The Toga Detective V The Mystery of The Seven Tasks

1. The Toga Detective VThe Mystery of The Seven Tasks Vespillo’s Last wishes… The Interactive Game Begin 

2. Hades • You arrive in a dark, featureless place, a denarius in your hand. Hades himself comes to greet you. • “Sorry, but somewhere along the way, you managed to get yourself killed. I’m feeling pretty nice today, so before you pay your coin to get across the River Styx, I’ll let you have a choice. You can go back to the beginning of this whole crazy business, or you can come along with me to the underworld. What do you want to do?” • Go back to the beginning Go with Hades 

3. Bad News • You, Tiberius, are the owner of a thriving detective agency. When you were 22 your dad gave it to you, and it’s been great fun. You have the natural Vespillo powers of reasoning and deduction, as well as an attractive mop of blonde hair. You are the perfect Roman, and to some girls’ (and some boys’) delight, you are single. • One morning, when you are sorting through some unsolved cases, one of your slaves comes along and tells you that your dad wants to see you. He looks sombre, so you’re a bit worried about what your dad wants to say. • Go with the slave 

4. Vespillo’s Demise • Your dad is lying on his bed, with a comfy-looking blanket thrown over him. You ask him why he wants to see you. • “My son, I am afraid that I will die soon…” • Tears spring to your eyes. • “That is why I need you to do things for me, so my life can be complete before I cross the river Styx. Will you do it for me?” • “Of course…” • “Nope.”

5. Comfort • You decide not to, because you want to stay with your dad until the very end. These things that he wants you to do might take ages, and he could die while you’re away. You don’t want to risk that. • Sadly, Vespillo is not pleased that you’ve decided to disappoint him. He brings out a bow and arrow and shoots you. The arrow hits your neck and you die in agony. • Continue 

6. The seven tasks • “There are seven tasks that you must do. They do not necessarily have to be in order, but try and do them all. They are simple enough, but important, and they require you to travel and take risks. Now Tiberius, choose your first task.” • VengeanceFamily TreasureTogaLove • WinePartyUnsolved Cases

7. More tasks • “Excellent. You have completed another task. Which one will you do now?” • VengeanceFamily TreasureTogaLove • WinePartyUnsolved Cases • I’ve done them all!

8. Vengeance • “OK. Your task is to track down a merchant called Kallias and dispose of him. He’s a wine merchant who sold me some poisoned wine which killed a few of my dinner guests many years ago. As far as I know, he lives in Rome.” • Go to Rome 

9. Rome • You arrive in Rome, ready to find this Kallias, whoever he is. Where do you look first? • The Flavian Amphitheatre  • The Circus Maximus  • The insulae  • The vineyards  • The city gates  • The wine shops and taverns 

10. The Flavian Amphitheatre • The amphitheatre was finished a year ago by Emperor Titus, who generously gave you a gift after the Pompeii case. It is a magnificent building, but today it is empty. The only signs of life are a few soldiers milling about, and some slaves cleaning it up. When you try to get in, they send you away. How are you going to get in? • Sneak past the guardsKill them and run in

11. Sneaky • You throw your toga onto one of the guards’ faces, which confuses him. The other soldiers rush towards him and ask what’s going on, and while they do this you run through one of the entrances. Finally you are in the amphitheatre. You look around and see no sign of Kallias. All you see is a very angry guard with a sword in his hand. • “Scoundrel!” he cries, laying a hand on your shoulder. With a convoy of armed soldiers around you, you are marched to the courthouse, where a verdict of death is dealt out to you. You are executed the very same day. • Continue 

12. In the arena • You get out your sword, which you carry with you as a precaution at all times, and stab one of the guards. He is angry, and alerts the others before he drops dead. As the other soldiers come towards you, you wildly butcher them, leaving a messy pile of corpses on the ground. Nobody notices. • You run inside and see the amphitheatre empty. There is no sign of Kallias, even though you’ve looked extensively. Where to next? • The Circus MaximusThe insulaeThe vineyards • The city gatesThe wine shops and taverns

