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  With which he picks up Arthur and he and Zeno walk off together into the woods, still arguing between themselves about the outcome of the race.

  Leaving you with the options of going east to 48 or south west to 128.

  Please select an option from the previous page.

  65

  “All right, lads,” you cry. “We’re marching to Athens to help push back the Persian invasion. They’re probably better equipped, better armed and we’re outnumbered more than five to one even when you count in the Athenians, but what of that, eh lads?”

  There’s a concerned buzz from the crowd around you. “Can’t go until the full moon,” somebody mutters. “It’d be bad luck.”

  “Look here,” you exhort them, “this is your country that’s under attack!”

  “No it’s not,” a dark-eyed youngster puts in. “The Persians are only attacking Athens. What’s Athens ever done for Sparta except give us trouble?”

  “But you’re all Greeks!” you cry.

  “Actually that’s quite true, although we prefer the term Hellenes to Greeks,” whispers the helpful young man on your left, “but since you’re a barbarian, perhaps I’d better explain the political set-up. Greece isn’t a whole country like Egypt or Persia. It’s just a collection of separate city states. Athens is one. Sparta’s another. And there are quite a few others that perhaps aren’t quite so important and besides, those that haven’t been forced into some sort of allegiance with Athens have mainly been forced to ally with us here in Sparta. Each city commands a farming hinterland that it’s conquered and filled with slaves to feed its people, but that’s about it. No Hellenic unity, no national government, no overall king or anything of that sort. We’re not actually at war with Athens at the moment, but it’s certainly true to say nobody here feels any burning need to help them - even against those lunatics from Persia.”

  “Can’t go before the full moon,” somebody else says, more loudly this time.

  “When’s that?” you ask.

  “Five days I’d reckon,” the dark-eyed youngster tells you, obviously the sort of precocious brat who grows up to be Euclid or Archimedes, always calculating something.

  “That’ll be far too late,” Pheidippides puts in.

  “I order you, as your Paidonomos, to march at once!” you cry. There’s a sudden silence and nobody moves. “What’s happening?” you ask the young man on your left.

  “I think they’ve just invented democracy and voted you out of office,” he tells you.

  Which, amazingly in the circumstances, leaves you only with the options of going with Pheidippides yourself to see what you can do single handed at 81, refusing to help at all at 137 or throwing your hat at the whole thing and sneaking off back to 61 (which is quite close by) to select another destination from your map.

  Please select an option from the previous page.

  66

  “Wrong!” shouts the huge man, casually hurling you all the way to 61.

  So pick yourself up, dust yourself off and select another destination from your 61 map.

  Please select an option from the previous page.

  67

  Dappled sunlight. You’re in a clearing in the woods. But wait - there’s a bearded character with a reddish cloak over his linen tunic picking some plants.

  “Don’t be afraid!” he calls when he catches sight of you. “I’m one of the asklepeia - followers of Asklepios, the god of medicine. What you would call a doctor. Do you need healing? I’m collecting herbs at the moment, but I’d be happy to help.”

  Do you? Need healing, that is. If you do, turn to 146. If not, the paths from here lead north to 78 and north east to 18.

  Please select an option from the previous page.

  68

  “You’re obviously a friend,” the guard says. “Come on in.”

  But as you step towards the second gate, it opens abruptly and Paris staggers through, trying to pull an arrow out of his head. “The archer Philoctetes got me!” he gasps. He catches sight of you. “That was really dumb advice you gave me.”

  “Hey, just a minute,” you protest. “You can’t blame me for -”

  But with an arrow through his head he’s in no mood to listen. He crawls back through the gate muttering, “Maybe I can get a magic drug from Oenone.”

  As you start to follow, the guard steps in front of you. “No way am I letting any stranger through now the prince has been shot,” he says. “On your way!”

  If you feel like going quietly, you can always try the army camp at 86. If you’re fed up being pushed around, you can try to slaughter the guard and force your way in at 75.

  Please select an option from the previous page.

  69

  “You leave my baby to the wolves and now you kill my other sons!” screams the mother. “Now you shall answer to me!!”

  “Here, steady on,” you tell her as she snatches up one of the swords. “They’re the ones who attacked me.”

  But there’s no reasoning with her. She hurls herself upon you with her sword glinting in the sun.

  This is bad news all the way. The woman has 60 Life Points and is, believe it or not, so skilled with that sword that she raises its striking power from +4 to +8 on the first successful blow and using it at +5 thereafter. What’s more, she’s so quick off the mark she gains an automatic first strike. Should she succeed in killing you, go to 13. If you survive to kill her, thus depriving that poor abandoned baby of its mother and four brothers, you can continue your adventure at 130 and I just hope you feel proud of yourself, that’s all.

