conversations: human
conversations:  For months now there has been a threat in the air. News spreads quickly in the great city, and all heard it when the distant colony on Trister came under attack almost a year ago. The small city fell before reinforcements led by Panarius Drusus could reach them. He refused battle against a numerically superior fleet, and withdrew his two squadrons to safety. Reinforcements were sent to the east, but several other colonies and client cities were sacked before they could be relieved. The whole cities were burned to the ground, and all valuables taken. The attackers were identified as orcs, but normally they wouldn’t take fortified cities, especially not that quickly. The raids came ever closer to Clusium, and there has been talk of defection by several allies who feel ill at ease with the apparent lack of protection. Deciding that they needed to act the Pentarchs chose one of their own, Manlia Iulilla, who was given command over the combined fleet and set out to destroy the attackers in a cataclysmic battle.
  
  Earlier today you were in the marketplace, where you heard about the defeat. The majority of the Clusian navy had been crushed by the barbarians, and extreme measures were being taken by the Curia. They had decided to buy up slaves and to offer citizenships, just to make up the numbers of recruits. As a freedman, you would have received the sum of fifty denarii, a considerable sum, and more importantly, a citizenship at the end of the term of service. Of course, it wasn't mentioned that the term was twenty-five years, which most would never live through. And this money would have to be used to purchase ones own equipment, although a part of it would come through loans from the state. Despite your current lack of money, this doesn't seem like the best option.
  
  You were speaking to some of your colleagues, independent actors, always lookign for another part, another role, another few days of food. It is forbidden for citizens to perform on the stage, and there are actors who are rich, but you are not one of them. You have not signed up to any troupe, those tend to be owned by a playwright who uses trained slaves. However, there often is a need for other parts, and that is the purpose of the free actors, to fill those in.
  
  Today there is a sense of depression and foreboding, with the war going so bad, it is likely that less actors will be needed. One of your friends has even signed up for the army. But perhaps fortune does shine on you. Lepidus, a moderately-famed master, has come. He is the head of a small troupe, and often hires extra actors. He looks anxious, almost afraid even.
conversations: Raunchel:
conversations: human
conversations:  Calvus Tristerius was many things, military man was not among them.  He often wondered what had possessed his friend Marcus to decide upon joining the Clusian forces.  Rumor had it that those boys were going to the front … and rumor had it that the front was no place to be.
  
  But still, it was not entirely inconceivable.  Marcus had fallen on hard times, and hunger somethings drove men to make poor decisions.  To be honest, Marcus had probably been won over by the promise of three regular meals a day rather than the fifty denarii he'd been promised for his service.
  
  Calvus, on the other hand, was not yet in such dire straits.  He had a little bit of money left over from his last engagement.  Not a lot mind you, but enough to keep the idea of enlisting in the Republic's service still seem like a foolish idea.
  
  Trouble was, the money Calvus did have would not last him long … a week at most.  He needed to secure some work, and soon.  That was where Lepidus came in.  Calvus set out to meet the man, keen on inquiring after any positions within his troupe...
conversations: Ski-Bird:
conversations: human
conversations:  As always, Lepidus was sitting in the Winged Whale, a small tavern at the market square. He is a balding, slightly overweight man who has several scrolls in front of him. Nearby are several of the freelance actors you know. Anchises, the veteran of a hundred plays who claims that in his youth he worked with Musonius Livillus, the famed playwright who wrote several plays that are still widely performed. There is Fabia, a young woman who received her freedom when her old master died, and has taken up a carreer in acting. She isn't a very good actress, so she finds it hard to hold down any good positions. And of course, as always, there is Marcellus. You used to share rooms when you only just arrived, but he secured a good marriage, with a shopkeeper, and now he has several meals a day. He greets you warmly:  "It is so good to see you again, Calvus! And in this place no less. You've obviously come here for tonight? Ah well, I guess that you should speak to Lepidus there first. I don't want to spoil the surprise." 
conversations: Raunchel:
conversations: human
conversations:  "Marcellus!  You old so-and-so, how have you been?"  Calvus says, putting on a cheerful face when he greets his old friend.
  
  "Yes, yes … you have found me out," He continues, loud enough to be overheard. "I am here to secure a position with this fine troupe."  He stops himself just short of lavishing praise on old Lepidus (although did not necessarily rule it out for later).
  