13. The Circus Maximus • There are no races on today, but the guards let you in after you explain that you’re a detective. You have a good look round, and talk to one of the slaves that’s busy cleaning up. You ask him if he knows anything about a wine merchant called Kallias. • “My master always sends me out to his shop to buy his wine. He sells some excellent stuff; Falernian, Alban, Caecuban… from what I’ve heard, it’s stunning.” • Where to next? • The Flavian AmphitheatreThe insulaeThe vineyards • The city gatesThe wine shops and taverns

14. The insulae • These are the apartments where the plebs live, and knowing about the filthy goings-on of Kallias, he’s probably a pleb himself. You hate to be elitist, however– but you are the son of a patrician. • You knock on all the doors and ask if anyone knows about a man called Kallias. Sadly, the search comes up fruitless. Nobody seems to know who he is. He’s either very unknown… or very good at keeping people quiet. Where to next? • The Flavian AmphitheatreThe Circus Maximus • The vineyardsThe city gates • The wine shops and taverns

15. The vineyards • Seeing as Kallias is a wine merchant, it seems logical to go to the vineyards. A short walk out of the city takes you to the slopes of the mountains around (and on) which Rome was built, and where a few vineyards are. You have a look for the owners of them, and thankfully most of them are around. They tell you that Kallias doesn’t own a vineyard, but he does own a wine shop in the city. So where will you go now? • The Flavian AmphitheatreThe Circus Maximus • The insulaeThe city gatesThe wine shops and taverns

16. The city gates • You have a look at all of the gates of the city. There are many people trying to leave, but even when you ask, none of them know about Kallias. When you go to the Porta Appia (the Appian Gate), you continue with your search. There is a Greek-looking man just ahead in the back of a rickety cart, and you ask him if he knows anything about a man called Kallias. He looks shifty, then jumps off the cart and runs away! Do you… • Run after him  • Get in a cart and chase him 

17. Running • You rush after him, but the man (who you assume to be Kallias) is very fast. He is only wearing a thin blue tunic, which makes it easy for him to run. You are wearing your full-on toga and tunic combo, which is a hindrance. After shedding your toga, you run much faster, but Kallias is far ahead of you. Eventually he slows down and you manage to stop him. You accuse him of poisoning wine and causing the deaths of your father’s friends. He denies all charges, of course, but you won’t take no for an answer. Now how will you dispose of him? • Disembowel himSlit his throatStab him in the heart • Throw him in the River TiberCut out his tongue • Chop off his arms and legsCook him and eat him

18. Cart chase • You leap into the cart he just exited and tell the driver to get Kallias (for you assume the man to be him). The driver is annoyed and does not let you get him. You urge him to do it, and eventually he agrees. You go speeding off and you would have caught up with Kallias if you hadn’t been thrown off the cart and killed. • Continue 

19. Disembowelling • You rip off Kallias’ tunic and plunge your sword into the depths of his body. You twist it around and bring out some glistening organs, like his intestines and liver. You leave his messy body on the ground to rot and return to Vespillo for your next task. • Do more tasks 

20. Throat slitting • You casually slit Kallias’ throat. There really was nothing to it. You have successfully completed one of your dad’s tasks. • Do more 

21. Stabbing • As you try and stab Kallias, he takes out a sword of his own and you begin a long and arduous fight. It lasts for ages, but eventually you win. Kallias lies unconscious on the floor, and you stab him in the heart with ease. • Now it’s time to do more tasks! 

22. In the Tiber • You knock Kallias out with the pommel of your sword and wrap him up in your toga. Without attracting too much attention, you carry him into the city. When people stare at you oddly, you tell them you’re just carrying a bundle of togas. • You get to the smelly river and chuck Kallias in. He sinks, out of sight. You wait for a few minutes to see if he bobs back up, and when he doesn’t you are satisfied that you’ve killed him. Now time to do another one of your father’s tasks. • More tasks 

23. Tongueless • You decide not to kill him, but to simply cut out his tongue so he can’t speak, or deal any more wine. Kallias struggles, but you cleanly chop off the slimy pink tongue. You are hit by a streak of malice, so you make the poor man eat the tongue raw and warm. Kallias swallows it with your sword pointing at his throat. You turn and leave, glad you’ve disposed of the crook. • Do more tasks 

