"Auribus Teneo Lupum" is the second mission of Rule Britannia.
Kidnapping the Emperor's nephew isn't the only misstep you'll take tonight.
Cast[]
- Samnium
- Petronius
- Aeneas
- Maeve
Plot[]
The Tree Line[]
With the gagged Aeneas in a handcart, you all wait for the patrol to pass to try and get through the gate. On the other side, Sam has set up a meeting with the shaman of one of the less murdery Pictish tribes. Once the patrol passes, you make a break for the gates and pray you don't get caught having kidnapped the Emperor's nephew.
Can't Be a Wolf[]
You all get through the gate, and arrive in the forest, but you must cut Aeneas loose because the cart won't fit through the trees. Instead, you poke your sword in his back to keep him from running. Petronius tells you a terrifying story of a patrol being killed in this very forest by silent Pictish warriors. Sam doesn't help the mood by telling you that there's a big animal running alongside you all -- but it can't be a wolf, or you'd all be dead already. Still, time to pick up the pace.
Mask Our Scent[]
You get through brambles and arrive in a clearing. From the trees hang wooden dolls made of branches, and Aeneas regales you with the kind of magics Pictish people are said to be able to do, including seeing through the eyes of animals and raising the dead. You light your torch, and discover it was indeed a wolf following your group. Luckily, you manage to scare it off with the torch fire. Petronius hears the water of a stream, and orders you all to follow him - the water will mask your scents.
Funnelling Us Somewhere[]
You seem to lose the wolf in the water, which is good. What is less good is the Picts in the trees all around you, sending arrows flying. After stopping Petronius from killing Aeneas, Sam says he thinks the Picts are funnelling you somewhere, and you have no choice but to follow.
Behind the Waterfall[]
The Picts have you trapped against a waterfall, but just then the wolf reappears. Sam thinks it must be the shaman's guide, with the shaman seeing through its eyes. It runs behind the waterfall, and you all follow, not wanting to be hit by arrows from the Picts in the trees.
Crawl and Then Run[]
There's a cave network behind the waterfall, and you follow the wolf. Aeneas almost gets stuck in a side passage, which doesn't help the structural integrity of the cave. You pull him free, but the cave starts to collapse -- you must run and crawl to ensure you don't get buried.
I Surrender[]
You emerge into a Pictish settlement, where Maeve the shaman awakens from her trance. She orders Aeneas to surrender now, or suffer the vengeance of her people. He surrenders without pause.
Transcript[]
SAMNIUM: Okay. We're nearly at the encampment gate - if we're lucky, we can smuggle Aeneas past our fellow Romans and into Pictish territory. Everyone, gladiī at the ready. [swords unsheathing] Now, I hope we won't need them - but we'll need them. Oh look, there's the gate. This would be easier if Emperor Hadrian had installed more than one gate per mile of wall, or if Aeneas had obeyed his orders. But it's getting dark - we'll let the patrol pass and run for the gate.
PETRONIUS: And then? We've got the Emperor's nephew strapped to a handcart. We're heading for the territory of a people who just love to kill Romans - oh, and we are Romans! I'm very keen not to die on my final tour!
SAMNIUM: I've got a plan, Petro! But I'm not going to tell you, that way, if we're caught, you don't know anything! Plausible deniability!
PETRONIUS: Yes, well, not sure I can plausibly deny kidnapping Legatus Aeneas whilst pushing a handcart containing the gagged Legatus Aeneas! If we get caught, no one's going to believe the injured soldier ploy, so you might as well tell me the plan.
SAMNIUM: Oh, okay, okay. I've set up a parlay with the shaman from one of the less murder-y Pictish tribes. I've been leaving her messages in a tree stump. She can get her people to call off their assault if Aeneas agrees to call off his.
PETRONIUS: You think he's going to do that?
[AENEAS muffled shouts]
SAMNIUM: Oh, please be quiet Legatus. You'll alert the guards.
PETRONIUS: Yes, well pretty sure that's what he's trying to do.
SAMNIUM: Pull his toga over his head, Quin. [toga pulled over AENEAS' head] We'll just have to hope he sees sense. He's not an idiot - I mean okay he's not a total idiot. Even he wouldn't want to see all his troops massacred. Oh [shushes] here's the patrol.
[soldiers marching past]
SAMNIUM: Right, everyone - grab the cart. Quin, come up here with me. Through the gate, and then head for the tree line. Ready? Run!
PETRONIUS: Anyone noticed that all the trees look like people contorted in agony? This is one creepy wood. Where are you taking us, Sam?
