Gladiator: Houses Collide - Story Thread

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This thread is for quick reference to the public write-ups for Gladiator: Houses Collide
Please do not post in this thread. If you wish to discuss, compliment, complain, inquire, etc please do so via official game thread


Introduction:

A large hand pulls you out of your dreams of home and onto the sands. The Roman, clad in armor, quickly grasps the shackles between your wrists and shoves you into a lineup with the others.

Covered in dust from the road and bruised and bloody from the treatment of the Roman guards you await your new Dominus along with your fellow future-brothers.

A Roman man dressed in brilliant colored robes and accompanied by a larger man wielding a whip entered the room.

The Roman began to speak, "I am your Dominus, your master. And you..." he looked down the lines, "Are but slaves... gladiators, who will fight and die for the honor of this House. Do as I and your Doctoré commands, and see yourself elevated! Bring honor to this House, and see yourself well rewarded. Dishonor us, and see yourself face down in a pool of your own blood!"

He walked down the line, inspecting his new acquisition, "Doctoré!" The man who entered with him approached, "Yes, Dominus!"

"Begin their training..."

Training 1

House of Avidius

"The House of Avidius swells with new blood for the sands." Doctore Titanius commented, greeting his Dominus.

Hadrianus Marianus Avidius, a man of arrogance and pride, responded with a smile on his face, "To be spilled by none other than Lucilius' men, no doubt."

The two walked together, viewing the stock, "Do any show potential?" Dominus inquired.

Doctore sighed, "Most are mediocre at best, soft from lack of sword or whip."

Dominus eyed a tall lean man wielding a net, "What of that one?" Doctore glanced over, "Festus is his name, training as a Retarius. He shows potential, but none to rival our Champion."

Dominus laughed, "None in this House could stand an equal to Terentius! Save for yourself of course, a past Champion who's brought much glory to this ludus."

Doctore bowed his head, "Dominus."

Avidius strolled a bit more, his bright robe the only sign of color in the yard, "What of that one?" He pointed to a tall man, not quite the stature of Festus, wielding a sword and shield. "We call him Valentinus but he insists on calling himself "Getinbetarix" and commonly mentions the forest from whence he came and his Gods."

Dominus laughed even harder, "Slave needs to forget his past, he is who we say he is now. This is his home."


House of Lucilius

"He said what!?" Dominus Livianus Septimius Lucilius yelled, slamming his fist down on the table at which he sat.

His wife Livia, standing next to him, spoke boldly, "No slave shall deny his dominus, not without punishment!"

Doctore Ovidius bowed his head, "What would you have me do, Dominus?"

Lucilius stood up and walked around the desk, indirectly speaking to his Doctore, "I command respect and honor from my gladiators..." He looked Ovidius in the eye, "Go open his eyes."

Doctore bowed quickly, "Yes Dominus!" and left the room. He walked quickly, down the staircase and to the left, through the courtyard, then down two stories to the cells where the new slaves were kept who had yet to receive the mark.

He approached the guard at the door, "Orders of the Dominus, open cell."

The guard hesitated, then opened the gate where the five were. Doctore reached in and grabbed Decimus, the thinner man training to be a Retarius, and threw him onto the ground of the training area.

"Doctore..." Decimus began, but Ovidius denied him speech by a kick in the face. He bent down and landed a few solid punches to the nose and eye of the man, leaving him bleeding and cowering. "Dominus demands your cooperation, or die a faceless slave! There will be no "peace", there will be no "friendship" with Avidius' men. There will only be glory and honor in the Arena!" Doctore landed one more kick to finish the job. He looked at the guard and pointed to the bleeding man, "See him to the medicus..."

Pre-Arena 1

"The magistrate will join us momentarily." his wife announced as she and her ancillae entered the room. Hadrianus Avidius and Livianus Lucilius, along with Lunistae from other Houses including some from other cities, had gathered to dictate who would offer their men in the Arena. Avidius and Lucilius shared the proper pleasantries while simultaneously imagining the other at the end of a gladius.

After some time, magistrate Sabinas Tiberius Gaius Appius entered the room adorned in Rome's finest of drapery. "Apologies dear friends, pressing matters delayed my return." He obtained a cup of honeyed wine from his servant and beckoned his guests to do the same. "The games are upon us once again, Rome's finest gladiator city smiles once more. Any new acquisitions clamoring for position?"

Avidius responded first, "I have six new men, all showing promise. Capua would be dishonored by refusal of their attendance in this month's games."

Lucilius stole from the silence, "As do I, five new men. I would wager the magistrate would enjoy a friendly rivalry between Novicii?" He glanced at magistrate Appius and smiled at the request.

