(Alternate History) The weapon of Rome

Zor · Post by **Zor** » 2004-06-12 12:29am

April 3rd, 9.32 AM, 71 CE, Roman Army Base, 12th legion, Roman frontier, Germania

It was a lazy morning, not much to do and what was to be done was being done by others. Damius just sat on the hill, and gnawed away at a piece of cheese. Not a single bloody thing to do he though just the way I like it. He had no fear of his Centurion, truth be told, he was even Lazier than him. Not that he was not a good tactician or he could not be as tough as leather, but off the battlefield, all he wanted to do (and mostly did) is drink wine and think about pretty girls. It was nice, vaguely boring, but nice.

Then was roused from his place hearing the sentry yelling “WE GOT SOMEONE COMING IN! SAYS THERE FROM ROME!”

The General came out of his office with an interested, yet slightly annoyed look on his face “Let them in!”

The gates creaked open, and threw came six wagons, each pulled by a pair of rather tired looking horses with a robed tender with each one and a man with an Messenger’s tunic on horseback with a scroll tucked under his arm. The general, the Centurions and the men gathered around them. The general marched up to the housebound soldier and with a stern look on his face uttered four words “What’s all this then?”

The Horse rider got off his mount and unrolled his scroll “By Decree of Emperor Vespasian, each Legion is to be outfitted with a new type of weapon and the legionaries be drilled in the basics of there use of said weaponry.”

“What new weaponry?” the General remarked.

The messenger then walked towards the nearest wagon and produced a weapon unlike any that Damius had ever seen. It was a long metal pipe about two and a half feet long on a wooden handle, giving it a total length of 3 and a half feet, it had a part of it that could be pulled back, pushed in and held in place by a small metal bar that could be pulled in or pulled out. It had a small lever at the lower part of the handle behind a metal bar. The Messenger put a small metal thing witch was pointed at one end in the device. “See that Duck by that lake, General?” he said while pointing at a Mallard near the lake, witch was a good 30 meters away

“Yes, your point?”

The Messenger grinned “Watch”, He pointed the weapon barrel of the weapon at the bird, then after a few seconds, BANG! A Brilliant flash of light and a Puff of smoke came from the weapon, Damius looked at the pond, and the duck was laying there, dead as a doornail. “This device is called a Firearm, or Rifle, I have only fired a rifle six times in my life, but I can hit a mark at that distance the size of a duck. With training, we could have four hundred riflemen in this legion in but a week. This Weapon will ensure the destruction of the barbarians!”

A few minutes latter, Damius and 399 other legionaries were gathered just outside the base, rifles in hand and pouches and horns on there belt. There were twenty targets, and the men formed twenty lines in front of each target. He was in a clutter with anticipation with a sprinkle of fear thrown into the mix. The messenger then rode up, dismounted with his rifle in hand and a pouch of bullets on his belt. “Ok you apes,” The Messenger said, in a firm but somehow Friendly voice “This is a Rifle. It is the most complex and powerful handheld weapon in the world. Use them well, and many Enemy warriors will not see the next sunrise, but first, you must know how to use it. Because if you don’t, your rifle is but an odd looking club or a spear if its Bayonet is on. First off, Loading.” He opened up his pouch and produced a small metal cylinder with a pointy end on end and a flat back, Damius watched his instructor with incredible fascination in these weapons. “This is a bullet, now take your rifles, at one end of the weapon, there is a hole called the bore, this is were you put the bullet, and put it in pointy end first. But first, take the Horn on your belt, and pour the contents down the barrel.” Damius poured some powder from the Horn down the barrel then put the bullet in the barrel. “Below the bore, there is a long metal shaft called a ramrod, take it and push all the stuff down.” Damius then took out the ramrod and after a few good pushes stopped. “Now when you’re done with that, there is a small lever with a flint on it, pull it back and your ready to Fire.” Damius then pulled back the Lock. “To fire, just point the rifle at the target, and pull back on the lever behind the Metal bar. A piece of advice, hold the end of the stock against your soldier and line the target up with your sights, It helps, trust me. Now when you’re done all those steps, tell me.” Damius was a quick study, and had done everything he was asked to do, and with a tonne of anticipation spat out two words…

“Done!” He was the second to finish, the sort guy two guys to his left beat him by a hair. About ten seconds latter the last guy in the first rank said ‘Done’.

