Foreseen My Death

**Foreseen My Death** is a case featured in *Criminal Case*. It takes place in the *The Search for Kassandra* chapter of Graecita.

## Plot

**You are now experiencing the story in third-person view.**

In Nova Roma, at the royal palace. Audenzia Diodora is in her room being dressed by Tara, one of the palace’s slave. The slave was nervous and she asks Audenzia if Augustus and his guards might harm them. Audenzia assures Tara that they’ll be fine but deep down, Audenzia was scared about what will become of Rome. Once she was dressed up in a green chiffon dress, Audenzia went to triclinium where the rest of the royal family were dining with Augustus. She glares at Augustus as she goes to lay on the couch next to Marissa and begins eating. Tara had also come, but instead of eating she sat on a stool and started playing the harp for the royals. Augustus chatted with the royal family and during the conversation, he was asked about how he was still alive. Augustus explains that no one can truly be gone and that when someone die, they live another life in a different place, depending on what the gods think of their actions. He then reveals that a few years ago, the Titans had risen to start a war against the gods and as a result, the gates of the afterlife have opened and many of the deceased have broken out, including Augustus and his army. He tells them that he and his soldiers have kept a low profile for years but when he learned that there is a number of true Romans who are still around, he decided to go looking for them so he could bring glory back to Rome. This got Carolus all excited, telling Livius that with Augustus they could make Rome great again and suggested that the go to war against Graecita, and idea that horrified Audenzia. However, Augustus was looking for more than just glory for the empire and tells Livius he could help him rebuild Rome but he expects one thing in return: The reign of the Roman empire. Before Livius could decide whether he should give the throne to Augustus or not, Audenzia immediately gets up from her couch and yells “NO”. She tells the whole family that they’ve been living for millennia in peace and that they don’t need to go on war against anyone for the sake of glory. She begs Livius not to give Augustus control over the empire, warning him that Augustus represents everything that he’s against and she tells him to think about Nebet and how if she was still alive, Augustus would not have allowed them to be together. But the mention of Nebet’s name only made Livius angry and he tells Audenzia to shut up. At first, Audenzia obeys Livius but when Augustus makes a sexist comment about how women have no place in political discussions, she snaps at Augustus and tells him that she has more rights of authority here than him. She confronts Augustus for coming to their land uninvited, for attacking their people. She criticizes his rule, calling him a cruel, cold-hearted and ruthless dictator and that she’ll die before she calls him “emperor”. Augustus simply stays on the couch, looking unbothered by her insults and decides to fulfill her wish by ordering the guards to execute her. But before they could follow the order, Livius jumps to her defense and announces to Augustus that Audenzia is pregnant with “his” child, the future heir of the Roman empire. When he learns this, Augustus tells the guard to lock Audenzia in her room where she will be provided just enough care to live until the birth of the child and nothing more.

Previously in Graecita, while Marionette and Leonora were arguing at the repast, Shirley had interrupted the fight to announce that Sveta Rasputina was murdered. This spreads shock among the repast guests, especially Marionette, Alex and Jennifer, who planned to meet her after dining. Alex and Marionette asked Shirley where they could find the body and she tells them that the guard who reported the murder informed her that it took place in the city library. Alex and Marionette rushed there and found the library in a complete mess with all the bookcases fallen over like dominoes, and under one of the bookcases they found Sveta’s crushed body.

**You are now playing as Marionette Patrick.**

Alex and Marionette took a moment to mourn Sveta before observing the crime scene, trying to decide if what happened to the oracle was murder or just a freak accident. They decided to consult the librarian, Emilie Bouton but unfortunately, she was hysterical, not because of the murder but because of the condition the library ended up in, and just as started calming down and becoming cooperative, she started feeling sleepy and dozed off during the interrogation. After talking with Emilie, the duo began investigating Sveta’s murder, finding reasons to suspect Vicci Soprano, the guard who reported the murder to the palace and the Olympic god, Apollo who was also Sveta’s mentor. While they were recapping the case, they were approached by Belinda who expressed shock over Sveta’s death, revealing that she visited her coven this morning.

