The Eye Of Jupiter

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**The Eye of Jupiter** is a one shot episode. It tells the story of a group of relic hunters that somehow finds themselves transported to the Roman era.

It was played to test the role-playing system, a retooling of the Apocalypse World System, Nick was working on.

## **Characters**

* **Gregory Page**. A very thin, lanky man, with grey hair and wearing a jumpsuit.
* **Logan Savage**. A 5’11” woman with red hair, green eyes, lots of makeup, and wearing black clothes and a burgundy leather jacket. She's quiet, but with a bit of a temper. She also has telekinetic powers.
* **Marcus “the smuggler”**. A gentleman thief who wears strange mask. He deals in relics.
* **Brunch Jackson**. a towering man wearing black tactical armor. He is armed with a combat shotgun.

## **Plot Synopsis**

### **Part One**

On a summer evening, a group of four people lie unconscious on a grassy hillside near a sea. As their consciousness returns, they realize that while they know each
other, they don’t know where they are, or why they are here. All they can vaguely recall is that they were sent by someone to ‘acquire’ something.

They soon realize that they are not alone, as an unfamiliar fifth person, a young boy dressed in a white robe and sandals, is lying near them, also unconscious. This boy appears to have been in a fight, as he is somewhat bruised. A quick search through their belongings reveal that they have also been robbed: Brunch is missing his shotgun and Gregory and Logan are missing their flashlights.

Not too far away, they spot a town. They decide to go there and they take the boy with them. When they arrive at the town, they notice that the guards at the gate are wearing Roman armor and when the guards call out to them, they realize that somehow they can understand Latin and that they somehow managed to go back in time. The centurion of the Watch recognizes the boy as Agrippa, the son of Nona, the proprietor of a tavern in town.

In order to determine what year they are in, Logan asks if Jesus is still alive. The centurion replies that the ‘heretic’ died some decades ago. This causes the guards to become very suspicious of the strangely dressed group, and they refuse to allow the group entry into the town. Marcus manages to convince the guards to let them in by telling them they want to bring Agrippa to his mother.

On their
way to the tavern, the group asks the centurion that is escorting them where they are. He replies that they bay that they can see from here, is the bay of Napoli (Naples). The centurion is also curious about the strange armor that brunch is wearing, but Brunch tells him he can’t talk about that, because “If I told you, I would have to kill you”.

They finally arrive at the tavern, and they deliver Agrippa to his, very concerned, mother. Gregory offers to diagnose the boy in exchange for lodgings for the night, and manages to heal him enough to wake him up. Agrippa tells them that he was knocked out when he tried to prevent three thugs, named Publius, Servius and Vibius, from robbing them. He knows where these thugs usually hang out. Nona thinks it’s too dangerous for him to go out any more, so Brunch, Gregory and Logan sneak outside with him instead.

When they locate the three people who robbed them, the thugs are going over the items they stole from them, not understanding what most of them do. Logan uses her telekinesis to push over the barrel on which one of the thugs is sitting. Marcus tries to intimidate the group by invoking the wrath of the gods, but this only frightens them and they try to get away.

Brunch charges them, and tries to clothesline one of the thugs, who is wielding the shotgun as a club. This causes the shotgun to go off, but Brunch’s shield and armor manage to deflect the damage. Marcus tries to cut the other two off, but gets lost in the back alleys of the town. Logan topples more barrels which stops the two who were running away.

Marcus, having doubled back, suggests handing everything they stole back. One of the thugs still tries to get away, but gets telekinetically slammed by Logan for his effort. This finally convinces them to give the group's stuff back, plus a recording device and a strange golden medallion the group has never seen before.

As they return to the tavern, Agrippa suggests that Brunch would do well in the gymnasium (palaestra) and might even give Decimus a run for his money. When they get back, Nona’s very upset that they left, but Marcus manages to smooth things over with her and the group settles in for the night.

They listen
to the audio recording that they took from the thugs. It is from a guy named Fergus Sheppard and intended for them. He is after a trinket called “The Eye Of Jupiter”, which is lost to time and last seen in Pompeii. So, he sent them back
in time to get it for him. Finally, he suggests that the group hurry with their task, as they have about a day “before that whole place goes to hell”.

