakening).

There are two plots to this AAR so far; the actual campaign (which we haven't truly gotten to yet), and that of Cnaeus dealing with the ghosts of his past, as well as trying to find whatever it is his purpose in life is.

**Benz282** · August 21, 2008, 01:21 AM

Another update can be expected within the next few days. I've got the basic idea set up, just gotta finish the exact details. The first battle will either be showcased in the next update or soon afterwards.

Does anyone have any comments on the new "style"? I'm already planning to write the rest of the AAR like I did the last chapter, but any suggestions would be great

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