The Age of Decadence Part #37 - Just following orders

Part 37: Just following orders

Part XXXVII: Just following orders

Gaius Brutus is at Caer-Tor to meet Paullus. I can't wait to see what he has in store for us.

I try my best.

: What do you think about Carrinas' actions?

: Emotional?

: We?

: What are you going to do with Carrinas?

Surprisingly, Paullus is siding with Meru in this timeline.

: House Aurelian won't like it.

It turns out Paullus wants to force Gaelius to the negotiating table, so he's using Meru to do it.

: What does Meru want in the ruins?

It's much more than gadgets, but never mind.

: About Carrinas...

: What outcome do you seek?

Pining for the glory days when the Imperial Guard meant something.

God damn it.

Time to go lick more boots...

Raenas is right next door.

I can tell this will go smoothly.

We're a dumb grunt, so all of these options will fail.

Now the goal is to convince two of three centurions -- Farro, Barnus, and Diocletus -- to throw their support behind us. Before we do that, let's explore a bit.

Here's Carbo, the guy who bailed us out when we fought the Ordu. Lucky guy has his own room.

: So you don't disapprove of what Carrinas has done?

Two things we learn from this conversation: 1. Paullus inspires a lot of loyalty, and 2. House Aurelian might be weaker than it seems.

On the other side of the building is this guy.

heh, "annals"

: No mercenary has much of a future. You either end up scrambling around on all fours trying to stuff your liver back in its hole, or you live to become a broken down beggar waiting for a copper coin but half the time settling for a young woman's spit. I know which I prefer.

Thanks for the contribution.

I get the feeling he's told this story a few times.

: Doesn't your whole existence revolve around dusty laws and traditions?

Ooh, saucy.

So we learn how the current situation between the Guard and the Houses came to be.

: And lived happily ever after?

: So what happened to the other four Houses?

Sounds, uh, fair?

Holy shit.

I'm sorry, am I distracting you from your important task of standing around?

Here's Farro, the first centurion we need to talk to.

Because we fought the Ordo at the pass, he automatically backs us. Thanks, Farro!

Next is Barnus. It took me some time to find him because he's at a training field on the western edge of the fort. Side note: talking to the centurion next to the fighting pen can raise your ranged skills if you've put enough points into them.

Here we fucking go...

: Absolutely.

Fuck you, gimme my axe.

: I'm ready.

Four against one, but our Block skill is high enough that I can shrug off most of their attacks and my armor absorbs the hits that do land. I had to chase the spear guy around the pen, which was tedious.