When Belinda revealed this, Alex and Marionette decided to interrogate her and asked her what was Sveta doing in her coven. Belinda explains that her coven members were interested in learning about divination, so she asked Sveta to pay them a visit to teach them about the art and foresee their futures. After talking with Belinda, the duo went back to the investigation where their friend, Jennifer Tanaka ended up landing in their suspect list. They also learned that Sveta kept overdue books from the library, which got her into Emilie’s bad side and that she started a physical altercation with Vicci which he claims he had no idea what was the reason behind it. During the investigation, Alex and Marionette hear a scream coming from the coven and they immediately go inside to check what’s going on.

Inside the coven, they find a young wizard by the name of Reynold Wadsley cry over a deep cut on the palm of his hand while being scolded by Lavender Tonkin for being an idiot. Belinda was horrified at what she saw and asks Reynold how he cut his hand and Lavender tells her that Reynold tried to fix Sveta’s broken crystal ball, hoping to use it so he could see the future. Belinda sighs and tells Reynold to come with her so she could treat his wound and apologized to Alex and Marionette for raising any concern. Alex and Marionette reverted their focus to the investigation where they found that it was Jennifer who destroyed Sveta’s crystal after the prophetess basically told her she’ll be “forever alone” and that Belinda has divination listed under “dark arts and forbidden spells” as she believed that letting people know their future is harmful and that she hoped that Sveta would discourage the coven members’ interest in divination and was not happy with her sharing prophecies with the members as it led a few of them into having mental breakdowns. Furthermore, they discovered that Sveta had actually foreseen her murder and offered herself as a lover to Apollo in return for immortality but he refused since she already grew “old” and “lost her looks” so he saw no purpose in immortalizing her. In the end, Sveta’s killer turned out to be Grecian soldier “Vicci Soprano”.

Alex and Marionette find Vicci in the military camp stables where they grill him for Sveta’s murder. At least he tried to brush of the accusations but when he realizes there was no way out, he sighs and admits that he was hoping he could get out of Graecita before they find out he was behind the murder. This confuses the deo, because while it makes sense that Vicci would try to escape accountability for the murder, they don’t understand what good leaving the city could do because then where would he go? When they express their curiosity, this is when Vicci drops the ball and tells them that his name is not “Vicci Soprano” and that he is actually a citizen of Nova Roma called Victorinus Spurinnus. He tells them he was a plebeian, a person who had more class and freedom than a slave but viewed as no better than them by the nobles. He reveals that he used to court the daughter of the former emperor and was invited to her chamber for a good time but after they were done, he got caught by the guards and not wanting to sacrifice her dignity, Claudilla refused to claim him as her lover and therefore he was named a thief and sunk even lower in class and became a gladiator. Victorinus suffered a lot in the arena, being forced into fight after fight until he found an opportunity to escape Rome and he took it. He eventually crossed paths with Graecita and decided to blend in with them, living a lowkey life but a few days ago he received a letter from Nova Roma, telling him that his “crimes” were pardoned and offering to take him back. Once he gave him his story, Alex finally asked Victorinus the reason behind Sveta’s murder but Victorinus refused to disclose this, telling that they’ll learn when the time is right. Alex approaches him in order to handcuff him, but Victorinus yells the name of Naunaeon the winged horse, who kicks Alex away with his back legs. As Alex is laying on the ground dazed, Victorinus mounts Naunaeon, rides out of the stable and flies away.

After Vicci made his escape, Alex was quickly brought to the infirmary where Dr. Gibbs would treat his head injury. Suddenly, Norah and Jennifer show up to pay him a visit and concerned, Jennifer asks Alex about how he feels. Alex assures her that he’s fine and nothing is broken and that he’s just having a concussion. Relieved, Jennifer asks him and Marionette how he ended up hurt and they explain that they went to arrest “Vicci” for murdering Sveta but he escaped using a winged horse which attacked Alex on the way. After Alex and Marionette revealed what happened, they started talking with Jennifer about the prophecy Sveta wanted to share with them and how could they possibly know it now that she is dead. After discussing it, Jennifer and Marionette agreed that Alex should rest and that they should go search Sveta’s temple to see if she had any written copies of the prophecy in question. But before they went, Norah stops Marionette and tells her that Leonora wishes to talk with them.