The Messenger smiled “Now that you are locked an loaded, its time for you to fire your first bullet, Just point your rifle’s barrel at the target, and aim for the bull’s eye. The targets are forty Paces from were you are standing, an archer in training will have no hope in hell of hitting the target the first time at this distance, you, on the other hand. The gun will make a loud Bang when fired, this is just something it does, so don’t let it startle you. Put the butt of the stock against your shoulder or arm, it helps out a lot, trust me.” Damius pointed the rifle at the mark, stock against his arm and after a couple of seconds, BANG! His rifle fired with a force that made him thinks of Jupiter throwing a lightning bolt at the ground. He was a bit shocked, but that just went away after a few seconds. He also heard the bang of other rifles and was blinded by the smoke for a few seconds.

The Messenger then inspected the targets, after a couple of minutes, he walked towards Damius. “What’s your name son?”

“Damius Athens, sir.”

“Well, you’re a good shot, you hit the upper chest. If that was a Goth, he would be a corpse right now, The rest of these guys did ok, but for a first shot, that’s excellent. All you dogs, You should follow Damius’s Example, but don’t feel bad, with practice, it is possible shoot a man at 200 Paces with one of these! Now, first rank, go to the back of the formation, second rank, get ready to shoot!”

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2004-06-12 12:37am

So, is this like "Guns of the South"? or did the Romans skip matchlock entirely and invent rifling?

Otherwise, its an arquebus.

Zor · Post by **Zor** » 2004-06-12 12:50am

November 6th, 70CE, Rome, 6,50 PM, Throne City of the Roman Empire

Dimarius was working away on a lock for a personal friend. It was late in the day, but Dimarius was a man of his word, and he said to his Friend that seven locks would be done by the end of the week, and come hell or high water, those seven locks would be completed. He took pride in what he did, and when people maid comments on his work, they were always positive. Then there was a nock on the Door.

The short, stout hairy man got to his feet in a fluster and walked to the door “Ok, Ok, who is it?” He opened the door, and a lanky form came to the door, he must have been six and a half feet tall, and was in a heavy robe, concealing his face and a bag. “Good Evening, mind if I come in?” His voice was low and with a slight his on it.

“Fine, what brings you to my humble shop at this time of day?”

“I have a proposal for you.” Three men followed him in “The tall one is Aulus, a Blacksmith of excellent skill, the medium sized one is Maximus, an Alchemist and the short one is Deadilus, an military Engineer. I have hired you for the purpose of the manufacturing of this.” He put a pair of scrolls down on the table. “Make three of what is described in this scroll and thirty of what is described in the other in 30 days, and you will be handsomely rewarded, Two Bars of Gold each.” He reached into his pocket with a gloved hand and produced a gold coin “Each bar weighing one hundred and fifty times of this. You will also keep the plans.” He also opened his bag, revealing a corkscrew like device with several clams behind the screwing part. “For one of the steps, you will need this device.”

Dimarius looked at him. “Why are you doing this?”

“There is a danger on the Horizon, this is a danger beyond your wildest, this danger posses a threat to all you hold dear. This will tell you how to at the very least, tell you how to make this danger less dangerous. I will return in 30 days.” He walked out of the room.

Thirty days latter, at noon, The Lanky man was eating lunch with the three other men. They were respectable men and Dimarius did not mind the company of any of them, they were all hard working and could crack a joke when appropriate. Then a nock was heard at the door, they all knew who it was. Aulus got the door and in walked the Mysterious Figure. “I have come for what I asked to be made, I trust they have been completed.”

Dimarius got to his feet and went to his workbench “That they are, the Rifles and the bullets, just let me get them.” A few seconds latter, he came to his feet with the bullets and the rifles.

“Very good.” He walked over, picked up a rifle and loaded it, examining it with incredible detail. “You have done a good job, I am impressed.” He took out of his bag 8 bars of gold, and another scroll. “Your payment, keep the Rifles. The other scroll will show you how to make the tools to make them, and generally increase productivity.” He walked out of the shop, as he walked, Deadilus caught a Glimpse of the Man's feet, they were shoeless, and like those of a reptile.

Boyish-Tigerlilly · Post by **Boyish-Tigerlilly** » 2004-06-12 01:26pm

I like it for the sheer amusement of seeing the Romans comp stomp barbarians

Post by **fgalkin** » 2004-06-12 07:25pm

Makes about as much sense as all the other alternate history writing out there, but at least its entertaining.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

NovaSolaria · Post by **NovaSolaria** » 2004-06-13 07:02pm

Hi,

Hmm this story reminds me of a SCIFI/AU Book I bought from Barnes and Noble a few years back. Storyline is somewhat familiar but have forgotten who the author or title of book was.

