Collis Palatinus and the Bibliotecha

[Elendil of Númenor]

Celsus hurried to meet with Agrippina. He ran into one of the darker and less open wings of the Library.

OOC: Perhaps this could be stickied and used later on. I don't want to clutter up the 'Viae' into unrecognizability.

[Kubrick]

It was quiet in the library. Agrippina had come early, always the best to be the first at a meeting. When she heard foot steps her heartbeat raised and she peeked around the corner. An elderly man, no sign of Celsus yet. This happened a few more times until she heard hasty footsteps. For a final time she looked around the corner and saw Celsus walking into an even more quiet part of the library.

After a few seconds she followed him. In the hallway she walked towards him, took off her hood and smiled. 'Hello, Flavius. How have you been?' As she smiled you could see exhaustion on her face, as if she was under a lot of stress and didn't sleep much.

[Elendil of Númenor]

“Your son succeeded in murdering the only ally we had,” Celsus said swiftly and bitterly, without really answering the lady's question. “A fool, maybe, but an ally nonetheless.”
He sighed and invited Agrippina to sit at one of the tables as he himself took his place at the other end. “I do not wish to stress this but... things are not getting better. The grain poisoning when your husband died. Then this bridge that collapsed west of the Campus Martius. Our enemies are moving and we are just standing in one place, watching as those loyal to our cause are lost.
Have you managed to figure out anything? About the Order or the Chambers, the murders?”

[Kubrick]

She smashed her hands on the table and leaned forward, with an angry expression she hissed at Celsus. 'My son did what he thought was necessary. And why do you believe Marcus is dead? He was a strong man, phthisis kills slowly. I think he is still out there, enjoying a peaceful life in the south! I wish I could join him!' She then looked down, a bit embarrassed at her outburst. 'Sorry, Flavius. I've been working real hard to get more information, it's exhausting me.' She seemed to think a while.

'I have found out a bit more about the Order. Even for members they where very secretive.' She looked around her and picked up a very small rock from the marble floors and scratched the table with it, drawing a very rough sketch of Rome's walls. She also drew the Flaminian Way, then she scratched a circle on it, not that far away from the city walls. 'Look. Right there. The Second Chamber. It's a large old villa, the chamber is underneath it. The owner is Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus. Rich patrician, as all of the Cornelii are. As he lives there I'm quite certain he is a member of the Order too. Or he must be a blind and deaf man.'

She paused again, rubbing her forehead. 'Can't find anything about the other chambers. At least we have one more. And the Order itself, I have located quite a few members. Or at least I think they are members, you never know. But this is mostly the work of my son. Even though he did prosecute your friend Corvenus he is trying to fight the Order in some way. He is using all his contacts to find out who is part of it, where they meet and what they got to do with those terrible things. And what he found out.. Not much. I spoke with him a few days ago and he had an interesting idea. Usually there's a few links here and there if something happens, there's always a little line running from the crime to the people who might have done it. This time however, no such thing. Caius doubts that the Order has done those crimes.' She leaned further forward. 'He doesn't know why but at this point he believes the Order might have nothing to do with it.'

She sighed and leaned back again. 'Or they have gotten very good at deceiving us.' A moment of silence and then she jumped up. 'I did found out one thing though! I went to speak to plebeians who regularly roam around at the bathhouse and they had some interesting information. It seems one man was seen several times around the bathhouse. Always the same man. Now, not so special maybe but the thing is, he was cloaked and hooded and never went to bath. He was seen sneaking around and leaving then. This lady however, thought she recognized him. She worked for years on the market and the way this man walked and moved was exactly like a merchant she saw a lot on the market. His name is Quintus Tullius Rufus. Might be nothing, might be a jackpot. Visiting him wouldn't hurt.' She smiled, proud at the few things she had accomplished.

OOC: Hope I don't ruin your idea of the storyline here.

[Maiar93]

A man enters the library. He seems to be looking for something. He wanders around the place, obviously he is looking for something. He quickly runs to the end of the library, and notices two people talking at the end of it. He runs up to them.