Marionette went with Norah to speak with Leonora, who was waiting for them at her throne room. Leonora explains that she received the message regarding Alex and Marionette’s confrontation with “Vicci” and she wants to know if he made any mention of an accomplice. When Marionette shook her head, Leonora reveals that she’s asking this because she believes Shirley might be working with him. This accusation surprises Norah, who questions Leonora for distrusting Shirley and Leonora explains that she noticed her and “Vicci” spend a lot of time together so she believes she must have known he is Roman and she finds it suspicious that Shirley never alerted them. Norah tries to defend Shirley but Marionette remembers that Shirley told her that she came to Graecita with her husband and that he works in the military camp so its very likely “Vicci” might be her husband! Marionette tells the queen and Norah all this, confirming Leonora’s suspicions, who then tells her and Norah to confront Shirley with this information. Norah sighs and goes with Marionette to speak with Shirley, who nervously denies that she’s married to Victorinus. Although they wanted to believe this, Norah and Marionette knew they shouldn’t just drop this and went to the library to see if Victorinus might have dropped anything that’d tell them about his relationship with Shirley. Underneath a pile of books, Norah and Marionette find an ring with a symbol of two hands shaking each other carved on it. When they look at the ring, it reminded them of the one Shirley was wearing over her left glove, except hers was gold and the one they found was iron. The duo find this fishy, but they decide not to confront Shirley immediately and they decide to consult someone who was has more knowledge on romance and marriages: Jennifer. Jennifer explains that the symbol on the ring is called “dextrarum iunctio”, a gesture of consent and union between a couple, confirming that this was indeed a wedding band. She then goes on to explain that traditionally, in Ancient Rome, the groom would wear an iron ring like the one they found, but the bride would wear one made of gold, like the one Shirley is wearing right now. This piece of information proved that Shirley and Victorinus were indeed married and so, Norah and Marionette decided to confront Shirley again and they found her in one of the palace’s loggias. Shirley tried to double down on her previous lie but under pressure, she cracked up and admitted that Victorinus was indeed her husband. Norah grills her about Sveta’s murder but Shirley swears that she had no idea that Victorinus was planning to kill Sveta and claims that she didn’t even know he did it until they came asking her about him. While she was being confronted by the duo, Victorinus suddenly comes flying toward the loggia on Naunaeon’s back and he grabs Shirley by her arms. Norah tries to catch her but Victorinus flies away with Shirley, who was screaming as she’s hanging by the air. Victorinus pulls her up, mounting her on Naunaeon’s back and they flee the city.

Hoping to learn what prophecy Sveta had waiting for them, Jennifer and Marionette go to her temple to find any recorded copies she might have kept. In the temple, they found a silver scroll case but it was closed with a codex lock. The duo knew whatever was in the case must be pretty important and wondered if it contains the prophecy Sveta wanted to share with him. Jennifer and Marionette unlocked the case and found a scroll instead but when they unrolled it they saw that nothing was written on the parchment! This confused the two ladies until they observed it closely and realized there was text written on the scroll but Sveta had used an invisible ink for confidentiality. The duo recovered the writing using a dusting kit and it revealed the following text: *In the shadow of knowledge, the Oracle’s fate is sealed, tall and dark the culprit prevails. In the land of the horse, another one awaits for the owl, the dove and the two-hooved goat. She holds a vision that none can compare and knowledge with thousands of lives at stake.* Reading the prophecy, Jennifer and Marionette could obviously tell the quest was meant for them and Alex but there were details they could not understand, like what is “the land of the horse”? And who was the other oracle the prophecy was talking about? Unfortunately, due to the fact that Alex was in a concussion, the girls knew they couldn’t ask him to interpret the prophecy, so instead they decided to consult someone else- Apollo himself. At first, Apollo was unwilling to cooperate but Jennifer used her charmspeaking magic to convince him into talking and he revealed that the prophetess referenced in the prophecy is actually Kassandra of Troy and “land of the horse” alludes to when the Greeks invaded her city through a wooden horse. Once they heard this explanation, Jennifer and Marionette knew what the prophecy was telling them: They and Alex are expected to go to Troy and find Kassandra, who had another prophecy that they needed to hear to save thousands of lives that were in danger. Before they could go back to the infirmary to tell Alex about this, Apollo stops them and says that there was something they needed to know before they go look for Kassandra. Nervously, Apollo explained how in the past he had fallen in love with Kassandra and wanting her for himself, he promised her the power of prophecy if she would comply with his desires. Kassandra accepted his proposal but once she received the gift, she refused him her favors and he took revenge on her by cursing her so that her prophecies will never be believed. This information horrified Jennifer, who gave the god a piece of her mind and he tried to defend himself by claiming that he was “heartbroken”. Still displeased by that detail, Jennifer and Marionette decided they’ll just careful when dealing with Kassandra and they’ll find a way to help her with the curse.

