Lex Arcana

It is spring in Gallia. You have spent the last

few days in the praetorian castrum of Lugdunum, the capital

city of the province.

A year has passed since their inquisitio, and this is their first

official assignment after the rigorous training that has made

them Custodes of the Cohors Arcana. A safe task, apparently,

as Gallia was conquered centuries ago and its borders are not

threatened by enemies of Rome.

At the castrum, the Custodes refer to Marcus Nepos, an old

magister of the cursus auguralis, whose wrinkly face is constantly

brightened by a benevolent smile. One morning,

Marcus summons the Custodes to his lodgings. His expression

is less cheerful than usual.

"I have spent the last few days in the grip of an unpleasant feeling.

Wherever I look I see strange, unsettling signs... It started

with the bizarre flights patterns of a flock of starlings, slowly

fading into the northern sky. Then, I noticed that the stump of

a long dead tree along the road going north had started producing

new sprouts."

"I stayed up for the past two nights to observe the stars, trying

to draw an auspicium, an answer from the gods, but all I got

was silence and a terrible headache. I'm afraid I'm too old for

this! That's why I need your help: You will travel north, to the

castrum of Augustodunum. There you will start an investigation

and report to me with the results."