"... the last age has come... again the great millennial aeon dawns... Kind Saturn reigns; and from high heaven descending comes a new offspring... smile softly on this babe. For in his time the age of iron shall cease and golden generations fill the world."
(from Virgil's Fourth Eclogue, circa 40 BCE)
The Romans were waiting for a savior— a child who would become a divinely chosen king and bring in the new Age of Saturn, of peace and equality. To the devout, this was the True Meaning of Saturnalia.
When Christianity arrived in Rome, the Roman Christians naturally felt that Jesus was the "heaven-sent babe" bringing in the new age. It was logical to celebrate his birthday on Saturnalia. Their beloved Saturnalia customs became Christmas customs: feasting and gift-giving, candles and holly. (The Romans even decorated Saturnalia trees outdoors, like American community trees, not in the living room. Still, fancy trees.)
The little clay manger scene on the end table has its own history. If we believe the internet, manger scenes have been documented to the time of imperial Rome... and popular Saturnalia gifts were miniature clay figures, their version of Precious Moments figurines.
And as you may know, all the men wore pointy hats (freedmen's caps) to symbolize equality. So bring on the Santa hats.
Roman dinner guests got menus. Here is ours — a proper meal, "from eggs to apples."
(Nota Bene: My sister’s family is vegetarian, so not everything is quite as it would have been in ancient Rome… But close.)
I have to thank all of the above-mentioned people for giving us Herophiles a Golden Age of Hero Games. DOJ Inc. came in when the game appeared all but dead, and produced more and more diverse Hero material than ever before, most of it of high quality. It's a tragedy that many of the company's plans for further publications were unable to be realized, and that new production slowed so dramatically over the second decade compared to the first. But I for one will always be deeply grateful for the many great hours of gaming, and heck, just reading, that DOJ provided me. You all should be very proud of what you accomplished.
One doesn't have to be Sun Tzu to realize that letting the guy out to kill or at least defeat you pick your path is a recipe for disaster. It also doesn't help when you don't have any idea of what the full lay out of the place you're storming is. Do you go up? do you go down? Left, right?
That's why, despite the fact they're second only to mystics in giving me the heebie jeebies, I highly recommend telepaths. We had enough foes who had been taken down that Aspirant had lots of options to read from. A deep probe, I was told, takes intense concentration, and up to a full minute. Privacy rights concerns aside; it's extremely effective.
We didn't even have to wait for the report, as Aspirant peeked the lay out of the building as best the Talent could remember, and fed the floorplans to our brains. It was a bit unsettling, like getting an earworm song that you didn't even like that much, but now you couldn't stop humming.
'This goes away, right?' Hussar thought testily, 'I'm not going to checking out some hot girls a year from now and suddenly think 'right left side passage?'
'Hey, you guys wanted this fast and yet firm and from more than one brain if I could get it,' Aspirant said, 'I was never asked about side effects.'
'Great,' one could feel the eye roll over the telepathic network from our resident winged guy.
'While we're all wired together, I vote we don't talk about Hussar's prospective love life, particularly while we're trying to save the day,' Bramble's thoughts opined, even as she wasn't physically here.
'Not a democracy, but a good point,' Valerosa thought, 'Besides, let's focus on the lay outs. Looks like two main paths down to the lower levels where the real base is, both likely lined with well armed goons, and or traps tailored as best they can against us. That said, I may have another option'
'Maybe you do,' I interrupted, 'but even if you going ghost like gets you past the barriers, I'm not crazy about you going ahead alone and leaving the rest of us behind without back up'
'I was actually thinking of dropping through the floor' Can one smirk over a mental link? It seemed one could.
'Hey, that's a good point' Pogo thought 'We can just go down and skip a whole level. It's like a cheat code for a video game. I miss those'
'So I shove my head through ,and take a peek' She said.
Viewpoint shared my nervousness, 'Ah, I can kind of see through things? One of my many options? and I can tell you, the floor has some odd lead linings ...which might not stop you, but also has some odd..flares?'
A low curse from Valerosa and she looked at me 'They were using particle weapons outside'
'Which can affect you even when you ghost,' I nodded. 'He's prepared for you'
'Ah, guys? Mayo passed out' Pogo pointed, 'I mean, he's breathing, but there's a .. I mean, I'm poking him and nothing.'
'Mayo?!' I thought, a bit panicked as I moved to his body.
