The Next Stage

Your hobnailed Roman boots, sandals really, clacked against the marble floor as you enter your brand spanking new war room. The room itself had a very classical vibe to it, with various columns holding up a tiered roof. Around the walls were various maps of Italy that you had managed to obtain. It was, however, the center of the room that took up your attention for there sat a massive, circular table. Around said table, was seated Strabo, several of his officers, and Andraste.

The denizens of your war room were watching with various degrees of stoicism, awe and intrigue as a floating hexagonal robot was busy painting a map of Sicily onto a sheet of cloth that was on the table. You had called the robot a ‘Meep’, mostly because that’s the sound that the robot makes when it is trying to ‘talk’. Kinda like a pokemon.

You take a seat at one end of the table and observe the people you had gathered, noting Andraste’s new casual wear. It was a Greek style exomie tunic that went over one shoulder and was tied around the chest. Surprisingly, Andraste managed to keep herself completely decent, even if one boob was showing more flesh than the other. All in all, it was an elegant design that suited her perfectly.

“So what are we here for?” Strabo asked, tearing his eyes away from the Meep to focus on you.

“It’s time we start getting frisky” you reply “Sicily is basically up for grabs, the Vandals are on the other side of the Med, and by the time they’ve sent a fleet we’d have dug in” you explain.

“An invasion of Sicily!? Are you mad!?” exclaimed one of Strabo’s men.

“A little, but that’s not relevant” you reply before turning your attention to Strabo. “We have the men, the equipment, and anything else we need” you tell him.

“We’ll need ships” Strabo commented, stroking his beard in thought “And we’ll need to train the men how to row them” he added “Supply stockpiles too” he muttered, “bacon, ham, grain . . .” he said, trailing off.

“Strabo! Sir! You can’t be serious! Where are we getting hundreds of ships from? Where are we getting months, if not years, worth of food from! Are the gods going to descend from the heavens and deliver these things to us?!” the rather annoying cynic ranted.

“Yes” was Strabo’s one word response. The cynic made a very peculiar sound that you never knew humans were capable of making, before calming himself down.

“What do you mean sir?” the cynic asked quietly.

“The gods will be granting us all the things we shall require for this invasion” Strabo replied “We wouldn’t be doing this otherwise” he added “Or perhaps you didn’t see the servant of the gods DRAWING US A FUCKING MAP RIGHT THERE!!!!!” Strabo roared, making everyone flinch including you. After a few moments, everyone calmed down and the Cynic dropped his head in shame at missing such a detail.

“It’s called a Meep” you comment “It’s spent the last few days getting a top down view of Sicily” you add, observing the very detailed map your Meep has made. You especially liked the little details the Meep added, such as the sea monster in the sea. With a soft chuckle, you petted your Meep, getting a happy ‘meep’ from the bot.

“Solus” came a voice you hadn’t heard in person for a short while. You turn in your chair towards the sound of Fortuna as she enters the war room, looking somewhat uncomfortable.

“Fortuna” you reply with a frown, noting her battle garb and the fact it had received some battle damage.

“I need a favour” she said, coming to a stop before you and folding her arms across her chest in that ‘self-hug’ girls tended to do when they were uncomfortable.

“Name it” you say softly, paying rapt attention to the girl as she looks up at you.

“I’ve . . .” she stopped and turned to look at the other men present before turning back to you and continuing. “I’ve managed to get the Merpeople on my side, but there’s a massive issue” she began. “They are currently fighting a war with creatures called the ‘Serpent People’ and aren’t doing well,” she explained.

“The Merpeople are the servants of Poseidon . . . they would be numerous and battle hardened” you comment as thoughts of your Great Enemy filtered through.

“The Serpent People can travel on both land and sea, whereas the Merpeople cannot” Fortuna began. “Somehow, the Serpent People have managed to craft a type of ward that keeps the sea out of their underwater palaces, preventing the Merpeople from getting in” Fortuna explained “This has allowed the Serpent people the ability to hide from Merpeople retaliation, while whittling down their numbers . . . Merpeople are mammals . . . Serpent people are reptiles” Fortuna continued.

“I see . . . where is this fortress of theirs?” you ask.

“Past Iberia and in the Great Ocean Sea” Fortuna replied.

“Atlantis?” you ask and get a nod from the girl “But that’s the capital of the Merpeople isn’t it?” you ask.

“Aside from Poseidon’s own Palace, yes” she replied. You sat there and thought for a moment, trying to come up with a way you could waltz down there and defeat the enemy. “I’ve tried god powers, they are practically immune, but . . . maybe you?” Fortuna told you. On a whim you tried to delete the Serpent people only to get a message popping into your head saying ‘action unavailable’. You grimace as you understand. Your patron was making things difficult for his own personal amusement. You thought about the issue some, accidentally taking up a ‘thinker’ pose as you did before turning your head towards the Meep who had stopped what it was doing.

“Get me a map of Atlantis” you tell the Meep and watch as it happily flies away. The word ‘flying roomba’ came to mind for some reason and got a soft chuckle out of you.

“Exactly how are you going to get soldiers to the bottom of the sea?” Strabo asked, predicting what your plans are.

“Submarines and magic” you say thoughtfully. “Submarines and magic”.