Anyway do keep writing.

darthdavid · Post by **darthdavid** » 2004-06-13 07:46pm

Barbarian: Kill the rom*bang*glurrrg...

Zor · Post by **Zor** » 2004-06-13 09:50pm

April 24th, 71CE, 2,03PM, Roman Expeditionary force, Germania

Damius marched with the rest of his Century, This was not his first battle, His legion faced a Goth raiding party, but that was a year ago, and he had Gladius and a Tower shield, not a rifle. He did not have his shield with him, but it would be of little use for him if he was to use his rifle. Besides, there were a good 5,100 other men with shields in the Legion. They had been marching for 5 days now and there goal was here, the Territory of a Germanic warlord who was plotting an offensive against roman soil, His name was unimportant, all that was important was that he be neutralized as soon as possible.

From before the ranks of men, a pair of scouts on horseback reported to the general, a few seconds latter the Trumpet signaled to assume Formation, North East facing. The chaotic ranks of marching legionnaires vanished into perfect combat formations. These formations were a bit different, The First rank of standard Legionaries formed a shield wall that was slightly spaced out, and behind them were two ranks of Riflemen, one fires thew the gaps in the shield wall while the other reloads, switching as the rifles fired. He pulled a bullet out of his pouch, loaded his rifle and stuck the Bayonet onto the top. He felt safe with a rifle, of all the men in his legion given rifles, he did the best with it. Come to me, little Barbarians He thought I am More than ready. In the distance he could here the horns and footsteps and the Battle cries of the enemy, as they ran towards the Legion. About 800 meters before the formation was a forest, and above it birds were flying away as a large group of foul smelling, screaming humans charged threw there home. One by one, he saw them run out of the forest, some armed with bows, some with swords and some with axes but most with spears. Many of them had helmets and shields, but some had chain male and even stolen Roman Armor. A few of them were on horseback. There were at least eight thousands of the bastards, and they were closing fast. After a minute, they were 350 meters away, and the General yelled out a pair of words that Damius waited so long for him to say. “RIFLEMEN, FIRE!”

With that, Damius pulled the trigger on his rifle, along with two hundred other men and yelled out four words “EAT THIS, SHIT FACE!” While at that range, he could not hit individual targets; a big mob of yelling idiots was a bit easier to hit. After he fired, he took a few steps back, and loaded his rifle as quickly as possible, and listened to the Bang of the next salvo. Once he was done, he walked forward and saw took aim, and fired. This time, he took the time to look and saw how the barbarians were terrified by the sound, flash and destructive results of the rifles, and some of them were running away, but many still charged. He stepped back and let the other rank take them on while he got ready to shoot again. Five volleys latter, He heard the trumpeter blast the generals orders, and the formation Marched forward and as they got closer, the more accurately they could shoot at them. The Goths then broke began to run away, then the general decided it was time to take captives. “CAVALRY, FLANK!”

With that, over a hundred cavalry ran out, moved around the group of retreating barbarians, The charged across the battlefield and moved around the retreating hordes. They were armed with swords, but the more deadly part of their arsenal was far newer weapon, a smaller, low range version of the Rifle. The lightly armored barbarians may be able to outrun the well-armored Infantrymen of the legions, but the cavalry easily bested there running speed of even there fleetest of warriors. They moved around the mob, which was tripping over the corpses of there fallen comrades. The Barbarians then scattered, some tried to get to the forest, some tried to charge the formation of roman soldiers and others simply dropped there weapons and put there hands to there heads. A few disappeared into the forest, but most that chose that rote were slashed with a sword from a cavalryman. The ones who decided to go out fighting got shot in the legs, causing them to fall over in pain. Their attack was short lived. The Formation broke, picking up captives for slave labor was important.

Damius ran up to a Particularly large (and Ugly) Barbarian, a massive six foot one man with a chain male vest, a stolen roman Legionnaire’s helmet and a large sword in hand. His left leg below his knee was blown off. He stood 5 meters from him and pointed hi rifle at his head. “SURENDER, YOU ARE A PRISONER OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, YOU MISERABLE SON OF A WHORE!” He yelled at the Top of his lungs. “Try anything stupid, and the Next bullet fired at you will go right into your head, so throw that weapon aside!” He briefly pointed the barrel at his sword at the rifle when he said “Weapon”, He knew that the Barbarian probably did not speak Latin, but he probably got the point. The Barbarian complied, tossing his broadsword aside and stared into Damius’s Eyes with Utter Contempt. For a few minutes, the two men stared at each other, one with rifle, one lying in pain. Then a pair of sword armed legionaries came in, picked him up, tied his hands behind his back and carried him off.