  Please select an option from the previous page.

  70

  “Well done!” exclaims a voice. “Those two couldn’t have been true Spartans if you finished them off so easily.”

  You turn to find yourself face to face with a familiar face, the face of Achilles, who looks fully recovered from his ordeal with the tortoise. He grins at you evilly. “Now let’s see if you can dispatch me as quickly!”

  “Hey, wait a minute, we don’t have to fight, ” you protest. “Don’t you remember me?”

  “My memory’s not what it was since Zeno started messing with my head,” Achilles admits. “But if we’re friends, you’d better prove it by showing me your Golden Talisman.”

  If you’ve picked up a Golden Talisman on your travels show it to him quickly at 79. If not, you’re going to have to fight him at 92

  Please select an option from the previous page.

  71

  “Wrong!” shouts the huge man, casually hurling you all the way to 61.

  So pick yourself up, dust yourself off and select another destination from your 61 map.

  Please select an option from the previous page.

  72

  You spend so long trying to decide what to do that old age catches up with you and you keel over feebly from natural causes.

  Go to 13

  Please select an option from the previous page.

  73

  “I think that’s about the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard in my life,” you remark honestly.

  “How dare you speak to a king like that!” roars Menelaus, casually lopping off your head with his sword.

  Don’t you know ANYTHING about history? Everybody says the wooden horse was the greatest strategic ploy in the annals of military thought. Did nobody ever tell you to beware of Greeks bearing gifts? Where do you think the saying came from? How could a no-brainer have got so far in this adventure? Look, you can skip 13 just this once, screw your head back on and tell him what a wonderful idea he’s had at 160.

  Please select an option from the previous page.

  74

  Swiftly you race back to the filthy pile of straw you were lying on when you woke up and pretend to be still unconscious. You hear a gu
ard enter and set down a tray before leaving and locking the door behind him.

  You wait a moment to make sure the coast is clear, then leap up to pick the lock.

  But will you succeed? Make an Absolutely Anything Roll. If you manage to pick the lock, you can escape singing and dancing to 61. If you fail utterly or the effort of picking the lock kills you, go to 13.

  Please select an option from the previous page.

  75

  You hurl yourself upon the guard (who actually looks a fairly weedy specimen.) He falls back before your onslaught, whistling loudly through his teeth. At once a thousand heavily armed Trojan warriors race through the gate to his aid.

  You thought there would be only one guard on a city gate during a siege? If you want to fight these thousand and one opponents, they’ve each got 60 Life Points, +5 swords and - 8 armour. But if you really can’t face the prospect of rolling the dice a thousand and one times (and that’s just to find out who gets first strike) you can cut this whole mess short by going directly to 13.

  Please select an option from the previous page.

  76

  The world spins at the very first sip. From somewhere distant you hear the old familiar voice of Zeus advise, “Don’t let my son lead you into evil ways!”

  Then another, rather jolly voice whispers, “Don’t listen to my father. You just stick with Baccus and you won’t go too far wrong. Or if you do, at least you’ll have fun!”

  “Who are you?” you call desperately.

  “I’m BACCHUS,” shouts the voice. “God of wine and fruit of the trees, often confused with Dionysus, especially by myself when I’ve been drinking. Open your eyes and meet my followers.”

  You hadn’t actually realised they were closed, but when you open them, you find yourself surrounded by a group of (rather handsome) girls dressed in fawn skins. They begin to dance around you chanting, “We’re the Maenads! We’re the Maenads! Welcome, welcome to the realm of Baccus!”

  At any other time you might feel a little uneasy with the strangeness of it all, but the foaming drink has done something to your better judgement since you begin to grin widely. One of the girls comes forward and takes you by the hand.

  “You’re in luck, young person. The god Baccus has taken a fancy to you - which probably isn’t surprising since I understand you’re working for his father - so he’s asked me to go with you and help you through the rest of your adventure.”

  Your head is still reeling a bit, so you shake it to clear it. “Help me?” you echo stupidly.

  She smiles and nods. “Obviously I can’t advise you or interfere with your decisions, but sure as treading grapes makes wine I can help you in any fight.”

  This is a real stroke of luck. The young (and rather handsome) Maenad has 40 Life Points and enough martial arts training to strike at +4 even without a weapon. She will fight to the death on your side in any combat unless you instruct her otherwise. If she’s injured, she has three doses of herbal medicine in a pouch around her waist, each of which will restore a double dice roll of life points to her; and when that’s finished, she can share in any healing you may find. When your head clears, you can go on from this place hand in hand with the Maenad north to 10, north east to 84, west to 18 or north west to 58.

