A courtier who drunkenly spoke her mind.

A barbarian warrior captured by the legions.

A senator whose republican sympathies drew suspicion.

A motley crue of nobles, courtiers, criminals and peasants had fallen foul of Caesar’s mercurial whims and found themselves his prisoners.

The twelve hostages awoke blindfolded and bound. Two emerged from their drugged state to find their bonds had come loose. Freeing themselves, they removed the bindings of their companions and tore off their blindfolds. The prisoners’ eyes slowly adjusted to the light as they found themselves in a small underground room lit by flickering torches.

They had no idea of how they had come to be in this place. However, before they could start to puzzle out their location they became aware of a more pressing issue: The eastern wall of their cell contained a barred window. On the other side of the window, a monstrous creature with the head of a boar, the hooves of a horse, and the muscular body of a man, moaned lamentations and pulled at the bars that separated it from its quarry.

Noticing the bars starting to loosen, the party thought better of dallying. Grabbing the four torches from their sconces, the prisoners proceded north through a heavy oak door. Ripping off the door’s handle in the hopes it would slow the creature’s pursuit, they proceeded north to an intersection.

To their left, in a miserable cell behind a rusted portcullis, the party found a filthy and emaciated woman accompanied by the corpses of two young men. Attempting conversation with the woman (whose sanity seemed questionable) they discovered that her name was Petronella and that the two corpses were those of her sons (from their parchment-like skin it appeared that the two boys had died of dehydration). From Petronella, the party learned that they were imprisoned beneath Caesar’s villa. The creature (or ‘Caesar’s boy’ as she referred to it) could not reach her behind the portcullis but hunted the emperor’s enemies with impunity beyond it.

As a visibly agitated Petronella explained the dire situation in which the party found themselves, Numerius Numerianus the colonus scouted to the east, where he found a large chamber suffused with the scent of roses. Carefully examining the northwestern corner of the room, he noted hundreds of bloody scratches made by human fingernails along the northern and southern walls, all at about knee height or below.

Another hostage scouted north where she found her progress blocked by a 60′ deep chasm that ran the length and width of a 30′ x 15′ chamber. Beyond the chasm was another room, barely visible in the torchlight. Strangest of all was a mace that appeared to be floating in the centre of the floorless chamber.

The party’s investigation was swiftly halted as the door to the south exploded in a barrage of splinters. Standing in the doorway was the boar-creature, its enormous phallus dangling between its legs. Suddenly, the creature raised its shortsword and charged, bellowing ‘LOVE ME!’ with bitter remorse.

Blocked by the chasm to the north and with only Petronella’s cell to the west, the party attempted to flee to the east through the rose-scented chamber. In their haste, they failed to notice the pressure plate in the centre of the room. Suddenly, the four hostages at the head of the party (the colonus Numerius, the barbarian POW Segovax Gallus, the criminal Carraco, and the bandit Juliana) found themselves dumped into a deep pit filled with rose petals.

Meanwhile, the creature reached the rear of the party’s column, and decapitated the criminal Euric Crowtongue. Aemilianus the deserter braced himself for the same fate as the creature bit into his flesh. Aemelianus survived the attack, bloodied yet standing.

Thinking quickly, the front rows of the party used the rope that had been used to bind them to attempt a rescue of Numerius, Segovax, Carraco, and Juliana. Carraco and Juliana managed to grab onto the rope and were pulled to safety, coughing up petals as they escaped the pit. Numerius and Segovax were not so fortunate. The floor returned to its original position, leaving the barbarian and the peasant to perish in the darkness, their lungs choked with roses.

Aemelianus, in a desperate act of heroism, led the creature towards the northern chasm, buying his companions time to flee. His gambit worked, but at a heavy price. Aemelianus was stabbed by the creature before falling backwards into the inky black void of the chasm, dying before he reached the bottom.

As Aemilianus plummeted to his death, the others proceeded more carefully through the chamber of roses, avoiding the pressure plate that had sent Numerius and Segovax to their deaths. Reaching a room covered in mutilated and half-eaten bodies, the party went north, where they found themselves in a large, circular chamber lit by moonlight which shone through a grate in the ceiling 40′ above.

Conscious that the creature was still nearby and that their torches were starting to sputter, the prisoners went through a doorway to the east where they found four more torches and a message daubed in blood on the wall: The beast hates water.

Quickly grabbing the torches, the party proceeded south through a flooded chamber, emerging through a narrow corridor into a mostly empty room. The party barely had time to explore before the creature again came charging at them from the north. Quickly examining their options, the hostages opted to follow a strange blue light to the south.

Fleeing as quick as they could, the party emerged into a large, natural chamber lit by strange glowing mushrooms. At the centre of the chamber, perched upon a pile of rocks, was a strange shadowy form cloaked in enormous, capelike wings. Unfortunately for the hunted prisoners, the cavern was a dead end and the boar-creature was in hot pursuit.

Desperate, the noble-born Marcus Salvius Pullonicus addressed the winged form, announcing himself as a senator who could perhaps be of aid to her. The shadowy creature spread her black wings to reveal a femine form of white, translucent skin and an alien face (three black holes set in alabaster flesh). With a casual air of authority, the winged creature dismissed the boar-headed monstrosity with a wave of her hand. She addressed the terrified prisoners in a hissing, serpentine whisper: ‘Perhapssss. On this night . . . you may be of use to me….’

Deaths

Numerius Numerianus the Colonus: Fatal floral asphyxiation

Segovax Gallus the Barbarian: Fatal floral asphyxiation

Euric Crowtongue the Thief: Decapitated by a boar-headed monstrosity

Aemilianus the Deserter: Sacrified himself to save his companions. Stabbed with a shortsword before falling 60′ and having his spine snapped like a twig.