Damius looked for more prisoners, but saw only one thing around him, Corpses. Thousands of corpses, lying face down in the Mud, dead as the Mutton that he ate for breakfast. All these dead bodies were making him feel pretty damn insecure, and this was only made worse when a shrill voice yelled out at him “DAMIUS! FRONT AND CENTER!” His Centurion was behind him, That same centurion that was asleep when Damius first saw the rifles, woken up only by the bang of that first firing demonstration. And know somewhat was Envious of there weaponry.

He turned around “Yes sir?”

“See all these dead guys, Damius?”

“Yes.”

“Pick them up, Or I will give you a Good whack in the Ass with this Cain, NOW MOVE!”

darthdavid · Post by **darthdavid** » 2004-06-13 10:02pm

AWSOME!!!

speaker-to-trolls · Post by **speaker-to-trolls** » 2004-06-15 03:48am

Roman legionnaries yelling "Eat this Shitface!"

Implausible but very interesting.

Comosicus · Post by **Comosicus** » 2004-06-17 02:20am

Very interesting by now. I wonder though who the reptile-footed figure is

Zor · Post by **Zor** » 2004-06-17 02:25am

Comosicus wrote:Very interesting by now. I wonder though who the reptile-footed figure is

That will be explained in Chapter five (when i get around to it), but heres a hint, He aint human

SpecWar826 · Post by **SpecWar826** » 2004-06-17 05:39pm

jeeze I wonder what gave that away

Zor · Post by **Zor** » 2004-07-05 02:13pm

Shit, My computer had some problems and i lost the whole thing, Stupid Zor, Stupid!

Grand Admiral Thrawn · Post by **Grand Admiral Thrawn** » 2004-07-05 03:01pm

After a minute, they were 350 meters away, and the General yelled out a pair of words that Damius waited so long for him to say. “RIFLEMEN, FIRE!”

How do you expect to hit anything at 350 meters even with volley fire?

Einhander Sn0m4n · Post by **Einhander Sn0m4n** » 2004-07-15 09:25am

Kewl story. I hope you can conjure up the rest of it from memory...

Zor · Post by **Zor** » 2004-09-07 05:07pm

Since most of yous guys think that the Romans are using either muskets or cased bullets, i think i should tell you about the Weapons the romans are using.

Roman Imperial rifle

Length-144 cm
Caliber-12.7mm
Weight-4.3 kilograms
Operation-Flintlock
Max range (Volly)-235 roman Paces (350 metres)
Effective range (man sized)-100 Roman paces (150 metres)
Ammo-Cylindro Conical bullet and powder horn
Rate of fire-2 to 4 rounds a minute

Roman Pistol

Length-32.2 cm
Caliber-12.7mm
Weight-.85 KGs
Operation-Flintlock
Effective range-20 paces (30 meters)
Ammo-Cylindro Conical bullet and powder horn
Rate of fire-2 to 3 rounds a minute

The story has been dormet, but it will be revived soon.

Zor

Myrmidon · Post by **Myrmidon** » 2004-09-08 01:03am

If they are shooting flintlocks, why would they have caps in the story? Flintlocks use priming pans and a doghead lock to set off the main charge, not a cap.

Flintlock rifles were long invented as far back as the 1500's, but they were much too slow to reload and of no military use. Rifles didn't come into steady military use until breachloading weapons were avalable.

It would be far more plausable to have the Romans using matchlocks at first, even if they knew of the flintlock. Flintlocks required high tensile spring steel for the locks, well within the industrial capacity of the Romans but difficult to manage without experiance.

frigidmagi · Post by **frigidmagi** » 2004-09-08 03:55am

Their marksmenship training sucks ass. No dryfire, no instructions on how to aim or what to aim at. Nothing on recoil or flashback. Geeze I had to practice a week before being allowed to fire a single shot.

Beyond that interesting.

Post by **Beowulf** » 2004-09-08 03:23pm

frigidmagi wrote:Their marksmenship training sucks ass. No dryfire, no instructions on how to aim or what to aim at. Nothing on recoil or flashback. Geeze I had to practice a week before being allowed to fire a single shot.

Beyond that interesting.

