Kykna of Bjornaer and her parens, Pelicanus, arrived in the port town of Ostia, some 25 miles from the city of Rome. After disembarking from the magical ship which—as part of the covenant of Flavonius—had been their home for the last fifteen years, Pelicanus and Kykna parted ways. Kykna’s parens wished her well, expressed a desire not to crowd her or get too much in her business, and pushed her out of the nest to fly on her own. Kykna and her three followers, including Sabine the scribe, Cleis the huntress, and a domestic servant, traveled the rest of the way to Rome on foot. They passed through the great walls of the city by the following afternoon. Though Rome was once a fantastic city of a million people, now it is merely the size of other great cities such as London or Paris, and the stone ruins within the walls has become overgrown. Kykna found pavilions decorated with the symbol for House Mercere, where all the many magi visiting for the coronation event were being housed and entertained.
There, she found Ilius Enzoquam filius Petalichus of Verditius, with whom she had been in contact by letter for some time. It had been Ilius’s idea to found a covenant together, and he had written to several other apprentices seeking allies. He had written to Kykna because his parens, Petalichus, made a swan-cloak for Kykna’s parens, Pelicanus, a gift which was eventually given to Kykna herself when she was made a maga. Ilius had recently fled Petalichus and the covenant of Barcelona, in the process stealing hundreds of pages of his parens’ laboratory texts as well as the flying carpet Ilius had made as his masterpiece, earning the status of magus. In this, he was assisted by Silvia, one of Petalichus’s forge assistants, and he was also accompanied by a servant and by a big, sturdy Catalan warrior by the name of Bernat. Ilius recognized Kykna by her swan-cloak, introduced himself, and the two began to catch up and share their travel experiences, for Ilius had come overland from Spain.
A nearby pavilion maintained by House Mercere included a bar and the serving of food, and while Kykna and Ilius were there getting acquainted they overheard a debate between two senior magi over the future of the Order. Protinus Velox of Verditius argued that the Order should emerge from the shadows and integrate with mundane society; in this, he was opposed by the venerable Austerius Trianomae. Kykna stayed out of the debate, but Ilius quickly jumped in on the side of Austerius, mocking Protinus’s argument and suggesting that if he liked mundanes so much he should go be with them. The elder Verditius took the back and forth in stride, and bought everyone a round of drinks, but he was also opposed by a young Hungarian magus elsewhere in the pavilion: Gergo filius Benilda of Guernicus. Gergo had also come to meet with Kykna and Ilius and had been directed to this tent by his porter, Tibor, who had spotted the other magi.
The three young magi made introductions and wondered where their fourth member might be: Tereysa Ionanes of Flambeau. But soon Tibor returned with news: there were reports that a small group of travelers fitting the description of Tereysa and her retinue were lured into the catacombs by unscrupulous locals posing as guides. They had not resurfaced.
With a young local boy to show them the way, the magi led their grogs and some of their other followers out across the fields within Rome, beyond the city gates, and among the ancient stone ruins. They were led to a small stone building, a former mausoleum, where they found signs of a small group of recent travelers. Within the building, a narrow stone staircase led down into the catacombs.
Kykna cast Eyes of the Cat on everyone, and used spontaneous magic to create a Palm of Flame to shed some light. All the magi were also protected with Doublet of Impenetrable Silk, and then with their grogs in the lead they descended down the tunnel. They went single file through cramped passages lined with the remains of ancient corpses, and wound back and forth in the labyrinthe until Gergo was able to detect a slight breeze coming from a side passage. They followed this route, avoiding the stench of death when they could, and eventually emerged into a wider tunnel that had once been a waterway of some sort, but now all that was left was a tiny trickle down the center of a wide, deep, channel paved with stones.
There, they came under attack by a half dozen locals who had lain in ambush. But Gergo’s keen senses alerted the magi early enough to prevent any surprises, and hand to hand combat broke out between the grogs and the robbers. Cleis shot two with her bow, and Kykna finished one off with Dagger of Ice. Orban defended himself against two men at once. Ilius choked one of the bandits with his own cloak, allowing his grog Bernat to deliver a finishing blow, and Ilius levitated another while the rest fled. Now the magi had a prisoner to question, but no one in their party spoke Italian. Fortunately, Gergo’s Posing the Silent Question ignored such things as language, and although casting the spell was tiring, Gergo learned both where the robber camp was located and that only a few of the thieves remained there, as defenders. The magi released the prisoner, who fled into the darkness.
After a few minutes to rest, the magi and their grogs returned to the catacombs, now armed with precise knowledge of where the camp was located, and that was where they hoped to find Thereysa and her retinue. But time caught up with them when all their ongoing spells ended, and they felt their own Parma Magica collapse; the sun had set above them, and with that sunset, the magi would have to re-perform the ritual of Parma if they wished to renew their magical defenses.
But even as they debated what to do, they heard the sounds of battle ahead, where firelight revealed the robber camp. Weapons smashed shields, and someone cried out in pain. The magi ordered their grogs ahead, while they themselves remained behind to perform their Parma. But when Bernat, Orban, and Cleis reached the camp, they were surprised to see that the robbers were themselves being murdered by a trio of unearthly skeletons clad in the garb of ancient Romans! With the setting of the sun, the walking dead had arisen!