Appius responded hesitantly, "I would wager the crowd would prefer matches with gladiators they are familiar with, wouldn't you agree?"

Lucilius nodded, his smile not fading, the last thing he wanted was to offend the man who chooses who fights in his Arena, and who didn't. "Of course, we wouldn't want to starve the crowd of their heroes."

Avidius spoke again, "If I may suggest, with your approval magistrate, let us pair our veterani of lower standing against the others' novicii. Give our men a chance to prove themselves against a more seasoned opponent."

The magistrate laughed heartily, eyes bright, "Excellent idea Hadrianus! Let us compare your men and choose the matches."

Arena 1

The lanistae from Capua and nearly a dozen from surrounding cities congregated in the pulvinus along with the magistrate and a few other Roman elites.

Many brought along their wives and servants. They were the shining light of wealth among the common folk in the Arena.

The magistrate extended a hand to Avidius, “Care to make introduction of our first match?”

The morning sun had already risen and began to peak above the Arena wall, casting a beam of light over it, Avidius answered enthusiastically, “You honor me, magistrate, but surely you are most qualified.” The magistrate quickly responded, “You are correct, and I reserve the right to bestow that right to whom I choose.”

Avidius responded with a smile, "Then you elevate me above my status, gratitude," and stood up, placing one hand out to signal the crowd to be silent. A few moments later not a soul spoke or shuffled, the stage was his.

He breathed in slowly, and then began, “Dear citizens of Capua… Romans! The gods have seen it fit to bless us with yet another month, let us now bless them with our very own sacrifice. Gladiators trained and beaten for this very day to spill their blood unto the sands! Let us begin!”

The crowd roared with the announcement. A thousand or so souls filled the stands, and none remained seated. He put his hand up again, and they slowly ceased, “Our first match is a challenge between Novicii of two cherished sons of Capua... myself, Hadrianus Marianus Avidius and my counterpart Livianus Septimius Lucilius. Let our offering to you and the gods be accepted and honored as we bless the sands with their blood!”

Again the crowd erupted, and again Avidius silenced them. “From the House of Avidius, I present to you… Ambustus the Gaul!”

The man, freshly shaven and hair cut short, adorned in armor and weapon sporting Avidius’ color entered the Arena through the opened gate. He raised his arms, shield and sword, and the crowd rejected him. Novicii are never accepted.

Not allowing the crowd’s discontent to discourage him, Ambustus smiled proudly, and prepared for the gate to allow his opponent in.

Avidius then announced, “And from my respected opponent, the House of Lucilius, Tullius!”

Tullius bursted through the gate, and the crowd responded accordingly. Once again, novicii are never accepted.

The two men, both gallus style fighters, faced the pulvinus for the signal to begin, and when it showed they erupted towards each other. Strike, parry, counterstrike, the two men stood as equals. Ambustus relied on his defensive expertise, while Tullius remained offensive by dishing out wide swings and keeping his body covered by his shield.

The battle raged, no man backing down. Tullius continued his wide sweeping attacks and in response to his repetitive attack plan, Ambustus had grown accustomed to his fighting style and automatically began to over exaggerate his blocks. When he noticed this, Tullius stopped mid-swing and planted a hard kick into Ambustus’ plexus solaris, sending the Gaul flying back. He immediately lunged towards him, using his shield to knock the sword out of the man’s hand and placed his own blade against the defeated man’s neck.

The crowd surged at this point, an incredible display of excellence from the new gladiator. Tullius placed his foot on the man's chest and looked to the pulvinus as the defeated raised the missio.

The magistrate clapped excitedly, “Looks like your man has the victor, Livianus. Why don’t you choose the fate of the fallen?”

Livianus Lucilius caught eyes with the defeated Hadrianus Avidius and saw the desperation for his man’s life. He stood up, wishing his man to end the Gaul’s life, but he heard the crowd, “live… Live… LIVE!”

He held his hand out until the crowd had silenced, and he announced, “Let him live!”

A sigh of relief fell from Ambustus as Tullius stepped away, his first match denying him the title of Veteranus…

“Excellent showing!” the magistrate said, “What’s next?”

Avidius responded, “First I’d like to express gratitude to Livianus for the life of my man.” He nodded to Lucilius, who waved him off and said, “I aim only to please the crowd.”

Avidius continued, “There are many matches yet to be had, magistrate. Shall we continue?”

They continued the announcements, embellishing and exciting the crowd, blood being spilled. Sextus besting Berno, Decimus over Seneca, Lugo taking Optimus…

The matches continued, and at the break of the midday sun, all of the lower-class matches had commenced. A lunch time hour would commence before the evening sun would cover the upper-class matches between champions.

You all remain alive, for now…