A week? We shot the first day we handled a rifle. But yeah, their training does suck ass.

frigidmagi · Post by **frigidmagi** » 2004-09-08 05:07pm

I see why the Marines are considered better marksmen now. I always thought the rumors were overblown. Thank you for proving me wrong.

Mopeyennuui · Post by **Mopeyennuui** » 2004-09-25 07:22am

*BUMP*

More Alt-uni goodness please.

darthdavid · Post by **darthdavid** » 2004-09-25 01:48pm

Zerg Goddess wrote:*BUMP*

More Alt-uni goodness please.

Don't post in a story till the person who's writing it has. It makes people angry...

Perinquus · Post by **Perinquus** » 2004-10-03 12:23pm

Myrmidon wrote:Flintlock rifles were long invented as far back as the 1500's, but they were much too slow to reload and of no military use. Rifles didn't come into steady military use until breachloading weapons were avalable.

Actually they did. The main weapon of the American Civil War was a muzzle-loaded rifle musket. What made it possible to load and fire as rapidly as the old smoothbore muskets was the invention of the minie ball, originally designed by French Captain Claude-Etienne Minie, and improved on by manufacturers in the United States. Prior to this a round ball or conical bullet was wrapped in a greased patch, and rammed down the barrel. What made rifles slow to load was the tight fit, necessary for the rifling to grip the bullet and impart the spin - it was much harder to ram this tight fitting projectile down the barrel than it was to ram down the loose fitting ball of a musket. So, a musketeer could get off three aimed shot per minute, where a rifleman could only shoot one or two. The minie ball changed all that. Unlike previous rifle bullets, the minie ball was smaller in diameter than the rifle's barrel, and was not a tight fit, so it went down easily during the loading phase. However, it had a hollow cavity at its base. The gases, formed by the burning of powder upon firing, expanded the soft lead "skirt" at the base of the bullet so that it engaged the rifling in the barrel. Thus, at last, there was a weapon that could be loaded as quickly as a musket, and yet fired accurately since it was a rifle.

Zor · Post by **Zor** » 2004-10-11 01:17am

June 22nd, 72, Fortress Vespasian, Germania

Never before did the Roman Empire go this far north, It had breached the barbarian lines and was pushed 120 miles north. The Germanic Barbarians could simply not compete against the power of roman weaponry in direct warfare now that firearms had been introduced, hardly able to handle one legion, let alone the three others the Romans had sent in the area. There were also four others marching North and Northeast further east, and two moving Further down into the Middle East. The flow of slaves back to Rome was incredible.

Rome was more than satisfied with the results, mine owners got more slaves for mining, the Coliseums were well stocked and captured gold and silver were something that the empire had gotten a lot of in the past year.

Damius was on guard at the fortress, standing at the top of the wall with rifle in hand, pepaired to shoot any barbarians that came across, not that there was any within 12 miles. All he did was sit back, drink wine and keep his rifle a good polish. The Fortress had been built there a mere two months ago and in record time, probably because of the next to never-ending supply of labor that he and the rest of the Legions brought in. Suddenly, there was a loud Bang, he did not look, it was just another Century being converted from swordsmen to riflemen, within a few days, there would be three Cohorts of riflemen in the legion. Being a rifleman was less special nowadays, but sill was a status of power.

He had heard of the Auxiliaries receiving firearms, but a type of gun that was less effective. The rifles they used had something different with there barrels, Damius could not remember what, but it was supposed to be cheaper to make, but sacrificed range. By what the smith told him, their firing system was not as advanced, instead of using a flint to ignite powder, it used a burning piece of string. The fact that the Auxiliaries used shitty guns did not surprise him in the least. After all, Auxils were meatsheilds, Meatsheilds witch were generally better off than the Barbarians they were fighting, but still meatsheilds.

“GALLUS, SEXTUS, DAMIUS!” The Shrill voices of his Centurion “The General wants to see this Century for a special mission, Now get your asses down here!” Knowing the fate of his ass if he did not do so, Damius got down, and sat on the ground, the other two guys did the same and the centurion went out looking for the other guys. Within 8 minutes, the entire century was there with them. The General walked out, a Harded Veteran that had seen may battles and with many victories under his belt. He gave the General a Scroll, then walked away. The Centurion read the whole thing and faced his Troops. “Men, We will be going North to Hunt Barbarians with a few more guys that the general says will help us out. The Bastards are spreading themselves thin, so they are sending up smaller groups that are hard to weed out. We leave as soon as we can, so MOVE YOUR SORRY ASSES!”