'Freeze your mammary glands, friend Eel,' a serene voice came through the link 'I'm merely outside my body for a moment, it's draining, let me concentrate.'
As snickers of relief AND humor broke through the link from the others at the 'Freeze your mammary glands line' I fought the urge to tell Mayo that wasn't the way that phrase was used. But, two things prevented me from doing so. One? He just said he needed to concentrate. Two? I was pretty sure he knew he was butchering the phrase. There were times I was sure my friend enjoyed playing the proverbial fish out of water (Pun intended) even after years of Surfacer interaction.
Frankly, I wondered if he was having fun with me to distract me from my own better but still shaky mindset regarding my father? was Mayo trying to annoy me with small hassles to help me with the persistent anger over a much bigger issue? It occurred to me, and not for the first time, a mystic's help never comes in a form that's comfortable for a guy.
Mayo's voice came across, commanding, echoing, and oddly comforting, 'You must pass into the dark depths, there will be light again. You are angry, I know this, you are furious!'
I was about to tell him to not give me a weird pep talk, particularly on what appeared to be an open mental group chat. Then as he went on, I realized, as was so often the case, I was not the center of this particular moment.
Darned if I could tell who was, though.
'When the time is right, I will call, and give you the power to make a difference. I do not encourage rage, but if you must embrace it, focus it where I direct and I swear to help cleanse this place if I do not join you! By the Hidden Sea where joy is stronger than sorrow, by the currents of memory and wisdom, you have this pact. Wait. Wait. And I will aid your escape to your proper freedom'
The room we were in suddenly got chilled, like , shivering cold for a second. And that's not right, because cold doesn't bother me. Everyone shuddered from it, and I? I found myself, for the first time in awhile, no exception.
'What the hell is he doing?' Trailblazer leaked.
'Hell, or some variation of it,' Mayo was once more talking to us again, 'is exactly what I am hoping to avoid. Someone up there, with controlled strength, please, slap me. I need out of here, fast. They agree, but do not want to let me go.'
'Slap you?' Trailblazer was stunned.
'Oh gosh, Mayo, we don't hit team mates except in sparring, that's like day one intro,' Pogo rambled, 'Ever since the shoulder slug, pogo goes off Valerosa at her dense-ist and crashes Lady Obsidian's experiment in progress event, which I think she went overboard mind you, but never the less I got told to never do that -'
During this, I bent down and gave my best friend (Certainly in the top three anyway) a good open handed pop to the jaw, by means of a quick flick at just the wrist. Of course, we all felt the after shocks of the pain as we were linked, but at a much reduced level, and I had pulled my slap.
He flopped onto his belly, and rubbed at his jaw, "Thank you, Eel," His blind eyes searched me out, "One couldn't help but notice you didn't hesitate."
I grabbed a hand and helped him up, using the chance to say softly, "Freeze your mammary glands, Friend Mayo... you did literally ask for it."
His lips twitched in a smile, and he rubbed at his cheek, "Just so."
'Want to fill the rest of us in on what you just did?' Valerosa did not like being left out and I couldn't blame her. As a co-captain she was supposed to at least have a clue to tactics.
'Suffice to say,' Our water breathing mystic informed us all, 'We have allies currently lost in the maelstrom waters. They maybe of use to in the upcoming fight. More to demoralize, than to harm, but it may give us an edge in the short term. I also gathered some intelligence on what lays below- physically. We you want to drop down, this is not a good place for it. We need to continue down another hallway. Then burrow.'
'If it's shielded from my power, we may have to just break a hole in it, but then it's probably super resilient too from powerful kinetic force,'
Valerosa was clearly curious about the 'allies' mentioned but sometimes you just have to let mystics be vague. They'll tell you explaining it tempts fate, but I think that's just one way they shut us up.
'Darn it, Kinetic force is my thing' Pogo mmmphed.
Trailblazer thoughts had a question, 'How do you think it stands up to heat? and.. a super speed rub down?'
'They might not expect you,' I confessed, "But that sounds like it would take a while.'
'Hey guys,' Bramble's thoughts were smug 'know what they're not going to expect? from above?'
I spocked a brow and the vibe came through, 'Go on.'
'Kudzu. Make a hole in the roof for me to get clear vision, and a place to drop some seeds' she smiled 'The right mix of plants can eat into just about anything with time. With me? they can do it a lot faster. You strong guys don't have to break it through, just give me a crack or two'
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