24. ‘Armless and Legless • You don’t want to kill Kallias, you just want him to be unable to trade his poisoned wine. With one swift executioner’s chop, you slice off one of his arms. Kallias is in too much pain to fight back as you remove his other limbs. Soon he is just a body and a head, rolling around, making the ground awfully bloody. You hop in your litter and go back to your dad’s house in Gaul (he still lives there, even though he can afford much more luxury). • Do more tasks 

25. Cannibal • With your year of army training that you got from the Flavian Amphitheatre case, you know how to make a fire with minimal equipment. Once the fire is going, you throw a bound and trussed-up Kallias into it. He screams for a long time before he dies, and then he is nicely cooked. You learned from your tutor (who is a bit weird) that when your creature stops screaming it’s ready to eat. You douse out the fire with the small amount of wine that’s left in your tiny wineskin (another army thing you love to have with you) and take the hot Kallias out. His eyeballs have melted, and his blackened face is contorted in a permanent expression of pain. You decide not to eat him, because you realise that you are not a cannibal. You leave his smoking body out for the birds, and you go back home. • Do more tasks 

26. The wine shops and taverns • Since Kallias is a wine merchant, he would obviously have a shop. You look around and finally find a shop that’s called ‘Kallias’ Prodigiosus Vinum Tabernam’ or KPVT for short. You go in to find it empty, with only one employee still around. You ask him where Kallias has gone. • “He found out that a detective is on his trail, so he’s disappeared. He said he was heading for Ostia.” • You laugh and tell the man that you are in fact the detective. • “Curses!” he says. • To the city gates! 

27. Family Treasure • “What you have to do is go into the Vespillo family tomb and have a look for the ‘Vespillo Circlet’ which is a treasure that has supposedly been passed down through our family from the time of the kings. One of Rome’s kings gave it to a Vespillo, who passed it down through the generations. You have to find it. I would have looked, but this sudden illness struck me down. I have been investigating for years and I have narrowed it down to our tomb. Finish the job for me.” • To the tomb 

28. The Vespillo Family Tomb • You go to the outskirts of the city, where all the cemeteries are, and find a massive structure cut into the side of a mountain. That is the Vespillo family tomb, which has housed Vespillos from the plebeian to the patrician. Your family has been going for that long! You go through the entrance and find yourself in a dark corridor, rooms both sides of you. Do you go… •  LeftRight 

29. Left • You go left, to the section of the family from about 513 BC to about 20 BC. Here there are mostly crumbled and rotten stone urns full of the ashes of the Vespillos. You go into the oldest, and original, room of the tomb, and see that it is basically ruined. You have a search through the rubble, and find no evidence of this circlet. Where do you go next? • The 490 BC to 300 BC room • The 299 BC to 150 BC room • The 149 BC to 70 BC room • The 69 BC to 20 BC room

30. 490-300 BC • This room is very old, and you can only just see the remains of a few funerary stones and things, although nothing grand. There are a few urns still intact, and you grimly open them and see that there is no circlet. You say ‘salve’ to some of your ancestors, like a Vibius, a Sextus and a random man who was called ServiusArtorius Marcellus. He wasn’t even a Vespillo, so what was he doing in the Vespillo family tomb? Heck, he wasn’t even a Lucretius! He wasn’t even distantly related with the family! You shrug it off and visit another room. • The 299 BC to 150 BC room • The 149 BC to 70 BC room • The 69 BC to 20 BC room

31. 299-150 BC • These rooms are in fairly bad condition, because they are hundreds of years old. You see evidence that these people are slightly higher in rank, because there are more urns intact, and they are a little decorated. You open each one and have a look at the ashes, then put the lids back on. There is still no sign of the circlet. Where to next? • The 490 BC to 300 BC room • The 149 BC to 70 BC room • The 69 BC to 20 BC room

