RomanQuest by Herbie Brennan Page A

city, including you. Go to 13 .
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    â€œYou win!” exclaims the wild-eyed man delightedly. “Come on - I’ll take you to the Palace before I’m tempted to make any more bets.”
    He leads you out of the enormous hippodrome through a back entrance and as you get your bearings, you realise the Imperial Palace is just behind the Circus Maximus across the Appian Way.
    Guards move forward as you approach, but (somewhat to your surprise) recognise the wild-eyed man at once.
    â€œLost another bet, have you, Janus?” one grins. “Better go on in. But mind yourself - the Little Boot’s in residence.”
    Hardly able to believe this is really happening, you walk through the huge entrance doors into a colonnaded marble hall lined with statues of a thin young man in a series of heroic poses.
    â€œThis way,” says Janus, turning into a corridor.
    You follow to find this too is lined with statues of the same young man. Janus pushes open a door. “This is the Emperor’s private temple,” he says.
    You step inside. The temple is immense, larger even than some of the public buildings you’ve seen. There is a heavy smell of incense in the air and beyond the altar in place of a statue of the god, there is a massive statue of the thin young man whose image seems to be decorating every other inch of the palace.
    â€œWho is that clown?” you ask.
    â€œIt’s me,” a voice says in your ear. “I had it erected when I realised I was really a god. Jove to be exact.”
    You swing round to find yourself face to face with the slim young man whose statue towers behind the altar. He is wearing a pristine toga piped in purple and has a laurel wreath set at a jaunty angle on his head.
    Janus’s arm snaps up in a Nazi salute. “Hail Caesar!” he exclaims. Out of the corner of his mouth he whispers, “Bow or something! This is the Emperor Caligula!”
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    Bow my foot. You’ve got three choices here. You can either take your chance and try to assassinate Caligula at 108 You can take to your heels and get away from this monster as fast as you can at 126 Or you can bide your time and see what happens at 154 .
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95
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    Something odd about this house. For one thing all the windows are heavily shuttered. For another there’s a guard on the door.
    â€œAllez vite!” he growls as you approach.
    â€œDon’t understand that,” mutters the Mercury phone in your ear. “He must be from Gaul.”
    But even without a translation, you can see he’s telling you to go away in no uncertain terms.
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    The question is, will you listen? There is absolutely nothing stopping you from allezing vite to 150 and selecting another destination from your map. If you feel like trying to get into the house he’s guarding, you can do so at 123 , but if this results in a fight, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
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96
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    Roll two dice:
    Score 2 and restore a single die roll of Life Points.
    Score 3 and restore a double dice roll of Life Points.
    Score 4 and collect a magic bow which never misses and will kill any single opponent instantly the moment you shoot it. Now throw one die to find out how many arrows you have.
    Score 5 and Jupiter will teleport you instantly to any section shown on your map at 150 .
    Score 6 and collect a beautifully tailored suit of bronze armour that not only protects you to a level of -8 in any combat, but also shines in the sun and makes you look like Arnie.
    Score 7 and pick up a First Aid Kit that restores your Life Points to their natural maximum each time you use it. Throw one die to find out how often you can use it.
    Score 8 and pick up five Special Life Points which you can add at once to your maximum total.
    Score 9 and Jupiter will transport