I hope i am not interrupting... He is breathing heavily, obviously he has runned for a long time.

Yes, i carry a letter from Corvenus.. his last wishes to you, Celsus.. and madam, he said he wouldn't mind if you'd get to know of it too..

He gave a letter to Celsus.

Ave, Marcus Julius. By the time you are reading this, i am already dead. And i have a last wish for you to fulfill. Soon, a man called Manius Julius Scaevola enters Rome and joins the senate. He is a relative of mine. You must know, that i have trusted the continuing of my duties to him. You must find him - i'm sure he will not try to find you - and you must explain the situation to him. You will recognize him from his weapon: it is my finest gladii, the twin of the one i gave to you. He is sharp, strong, an excellent swordsman and an excellent politician.

I trust in you.

Flavius Julius Corvenus.

[Elendil of Númenor]

Celsus was pale and shocked when he saw the messenger. No one should have known that they were meeting at the Library. No one was told. Corvenus least of all. After reading the letter, he looked up. He passed it to Agrippina.
“I don't need a swordsman,” he said, the moment he saw the expression on her face when she finished reading. “And I don't need a politician.” He sighed, feeling exhausted. Yet he had done nothing. “Corvenus was the first man I looked for in Rome. I saw him at Carthage. He struck me as a man strong enough to carry out his will, to do what needs to be done. And now I see he was only in search of glory. He wanted to see a fight. Something from the great epics.” Celsus shook his head. “This isn't like that. Here, people are killed without remorse, heroes are murdered and forbidden to mourn. The liars and the vultures come to power when chaos and blood and strife poisons the air.”
He stood up. “We are no longer safe meeting here, lady Agrippina. Quintus Tullius Rufus?” Celsus paused for a moment. Q. T. R. Could it be? No, he said to himself, you can't be sure. Many Roman names begin with T or R. Is it even a monogram? Perhaps this doesn't lead anywhere – but nonetheless, the man might be worth a visit. “I think we should see him. There is a very narrow street passing behind the Thermae. A number of merchants live there. Maybe we could find him there.
“And how about this other thing. The Second Chamber. How do you know it's there, under the Villa Cornelii?”

[Kubrick]

When the stranger had approached she had moved her hand towards the dagger hidden underneath her clothing. Luckily she had not needed it. Still, the fact this man could so easily find them said a lot about their 'secret' meeting spot. She followed Celsus out of the library, together they walked in the direction of the thermae. When she finished reading the letter she looked surprised and pointed at the person who it was addressed to. 'Aren't you named Flavius? Or is it me getting older?' After that she gave the letter back to Celsus.

They walked in a fast pace and Agrippina couldn't speak all the time, just walking was exhausting her enough already. When they entered a busy street and had to walk slower she found time to speak again. 'If you ever need a man within the senate, visit the house of Caius Geminius Dives.' She took off her ring, it was way too large for her fingers. It was a family ring. On it was an owl, above the owl it said ANIMVS IMPERAT, below the owl there was a single word. SOPHVS. 'It is the old ring of my husband. Tell him his mother send you and show the ring, he'll let you in. He knows about the Order.' They continued walking. The day was hot and Rome was busy, so many people not knowing of what was happening.

'About the Second Chamber, I have many friends who like to help me. One of these friends is a shady figure by the name of Sertor.' She seemed to hesitate a bit but continued to speak. 'Sertor is a criminal. A murderer. A hired blade and spy. If you pay him a few coins he will follow someone and tell you everything about him or her. Pay a few more and he will happily kill them too.. Apparently a client of him wanted someone gone so he followed him around for a few weeks. His specialty is to make murders look like accidents so he observes the victims first.' She seemed to be disgusted about her own knowledge. 'Anyways, this one guy kept going to that mansion once in a while. And he saw a lot of other people going there too. He decided not to murder him within two or three weeks but followed him for months. In the end he killed him and tortured every bit of information out of him why he was meeting there. Sertor can be very curious. Thanks the gods for that, the man confessed everything about the Order and the Second Chamber. Sertor happily sold the information to me.' She looked a bit sad. But things like this happened and the information was useful.