Nine Days latter the Century was Far North and The Days of long Marching, Damius could put his Patience away. After a day of following a Horse’s prints, the scout finally had some good news. “Theirs an clearing with an Encampment about Nine Hundred Paces ahead” The scout said with Enthusiasm “Five or Six hundred people by the size.”

The Centurion Grinned “OK MEN! We are going against up to four Times our number of Barbarians, and Personally, I feel Kinda Sad for them!” The Men let out a Laugh “Now lets get ready to Give Charon some more work!” The force Trudged threw the mud of the forests; Germania got a lot of Rain, Much to Damius’s Dislike. After about 20 minutes, the Century stood at the rim of a valley, and in said Valley was an encampment full of Barbarians, about 400 Paces away. It was a cluster of wood, straw and mudbrick buildings about 80 in all as well as a smattering of tents and a few wheat fields. The Centurion Grinned at the Prospect “Load Rifles, and get the Big ones ready.” Damius just sat back, he loaded his rifle beforehand on the walk. The Centurion saw him doing so and did not say anything. After a Minute, the centurions with all his voice blasted Six words “Give those bastards Hell! CANNONS, FIRE!”

With those sharp words, three field cannons fired into the air, the wool cloth and pitch covered rounds traveled upward at a steep angel, then fell toward the Wooden structures. Two buildings exploded into flames, the other one hit one the side of a brick building, doing some damage to the wall but nothing major. The Cannoneers reloaded their weapons. These were not the big 35-Inch cannons that Legions used that could send a ball threw a hundred men and still keep going, but the portable 10 inch cannons were able to launch devastating attacks against buildings, and were man portable. The Cannoneers readjusted their weapons, reloaded, and fired. How ever, the first volley was enough to set the entire camp up in arms, as the chaotic Ranks of Barbarians poured out with swords, axes, spears and bows, a few of them with helmets on. There was one difference between these Barbarians and the Barbarians that he faced down a year earlier, none of them bothered wearing armor save for a few helmets. The Germanic Barbarians had given up on armor after they learned that it did nothing to stop bullets.

The Centurion then gave a stern Bark of command “FORM RANKS!” The Century then formed two ranks, first one taking aim, Second one waiting. Damius stood in the first rank, waiting for a certain word, and after 30 seconds of waiting, that word went off the Centurion’s lips with as much force as the Rifle in his hands did when it was Discharged. “FIRE!” With that word, 47 Barbarian warriors fell dead. Damius Marched back, and reloaded, this was all very routine for him. Even as Salvo after Salvo was fired into them, the Horde of Barbarians did not relent in their suicidal Charge. After five salvos, more than half the barbarians lay dead or wounded, but the rest still charged threw the gunfire. Damius kept laying down fire, reloading and watching as the barbarians fell dead, he thought he was invincible, until a Barbarian archer fired an Arrow off before getting blasted, and that arrow hit him threw his unarmored leg. He fell down in pain.

“That Bastard!” He let out as he collapsed. He had never been touched by an Enemy weapon, the enemy always died, surrendered, or Ran away before they could touch him beforehand, and he did not like having an arrow jammed into his leg, just 9 cm below from his favorite part of his anatomy one little bit. But his wounding was to little, too late to save the Barbarian attackers.

After the last barbarian got shot, the Centurion then walked to Damius with a Grin on his face. “Hurts, don’t it?”

Damius found enough black humor in himself to let out a chuckle “You got that right Sir”

“Don’t worry, but fair warning this is going to hurt like hell.” The Centurion then grabbed the shaft of the arrow, ripped the flecthing off, and then pulled it threw. He let out a yelp of pain, to faint for the centurion to clearly make it out. The Centurion then put him on his shoulder “Now lets get you something Intoxicating.”

That evening, the Century was camped out in the Remains of the Barbarian Village. Most of the Barbarian men apparently did a suicide charge as they figured that they would not survive the winter, and that it would be better to go down taking a few roman legionaries with them. They had only a few captives. Damius had been fast asleep recovering, but the other Legionaries were drinking, Gambling, singing and searching for loot in the abandoned and destroyed parts of the settlement. None of them saw a few cylindrical things scurrying towards their position. These things, each about the size of a Badger then surrounded the incumbent, and then released a greenish cloud of mist. The Romans fell unctuous within a 20 seconds of inhaling this gas, and a few of them, just a few of them heard a sound that they never heard like before falling over into a Coma.

Kkkoohh, Phuuu. Kkkpoohh, Phuuu. Kkkooohh, Phuuu.