32. 149-70 BC • Now you can see that the Vespillos were getting richer. This room is in far better condition, and there are still the remains of frescoes on the walls. This time there are not just urns, there are things that look like coffins. The thought of a rotting dead body repulses you, but you still heave the lids off the stone boxes and root around for the circlet. Thankfully there’s no flesh left on any of the bodies, and they’re all skeletons, so that makes your job a little less disgusting. You see that some of these people are buried with a lot of their bling and possessions, and in the coffin of a Marcus Lucretius Vespillo you find a little note written on a bit of lead: • THE CIRCLET HAS BEEN PASSED DOWN TO MY ONLY SON • You look at the surrounding coffins and urns and find one that says “T. Lucretius Vespillo, son of M. Lucretius Vespillo”. Since his urn doesn’t have a note with it, you have no idea where the circlet could have gone. You assume it will be in a later room. • Next room 

33. 69-20 BC • Here there are no grisly coffins or dead bodies, only nice and civilised urns. However, these are different, because by every urn there is a stone box with a selection of the person’s possessions. The circlet could be in one of those. • Sadly, you are wrong, because after a long search, you only find dusty and rotten bits of cloth, a few rancid amphorae of wine, some dirty (but probably valuable) jewellery and some unreadable bits of paper. You’re annoyed about the latter, because one of them could have told you who had the circlet. You shrug your shoulders and decide to go elsewhere. • The 490 BC to 300 BC room • The 299 BC to 150 BC room • The 149 BC to 70 BC room • To the other side of the tomb 

34. Right • There are really not many rooms in this area of the tomb. Either not many Vespillos died from 19 BC to now, or they only put the important ones here. Which room are you going to go into? • Cn. Lucretius Vespillo • M. Lucretius Vespillo • Lucretia Vespillo • A. Lucretius Vespillo • T. Lucretius Vespillo • Down the dark corridor ahead of you

35. Rooms • Which room will you go to? • Cn. Lucretius Vespillo • M. Lucretius Vespillo • Lucretia Vespillo • A. Lucretius Vespillo • T. Lucretius Vespillo • Down the dark corridor ahead of you

36. Cn. Lucretius Vespillo • This one is highly decorated and there is a big headstone in the wall. You read it and find the important bits. • “Cn. Lucretius Vespillo, son of Ap. L. V., grandson of T. L. V.” • You think that the people that made this headstone much have been really lazy. They didn’t even bother to put their whole names. • You have a look for any mention of a circlet, but there is none. • Go to another room 

37. M. Lucretius Vespillo • You see that on his headstone there are the words “M. gives the Vespillo circlet to his son” • From what you can deduce from the headstone, M. Lucretius Vespillo had two sons, Aulus and Titus. Which one could have had the circlet? • Go to another room 

38. Lucretia Vespillo • You find it sad that she died at the age of 2, and you also deduce that it’s unlikely she got the circlet. You have a look around the room, but there is no luck. • Go to another room 

39. A. Lucretius Vespillo • This room looks relatively new, compared to the others, and it is the poshest one you’ve seen. Even though it’s been there 40 years the paintings and frescoes are still vivid, and all the bling that’s in the room is still quite shiny, just a little dusty. You also see a few amphorae of wine, which smell delicious. You can’t help taking a swig. You consider yourself a bit of a wine expert, and you can tell that this is a Falernian of the highest quality. Cheekily, you pinch a bit and pour it in your wineskin. You like wine so much that you’ve always got a bit in there ready for when you get thirsty. • Even after all this investigating, you don’t see any mention of the circlet. • Go to another room 

40. T. Lucretius Vespillo • This one says • To the spirits of the departed • T. Lucretius Vespillo, son of M. L. V., grandson of Ap. L. V., father of Q. L. V. • Died aged XXIV years, I month, XXVII days • His brother, A. L. V., set this up. • The owner of the circlet. • So Titus must be the owner of the circlet! You have a bit of a nose around the room, overturning stones and opening his stone box. At the bottom you find a dusty golden circlet, which has stylistic laurel leaf designs all the way round its thin band. You’ve found it! You go back and give the circlet to your dad. • Do more tasks 

41. Dark corridor • You wander down the corridor and are horrified to see absolutely loads of broken and intact urns. It looks like there are loads, from hundreds of different years. You have a look for the circlet, but find nothing. Then you see what looks like a hidden door. Maybe the circlet is behind there! You move a few urns out of the way, breaking them, and try and heave open the door. It finally gives, and you are in a dark room. Suddenly a light comes on and a boulder rolls towards you. You have just enough time to read a scary message on the wall: “traitors will be food for Cerberus” before you are squashed flat. • Continue 