SAMNIUM: Uh, yeah. Yeah, well the shaman said she'd send a guide, but that doesn't seem to have happened. Yeah, it's okay though, I've been there before. To the Pictish settlement.
PETRONIUS: Oh, great! Well, which way?
SAMNIUM: Well, I was blindfolded at the time. But I do remember that it was deep in the forest - so we'll just aim for the thickest bit. The darkest bit.
PETRONIUS: Oh, just like in the myths - that always works out well. Look, we'll never get this cart through the trees, we'll have to cut him loose.
SAMNIUM: Yeah. I'll untie him. Quin, keep your gladius pressed to his back. [ropes untying] Aeneas, stand up- slowly. Okay. We're taking the gag out now.
AENEAS: [splutters] My uncle is going to- [interrupted by SAMNIUM]
SAMNIUM: -Quin.
AENEAS: [crys out] Fine, fine. I'll be quiet.
PETRONIUS: You can't hear them you know.
SAMNIUM: What?
PETRONIUS: Picts. They move through the forest in complete silence... I met an auxiliary back from a patrol. Ten went out, only she returned. The patrol were in the forest, the auxiliary had taken point. Every time she looked behind her, another of the patrol had gone. Never found the bodies. She reckoned the only reason they let her live was so that she'd tell the rest of us to fear the forest and stay out.
SAMNIUM: Yeah. Well it half worked. I might be in the forest, but I'm definitely scared. Look, something's been trotting alongside us since we got to the trees. A big dog, I think - it can't be a wolf, or we'd be dead already, so that's reassuring. Stay quiet and run!
SAMNIUM: Agh, ow! How'd we end up in the middle of all these brambles? It's like they grew up around us. I mean, they didn't, that's ridiculous, obviously. Keep hacking, Quin. Ah, and we're out! A clearing... an eerie, moonlight clearing.
PETRONIUS: There's... there's someone! Up in the tree!
SAMNIUM: No! It's okay, it's okay. It's just a... just a doll. A wooden doll. Made out of branches.
PETRONIUS: There's more. Little wooden people... Look how long their fingers are!
AENEAS: This is a place of magic, traitor. Dark and ancient magic.
PETRONIUS: Should've left that gag in.
AENEAS: I am a learned man, as you know. On no subject am I more learned than the magic of the Picts. Fascinated me, ever since I was a child. You say they move silently through the forest, that they appear and disappear at will... [laughs] That's nothing to their more powerful workings. They see through the eyes of animals, they make beasts do their bidding - some say a gifted Pictish shaman can raise the dead.
PETRONIUS: Oh gods. Why has it gone so dark?
SAMNIUM: It's just a cloud in front of the moon. Light your torch, Quin.
[torch being lit]
PETRONIUS: There. In the trees - the light reflects in its eyes, it's a wolf.
[torch swung at wolf]
SAMNIUM: Yes! That's good Quin, your torch. Ha! I think you scared it off. Although, that was weirdly easy.
PETRONIUS: Quiet. Listen. Must be a stream - that will mask our scent. This way, run!
[splashing of water]
SAMNIUM: [shivering] Oh gods, the water's cold. Okay. I think we lost the wolf, somehow. Maybe it's a not very good wolf... or maybe... the wolf could be a guide? Sorry, that's ridiculous. The forest must be getting to me. Quin, Petronius, I'm sorry I got you into this.
PETRONIUS: Oh, well truth be told, when you asked me to do this I wanted to tell you to sod off. But I couldn't let this offensive proceed. Marching against the Picts would be suicide.
AENEAS: You forget who's in charge of the offensive, traitor. The greatest military mind the Roman Empire has ever known! Gaius Regulus Aeneas. To die in my service would have been a noble death. The death I will inflict once we get back to the encampment, on the other hand... [laughs] Have you ever seen a man hanged by his own entrails?
[bird call]
SAMNIUM: What- what was that? [bird call] They won't harm us. The shaman promised me safe passage!
[arrow shot]
AENEAS: Apparently some of the Picts didn't get the memorandum.
SAMNIUM: Well, they must be from a different tribe. They're in the trees, all around us.
PETRONIUS: [arrow shot] Watch out Quin! Oh, that one nearly got you in the eye!
AENEAS: [laughs] Oh, this is the price of your betrayal. These arrows might have been fired by Picts, but they're guided by the hand of a god. Divine justice, traitors!