  Please select an option from the previous page.

  77

  You are strolling round this impressive building admiring the architecture when a smallish man in a grubby tunic leaps out from a doorway and grabs you by the arm.

  “Come in quick,” he says, “the performance is just about to start.”

  “You mean this is a theatre?” you exclaim, since you’d been wondering what on earth it was.

  “Thought they only had them in Athens, didn’t you?” the man grins. “But we’re very civilised here in Sparta. Tell you what. Since you’re obviously a barbarian, I’ll let you in free this time. I’ll even give you a sack of figs.”

  “Well, thank you,” you say as he drags you inside. “But what are the figs for?”

  “Throwing at the actors, of course!” he tells you.

  As you slip inside the auditorium you realise theatre must have been very popular in Ancient Greece. This place looks as if it would literally seat an audience of hundreds. A quick glance at your Brief Guide tells you that this place in Sparta is nothing when compared to the Theatre of Dionysus in Athens which actually accommodated fourteen thousand.

  You slip into your seat.

  “It’s a comedy,” whispers a man in the seat beside you. “I’m glad, aren’t you? Those old tragedies they used to put on were so depressing. Who wants to hear about the gods and heroes when you can have a good laugh, eh?”

  “Right on,” you reply and settle back to enjoy the show.

  It’s a bit different to what you’re used to. There only seem to be three actors, no actresses at all, and a sort of chorus of about a dozen blokes who prance about, singing and dancing, to fill in the details of the action.

  But though there are only three actors, this play (by some hack called Aeschylus of Athens) has many more than three characters, so that the actors keep putting on different masks. You notice all three are wearing very thick-soled shoes that make them look taller than they actually are. You find it all very confusing, but the rest of the audience obviously loves it.

  Since it seems a waste to throw the figs at the actors, you munch them instead.

  A fortunate burst of appetite since these wonderful fruit will restore you to full Life Points if you happen to be depleted. But enough of stuffing your face and amusing yourself at the theatre. You’ve a job to do, so you’d better get back to 61 and pick another destination from your map.

  Please select an option from the previous page.

  78

  You’ve stumbled on a pool. The water looks cool and inviting, but there’s something swimming in the depths that looks suspiciously like a crocodile.

  Ah, come on - there were no crocodiles in Ancient Greece! Or were there? You may find out if you take a dip at 116. But if you don’t want to risk it, the paths leading out of this place go north to 93, east to 58, south east to 18, south to 67 and north west to 107.

  Please select an option from the previous page.

  79

  Achilles blinks. “That’s good enough for me,” he says, absently rubbing his heel. “Now, would you like me to take you to meet the King or do you fancy another fight if I get you healed up to full Life Points - I have to avenge my friend Patroclus and I could do with some help.”

  Which is it to be? Achilles will take you to the King at 98. Or you can help him avenge his friend at 136.

  Please select an option from the previous page.

  80

  “Now,” says Zeus briskly, “just a few preparations. First -”

  He waves both arms wildly above his head and a luminous cloud settles briefly round yours. You experience a moment of disorientation before the cloud disappears. “What was that?” you gasp.

  “Language,” Zeus says shortly. “Pointless sending you on an adventure if everything everybody says is Greek to you. You’ll now be able to understand the lingo perfectly. Speak it too, although I’m afraid you’ll have a slight accent - nothing I can do about that. Now, training -”

  “Here, wait a minute, you didn’t say anything about training!” you protest in sudden alarm.

  “Oh come on!” Zeus exclaims. “You don’t think I’d set you down in the middle of a war zone without training, do you? You wouldn’t last five minutes.”

  With which he waves his arms around his head again and this time the luminous cloud envelopes your whole body.

  Carrying you instantly (and somewhat unexpectedly) to 20.

  Please select an option from the previous page.

  81

  “Look here, Pheid,�
� you say brusquely, “I’ve no authority to send soldiers, but I certainly won’t let you down in your hour of need. I shall run bravely back with you to Athens - it’s only a couple of hundred kilometres, after all - and there instruct your worthy General Miltiades on how to win the battle.”

  To your surprise, the crowd around you gives a rousing cheer.

  This is all very well for the morale of the troops, but are you fit enough to run all the way back to Athens with Pheidippides? Make an Absolutely Anything Roll. If it succeeds, turn to 109. If it fails, all you can do is creep away to 61 in utter disgrace to select another destination. If it kills you, go to 13.