### **Part Two**

The group is very concerned that they are sitting on a volcano that can erupt at any moment, and they decide to start looking for the Eye immediately. They learn from Nona and Agrippa that the Eye is normally kept within the Temple of Jupiter. Gregory is able to recall that Jupiter’s domain is ‘Life’, which prompts Marcus to suggest that stealing it may lead to the volcano erupting. Meanwhile, Logan has studied the runed medallion and she figures may be the thing that brought them here and which will allow them to return to their own time.

They head out to the temple of Jupiter, but find it is closed for the night. Marcus tries to
sneak in anyway, but knocks something over and startling an old priest. Marcus manages to convince the priest that they are merely there to pay their respects for their safe arrival here. The priest tells him that he can do augury and
that a change is coming. He also tells him that the Eye is held by Decimus Calidius at the moment. Brunch is excited to hear it and they return to the tavern and go to sleep.

In the
morning, Agrippa tells about Decimus: he is the chief Centurion and the wresting champion at the gymnasium. Nona adds that he’s also a braggart and a womanizer. Marcus asks Logan if she is willing to seduce Decimus, which she categorically refuses, so they decide to have Brunch challenge Decimus. If
Brunch wins, he takes the medallion, if he loses he chums up and tries to steal the medallion that way.

Arriving at the gymnasium, they see Decimus working the crowd before going in and doing his workout for the day. Marcus and Brunch go in after him, while Gregory and Logan stand watch outside.

Brunch strikes up a conversation with Decimus, in which he taunts Decimus to give the eye to him, because he is stronger and a match between them is a foregone conclusion. Decimus is incredulous and tells one of the other wrestlers, Gaius, to take Brunch on instead.

The wrestling match is over pretty quickly: Brunch immediately manages to take Gaius down and into a hold. Gaius tries to break free from this, but gets lifted up and slammed into the ground, knocking him unconscious.

This impresses Decimus enough that he agrees to the duel between him and Brunch. But he wants the duel to be at the coliseum at dusk and tells everyone to spread the word. The group isn't happy with this, as Logan figures that the medallion that can get them back has a limited supply of power, and that they need to get out of the city by midday.

At this point, the gymnasium is empty, except for the group and Decimus, so Gregory decides to the opportunity to simply kill Decimus without any witnesses. He fires a shot with his pistol, but it miraculously misses the champion.

After this attempt, Marcus tries a different tactic and tells Decimus  they came to Pompeii because they received an omen and believe a disaster will strike it. He tells Decimus that they also believe he’ll be the cause of Pompeii’s misfortune. Decimus finds this hard to believe, but Marcus manages to convince him to come to Rome with them to clarify the omen. As they leave the gymnasium to go to Rome, Logan manages to take a good look the Eye Of Jupiter. She concludes it is an artifact of incalculable power and she mentions to Gregory that the Artifact was most likely the reason he missed his shot.

They leave town by the same gate as they entered, but as soon as Decimus leaves the town, Vesuvius erupts. In the resulting confusion, Logan uses her telekinesis to rip the Eye off Decimus, while Marcus shoots him to prevent him from following them.

After obtaining the Eye, they run for the hill they regained consciousness on, and manage to arrive and activate the runed medallion just before the pyroclastic flow of the eruption overtakes them. The medallion transports them to the cottage of Fergus Sheppard, where they hand him the Eye Of Jupiter in exchange for £1 000 000 per person.

Finally, the group asks Sheppard if Decimus, as a statue, was found just outside the gate of Pompeii. Sheppard confirms this, saying it is a well-known statue called “The Flexing Man”.

## **Notes & Trivia**

* At the gates of Pompeii, Marcus introduces himself as Marcus Aurelius. The centurion remarks that it is a strong name. This episode takes place some forty years before Marcus Aurelius' birth.
* After being challenged, Decimus tries to taunt Brunch by saying ”I guess you hit your head, which is why you wear that shiny mask.” Brunch responds with “Oh, no, it’s because I’m ugly.” This reply leaves Decimus at a loss for words.
* Decimus wonders what just flew past him when he's being shot at. Gregory says it was a mosquito. Decimus remarks that it was a loud bug and wonders what the pistol in Gregory's hand is. Gregory says it is a mosquito repellent. Decimus concludes that it is not doing its job.
* Connor wonders "if the guy is still jacking off there". Nick says he isn't, as he is now flexing outside the gate.