PETRONIUS: You shut your mouth Aeneas, before I shut it for you! [draws sword]
SAMNIUM: Petro, no. We need Aeneas. We must have peace. Oh, the Picts are funnelling us somewhere, but we can't do anything about it. We have to keep running. Just keep running!
[rushing of water]
AENEAS: This is why we have the chain of command, Sam. We leave the strategy to the strategists, like me, because if we leave it to the idiots like you we end up stuck in a gulley with barbarians behind us and sheer rock ahead. What do you suggest we do? Swim up the waterfall like salmon?
PETRONIUS: Oh shut up Aeneas, I swear I will-
AENEAS: -Oh, oh you're going to kill me? I don't think so. You want your forty acres. You want your olive groves. Put that sword away, traitor.
SAMNIUM: [shushes] Did you hear that? They're in the trees, stalking us. And I can see- oh. Oh gods.
PETRONIUS: The auxiliaries. Skinned. Pinned to the trees with their own spears - this is where they've been leading us.
PICT: Barbarians! You strung up our grandfathers, you strung up our children. Now we will string you up too. You'll hang from the trees as you rot. There'll be no peace with the likes of you.
[Picts howling]
PETRONIUS: Here come the Picts.
SAMNIUM: Fifteen, maybe twenty. Both sides of the gulley.
[arrow shots]
PETRONIUS: They're toying with us. Shooting wide on purpose - draw your weapon, Quin! Stand with me, back to back. [wolf howls] And there's the wolf! Never be fooled into thinking things can't get any worse.
SAMNIUM: No, it's alright Petronius. I think I was right before, about the wolf being the shaman's guide. The Picts can see through the eyes of animals, remember? I think the wolf wants us to follow it.
PETRONIUS: Fine! Fine. The wolf's gone behind the waterfall, follow it! Quick!
SAMNIUM: Oh, look - there's a little cave network behind the waterfall. Quite a complicated one, too, and the tunnels are very narrow. They'll never find us in here - clever wolf!
AENEAS: Mm, very clever. Unlike you. You've let the wolf lure us into its lair, and now it's going to eat us. Oh gods, all those honey cakes! I'm delicious!
PETRONIUS: Oh shut up, Aeneas! How you doing back there, Quin? Oh gods but it's tight in here.
[rocks sliding]
SAMNIUM: Not very stable, we must hurry.
AENEAS: Sam? Sam? I'm stuck. Sam? Sam- Sam get me out! Get me out!
SAMNIUM: You shouldn't have tried running down that side passage, Aeneas! Oh, stop wriggling! You'll cause a cave in! Quin! Can you help me drag him out? Grab his other arm and I'll pull. Ready? Go!
AENEAS: [crys out] Oh, stop! Stop, it hurts!
SAMNIUM: [breathes deeply] Okay. He's free. Oh, can't see the wolf, but there's light up ahead. This passage must lead to the Pictish settlement.
[rocks sliding]
PETRONIUS: Bloody hell! The cave's collapsing- everyone run! Or crawl, and then run. Go!
PETRONIUS: Uh... guys?
SAMNIUM: Oh. Uh... hello everyone.
PETRONIUS: Circular buildings. Standing stones. One hundred frightening people dressed in animal pelts. Sam? We're right in the middle of the Pictish settlement! Are you sure they're not going to kill us?
SAMNIUM: Just smile. Smile and wave. That woman covered in blue tattoos, that's the shaman.
PETRONIUS: She's in a trance. Oh, look - the wolf is sitting in her lap. That's something you don't see... ever.
SAMNIUM: She's waking up.
MAEVE: My name is Maeve, daughter of Elpin, leader of the united tribes of the north, loyal servant of the forest, wife to a murdered shaman. Gaius Regulus Aeneas surrender now, or suffer the vengeance of my people.
AENEAS: I surrender.
Codex[]
Artefact[]
Wooden Doll The eyes are knotted bark; the fingers, twigs and tendrils. Makes trees from trespassers, or so the legend goes. You do not recall how it came to be in your pack.
Supplies[]
The following supplies can be found in this mission.
Apodesmos
Axe
Boots
Broken Arrow
Candles
Copper Coins
Dulcia piperata
Gladius
Gloves
Gourd
Leather Gauntlets
Longsword
Magical Herbs
Mess Kit
Padded Armour
Plume
Rope
Salt
Scrap of Parchment
Silver Coins
Spade
Whetstone
Wild food
Trivia[]
- The mission title is in Latin and translates to "Holding a Wolf By Its Ears".
| Missions | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Previous: Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes? | Next: Vixere | ||