**You are now experiencing the story in third-person view.**

After losing Shirley and learning the prophecy, Marionette went with Alex and Jennifer to Kaleb’s study. Alex sat on a chair, resting, while Jennifer started looking at and throwing the books from the shelves. Marionette stood there, confused, and she asked Alex what was Jennifer doing. Alex explains that several months ago, he and Jennifer received the prophecy to go look for Medusa and in order to get her whereabouts, Kaleb let them dig through his study and they found a book that had a map that led them to her island, Sarpedon, and Jennifer is probably looking for that same map. Eventually, Jennifer found the book that had the map, but when she looked at it, she was disappointed to see that it didn’t mark the location of Troy. Marionette proposed that they go to the library to find something that could help them but Alex announced he had a better idea: Pay Chriron a visit and talk to him into helping us. Jennifer groaned at the idea, and Marionette asked the two of them who Chiron is. Alex tells her that Chiron is the most centaur in Greek mythology, who lives in a cave in Mount Pelion and is known for his wisdom and mentoring many famous Greek heroes, including the great Achilles. But Marionette didn’t know Achilles either, so Alex simply tells her that Achilles fought and died in the Trojan War and because of this reason, he’s hoping that Chiron might know where Troy is located and tell them its coordinates. After a brief discussion, the trio held each others’ hands and Jennifer pulled out a hand mirror which she commanded to take them to Mount Pelion, Thessaly, Greece.

Meanwhile in Nova Roma, shortly after her fight with Augustus, Audenzia was in her room being undressed by Tara. Suddenly, they hear someone talking with the guards outside the room and then Livius enters the room and asks Tara to leave. Tara does as she’s told and Audenzia was now left in her bedroom alone with Livius, wearing only her underclothes. Livius reveals that he spoke with Augustus and managed to convince him into overlooking her “bad behavior” in the dinner, but only if she apologizes to him in front of the whole household and accepts him as the emperor. Audenzia was not happy with this “compromise” and says that Augustus can “go fuck himself”. At this point, Livius was getting frustrated with her and asks her to stop being stubborn but Audenzia holds her ground and she asks Livius why is he allowing Augustus to walk all over him. She reminds Livius that he’s the emperor and Augustus came uninvited so he has every right to turn him away. But Livius sighs and tells her that he can’t turn Augustus away when every one else seems to be honored with his presence and admits he feels that he isn’t cut out to rule Rome. Audenzia tries giving him encouraging word, pointing out that Claudius Messalinus chose him to become emperor for a reason but Livius shuts her down by telling her that the only reason he was picked is because he’s the only living male relative Messalinus had. He then reveals that he’s made his decision and he’ll give up his title to Augustus and that he’ll make a far better emperor than he would. This decision infuriates Audenzia, who yells at Livius and calls him a coward. Livius tries to calm her down, but she keeps on insulting him, calling him “ballless” and how “even a eunuch has bigger balls than him”. As he leaves the room, Audenzia continuing shouting, telling him how he is “nothing”, leading Livius to lock himself in his room and started crying.

## Summary

### Victim

* **Sveta Rasputina** (Crushed by a library’s bookcase)

## Suspects

Emilie BoutonApolloVicci SopranoJennifer TanakaBelinda
## Killer’s Profile

* The killer is fit.
* The killer eats snails.
* The killer bites their fingernails.
* The killer has black hair.
* The killer stands at 5'6" tall or over.