42. Toga • “Back when I solved a case for Emperor Claudius, he gave me a whole wardrobe of beautiful togas. Before I die, I want you to have lots of money, so please sell all the togas to whoever will buy them.” • How will you go about this? • Advertise around the town  • Go around with a basket of togas, being a street vendor  • Head to the forum and sell them at your detective stall  • Go door-to-door round town 

43. Advertisements • You go out and hire a sign-writer to paint some graffiti on one of the public walls. You get him to write the following: • Excellent togas for sale! • Previously they were the property of the esteemed detective Q. Lucretius Vespillo. • Enquire at Villa Vespillum. • Not the most elegant of rhetoric, but it gets the point across. Now to wait for a reply. • Wait 

44. Customer • After a few days with no response, you begin to think that advertising was not a good idea. You all but give up! • Finally somebody comes to enquire about the togas. He is a short, fat little man called Silus. You gladly welcome him in, but notice that he would never fit these togas– he is far too short and far too wide. You remain polite, however, and give him some of his favourites to try on. He comes out and shows you the results, and you have to try not to gag! He looks horrible! • To your horror, he buys quite a few of the togas, including a very expensive-looking one. You made some money, at least, but some of your dad’s amazing togas have gone to this greasy little man. • Sell more togas 

45. Anonymous • Immediately afterwards, a slave comes in and hands you a letter. You have a quick look at it and see that an anonymous buyer wants to buy all the togas you have left. It says that the slave that brought the letter has enough money and you can make a sale right now. You are a little bit wary of this buyer, but it’s an easy sale. What do you do? • Give the togas to the slave immediately • Reply and ask to see the buyer in person

46. A QUICK SALE • You hand over all the togas and take the slave’s money. You are pleased that you’ve completed this task, but you keep the letter as evidence, in case you encounter this ‘anonymous’ again. You never know who they could be. • Do more tasks 

47. The meeting • You write a quick reply, saying that you will only sell the togas to people that come and see him in person. To be safe, you arrange your meeting to be in the forum, in case ‘anonymous’ is a little unsavoury. • When the time comes for the meeting, you take the togas in a basket and wait in the forum, which is annoyingly empty. Soon you see a man in a very well-fitted toga and tunic walking up to you with an air of graceful power. • “Hello, Tiberius.” he says, with a smooth voice. You greet him, using your powers of reasoning to work out who he could be and where he came from. • “There’s no use doing that—” He gestures to you, obviously meaning that there’s no use doing your reasoning or deduction. “—It will all be wrong. I simply have come to buy your togas.” • Give him the togasTalk to him more

48. A sale • You nod, and give him the togas. You don’t want to have any more to do with this strange man. When you are handed the money, the anonymous man shoots off. You, thankfully, managed to grab a little thread of his toga as you got the money, so you can identify the material, the cost, the quality, and hopefully give you a bit of information about the man. He seemed a little bit strange, to say the least. • Do more tasks 

49. Confrontation • You ask him who he is. • “I am anyone. I am the ink behind the anonymous letter, I am the hand grasping the knife, I am the flutter of toga you glimpse at a party. Most importantly, I am the organiser behind all these things. I am a god.” • You’re not really one for flowery rhetoric, so you ask him what his actual name is. • “My name is Marcus Volcatius Licinus.” He turns and starts to leave. • “And you’ll be hearing more from me.” • He swaggers off, carelessly throwing a coin behind him. • The scoundrel didn’t even take the togas! Annoyed, you dump them on a random market stall and go to do more tasks. • Do more tasks 

50. Street vendor • You shove the togas into a big basket and go out into town, calling as loud as you can: “Togas for sale! Get your lovely togas!” • Nobody seems to be around, so you go to the streets with the taverns on and target your marketing there. Eventually a couple of people stumble out, already drunk so early in the day, and press a coin into your hand. They dig around, pick out togas, and leave. • You continue to do this for the rest of the day until your voice gets hoarse. In the evening, you count up how many togas you sold, and to your delight see that you only have a few to sell. The next morning you wake up early and go to the forum to sell more togas. • Sell togas! 