  Approaching the table, Calvus clears his throat to get the old playwright's attention.  "Master Lepidus?  Greetings."  The young man says with a quick little bow.  "I am Calvus Tristerius, actor … poet, and gentleman.  I hear tell that you may be interested in taking on a few of us actors that are worth their wages?"
conversations: Ski-Bird:
conversations: human
conversations:  Lepidus swirls his wine around and looks up from his scrolls:  "Greetings. I indeed am looking for those actors who have skill. Have you ever heard of Tarpeius Semplonius?" , he drops a short pause,  "Well, I didn't know him either. But it seems that he was the brother of Tarpeia Drusilla, who sits in the Curia. He fancied himself a playwright, although I had never heard of him, and to be honest, his works weren't good at all. They are downright horrible. But he has apparently died in battle, and his sister wants to commemorate him by having one of his plays performed  for her and some close friends. Normally I wouldn't touch that kind of drab, but she is in the Curia, and on the rise as I heard it. So, if you don't mind playing a fisherman, in a downright terrible play, and saying the dullest lines ever written, but do fancy a chance at winning the favour of an important politician, I strongly encourage you to accept my offer." 
conversations: Raunchel:
conversations: human
conversations:  Calvus nods along as Lepidus lays out the plan.  Calvus knew a thing or two about the nobles and their penchant for being told how great they were.  As long they paid, Calvus didn't mind … he'd acted in worse.  And he was desperate for the money.
  
  "Can I play a fisherman!?"  Calvus says in mock indignation.  "My good sir, you are talking to Calvus  Tristerius .  I was gutting fish long before I knew my letters.  It might even please my dear old mum, gods-rest-her-soul, for her to know that my lout of a father might actually have prepared me for something!"
  
  He chuckles and pours himself a small glass of wine, leaning in conspiratorially.  "As long as their coin is good … I'll act as their bloody fisherman, eh?"
  
   
   Spoiler: OOC 
  Calvus has both Knowledge (local)  (1d20+7)[ 25 ]  and Knowledge (nobility)  (1d20+7)[ 16 ] . (for familiarity with Tarpeia Drusilla)
   
conversations: Ski-Bird:
conversations: human
conversations:  You recall that Tarpeia Drusilla is one of the rising stars in the Curia. Her family was in a decline, no longer one of the great great families and supported by the Manlii. A few years ago she took over the family, and has caused their fortunes to imporve again, gaining some sort of independence from their patrons. Her younger brother has always been very full of himself, being well-known not only for his complete lack of taste, but also for aspiring a military career, to enter politics. It appears that such a promising career has been cut short by the cruel hand of fate.
  
  Lepidus looks slightly amused at you:  "You will make a fine fisherman, nice and inspiring. And the pay is very good. Five denarii, for two days of rehearsal, and the evening of performance. Plus of course any bonus that the lady chooses to provide, if we are faithful enough to the original work. I recommend that you read through this very carefully." , he hands you three scrolls,  "For the first read I'll give you a free pitcher of wine, you'll need it." 
  
  The play is terribly sentimental. It is about a nobleman who was raised in the city, but doesn't know real life. He gets shipwrecked and dredged up by a fisherman (you) who offers a plethora of life lessons, delivered in lines like: "Fortune is like a fish, your net has to be fine enough to catch it." Your part is mostly in the second act, where he learns these lessons, although you also feature in the final part, when he returns to his palace, where his wife (Fabia) has taken up an affair with a dashing officer, and the nobleman butchers them all in a very bloody way.
  
   "Meet me at my theatre tomorrow morning, I plan on having a cast together, and enough wine to get through this monstrosity." 
conversations: Raunchel:
conversations: human
conversations:  Even though his coin purse was feeling awfully light, Calvus was of a mind to celebrate.  It wasn't everyday that a job like this landed right when you needed it.  He left Lepidus and the others and began to make his way back toward the shoddy boarding house he'd been calling home these past few weeks.
  
    As he wends his way through the various districts - each poorer than the last - he paused at a temple of Nurtia and supplied a beggar there with a few coppers (it seemed a good enough offering to the Goddess of fate, the young man thought).
  
    Arriving home, he gathers a few of his things and lays them out on the bed, trying to determine what he ought to wear to the rehearsal tomorrow.  First impressions and all that.
  
  ***
  
  The next morning, he arrives at the appointed time wearing his finest robes.  Taking on this role was going to be a fortuitous turn for the young actor … he could feel it.
conversations: Ski-Bird:
conversations: human
conversations:  The theatre is a modest place, not one of the huge ones that receive large audiences. Of course, those also aren't owned by common people. Performing is illegal for citizens, and especially for the nobility, but they can still own such places. There is a slave at the entrance, who lets you in after asking for your name. Inside there is space for maybe a hundred spectators, but everyone is standing on the stage, where Lepidus is getting them to say their lines.
  
  There is only one person who is not with the others. A well-dressed middle aged man, who appears to be simply watching everything. Lepidus' own company is here already, but you are the first of the freelancers to arrive. He looks when you come in, and smiles:  "Welcome, my dear, dear Calvus! Have you had any time to look at your script?" 
conversations: Raunchel: