#this entire trip will be my Roman Empire for the rest of my damn life

[energeticwarrior]

Safe to say the best night of my life :,)

And thanks to @goldenhowell I realized I just met Dan on the anniversary of the Phil Video that (predicted dan) gave me my url that I so carefully chose seven years ago😭😭😭😭😭😭

[honeybeezgobzzzzz]

𓅨 The Places You’ve Been

The Places You've Been: As a student of Professor Robert Gadling, and finding out his darkest secret, you had the luck to meet Dream of the Endless. You managed to worm your way into a friendship with Morpheus… but you aren’t entirely sure how he really feels about you. At the very least, the Endless has decided to humor you by accompanying you on your upcoming trip to see the Roman Empire, and boy are you in for a trip of your lifetime.

Warnings: Morpheus Being Sly (while getting payback), Somewhat Oblivious Reader.

To Note: Morpheus/Dream x Female!Reader x Hob Gadling, Idea from this post by @writing-fanics.

Word Count: ~4.1k

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“Do you have your passport? Papers, cards, phone, phone charger? Your wallet?” You rolled your eyes and nodded, shouldering your backpack and taking hold of your luggage.

“Yes, dad,” You smartly replied. Hob gave you a scowl, but you just snickered. He was, technically, a professor at the University where you were studying the history of the Roman Empire, and held absolutely no relation to you… but since the start of your program, he had been your biggest advocate and really, the only supportive figure in your life. Never mind the fact that he was like, over six hundred years. You couldn’t call him a parental figure… but you certainly had a special relationship with the man. Normal professors didn’t let their students crash at their inn and bar for free, nor did they come to care for their students like the way Hob did with you. No matter how strange your relationship was with Hob, he was one of the few people who you felt truly comfortable with. Talking history with him was always so easy. “Seriously, Hob, I’ve triple-checked everything on my packing list, and worst case scenario, I’ll harass Morpheus into helping me out with his magical mumbo jumbo.”

“Please don’t ever call it his magical mumbo jumbo to his face, Y/N.” Hob sighed, rubbing his face which was filled with stress. You countered his sigh with a raised eyebrow. 

“Don’t you have papers to be marking?” 

“Don’t you have a flight to catch?” You blinked at his quip before your lips twitched, he was awake enough to give you sass back. You and Hob smiled at each other. 

“Touché,” You then said before looking back down at your luggage. “I’ll text you when I get to the gate, when I board, and when I land, okay? I’ll also send you all the pictures I take at the end of the day, deal?” 

“Yeah, Y/N/N, deal,” Hob sighed again. You eyed him and the bags beneath his eyes. 

“And drink some coffee or sleep, you look like you’re going to keel over any second.” His scowl was back, but he couldn’t refute your words, so with a sulky look plastered to his face, he gave you one last hug. “I’m serious, you worry me when you look like this.”

“I promise to get some rest. Safe travels, Y/N,” You waved at him before heading into the airport. This was the first time you would be leaving Great Britain and to be frank, it terrified you to a certain degree. But at the same time, your excitement for getting to see all of the great remnants of the Roman Empire in person was filling you with giddiness. The flight to Milan was only going to take about two hours which gave you plenty of time to catch up on the sleep you had missed the previous night from being so excited. Your flight was early, so damn early in the morning that you yourself were feeling the effects of getting up so early, so the first thing you did when you got through security was get a nice coffee and sit down at your gate to look at your itinerary. 

You had planned to start in Milan, then go south to Rome. From there you would take a short flight to Greece to visit Thessaloniki, and then hop over to Turkey to see the city’s Istanbul and Ephesus. Alexandria would be your next stop along the Mediterranean and to finish your trip you would visit the city of Carthage. It was a lot, but you had an entire month blocked off to enjoy this trip. Smiling at the itinerary you had so meticulously put together, you didn’t even notice that someone had sat down next to you. 

“You seem rather taken by that paper, Y/N.” You were glad to say that you no longer jumped at his sudden appearance, but inside of you still managed to be surprised at his unforeseen arrival. Lifting your eyes from your list, you looked at Morpheus with a raised eyebrow. 

“It’s my trip itinerary,” You exclaimed, holding it up and running your finger down your carefully penned notes. “I have everything we will be seeing and notes of what to make sure not to miss. You know I’ve been looking forward to this for over a year. I do not want to miss anything.” Morpheus’s eyebrow rose eloquently, one of his signature quirks. You could have also sworn that his lips twitched in amusement at your passion for the trip. 

“I do not believe you will forget anything, ἀγαπητή. Your passion for your studies is prevalent and prepossessing.” You blinked at him. 

“Okay, I may be a grad student, but I have no idea what you mean by prepossessing… probably should look that up.” You murmured more to yourself than to Morpheus. You sipped your coffee and looked down at the seven places you were going to visit with a broad smile. This really was going to be a trip of a lifetime, and you were glad to be sharing it with Morpheus. “Speaking of which, what are you doing here?” You asked him, your eyebrows furrowing. “It’s not like you’ve got a flight to catch.”

“Can I not see that you make your travel accommodations in a timely manner?” Morpheus countered his own eyebrow raising. You gave him a pointed look and huffed. 

“You’re being mysterious again,” You commented. 

“I was under the assumption that you adored unraveling mysteries?” The little smile on Morpheus’s lips was all apparent that he was, once again, teasing you. What did the Endless get out of teasing you so much? You didn’t know the answer to that question, but you did know that while he rarely expressed human emotion, he did like to tease you mercilessly. You gave him a scathing look and huffed back at him over the lid of your coffee. 

“You know exactly what I mean Dream Lord.” Just as you muttered that your phone started ringing, Hob’s ringtone blared in the immediate vicinity. 

Forever young

I wanna be forever young

Do you really want to live forever?

Forever and ever

Forever young 

I wanna be forever young

Do you really want to live forever?

Forever and ever young

Morpheus raised his eyebrow once more as if saying ‘really?’. You brought out your phone and answered the call, still staring directly into Morpheus’s eyes. 

“What’s up Hob,” You spoke, enjoying the way the immortal Endless’s eyebrows seemed to raise an infinite amount. Clearly, he didn’t understand the joke…

“You finished all of my markings…” You hummed in immediate response.

“You’re welcome, now go sleep, silly. You’re immortal, not someone who can survive on a few hours of sleep a day.” You told Hob frankly. 

“Has anyone ever told you that you are bossy?” Hob sighed out, fatigue and tiredness clear in his voice. 

“Oh yes, most definitely, and you knew that before you became my best friend.” You teased with a broad smile. “But in all seriousness, please go to bed.”

“Okay, Okay, you good for now? You at your gate?” 

“Yes and I currently have lovely company.” You said, eyeing Morpheus who was surprisingly, still sitting next to you. “I’m hanging up now because the longer we talk the less likely you are of actually sleeping.”

“Be safe, Y/N,” You hung up the phone and eyed Morpheus. 

“Six centuries and he still doesn’t know how to properly take care of himself?” You complained in a dramatic way. “I swear if I spend the entire trip worrying about him I am going to beat him over the head with one of his textbooks.” 

“I wouldn’t worry too much, Y/N. Hob has managed to survive this long despite his adversities.” Morpheus spoke to you, trying to reassure you. “He is also more inclined to listen to what you tell him to do.” 

“Are you calling me bossy?” You snorted, eyeing the Endless with a sharp look. 

“Bossy? Perhaps, but at the very least you have sway over Hob and he does listen and value your words.” Morpheus said, then his head tilted to the side. “I believe your aeroplane is boarding.” You glanced over at the gate and found that he was right, the steward was manning the intercom and announcing the boarding zone. You turned back to Morpheus

“Then I suppose I shall—“ You trailed off when you realized that he had left. You sighed and began gathering your things. He came and went like the wind, but you always felt emptier when he left. Hob filled that hole quite well, but even his departure left you feeling alone. How had you gotten to this point in your life where you found yourself revolving around the two men? If you weren’t with one, you were with the other. When you were alone, you were lost. “Ridiculous.” Recycling your coffee cup, you joined the boarding line. You sent Hob one last text when you found your seat on the aeroplane and settled in for your flight. 

Milan was a beautiful city that you, admittedly, had gotten lost in the very first day you spent there. Thankfully, a local of Milan had been kind enough to sort you out and you had started your great trip by looking at the architecture that came about because of Emperors Constantine and Licinius issuing the Edict of Milan, legalizing Christianity across the Roman Empire. The many gothic cathedrals that rose tall in ornate sculptured buildings captivated your attention. When Morpheus arrived as promised, you had dragged him to almost every place to be seen, giddy with excitement and happily giving the history of the site. You knew plenty about the cities you planned on visiting, even if the knowledge did not fall in Roman times. 

Of course, every time you asked Morpheus if he had been to the places you dragged him to, he always said yes. It was disheartening to a point, you wanted to share the discovery of something new with him. Those thoughts quickly passed when you started snapping pictures and exchanging text messages with Hob, who was just as excited as you were. When you traveled south to Rome and had promptly told Morpheus that you were taking him to the Trevi Fountain. Morpheus didn’t quite understand your want and need to follow through with the coin toss tradition. But you were stubborn and put your foot down, which is how Morpheus found himself being pulled along by the hand you held firmly in yours, to the very fountain he had viewed on its debut in 1762. You made it to the fountain and proceeded to spend the next five minutes gushing about the facts of it, explaining the sculptures to Morpheus. You dug out some coins to toss into the fountain. 

“You wish to do what?” Morpheus asked inquisitively. You blinked at him with a raised eyebrow while offering him a one-euro coin. 

“You know exactly what I want to do, Morpheus.” You told him, getting out your own coins. “We are here, we can’t just not toss coins into the fountain. It’s tradition.” 

“A silly one,” Morpheus muttered beneath his breath before you elbowed him in the side. He took your offered coin despite his great reluctance. “Very well.” You happily beamed at him and closed your own coins in your right hand before turning around with your back facing the fountain. Morpheus watched you as you closed your eyes for a few moments, then threw two coins over your left shoulder. They plopped into the fountain with a light splash and you expectantly turned to him. 

“Well?” You broached him. “Go on, toss your coin,” Morpheus repeated your actions and tossed his single coin. 

“Does this satisfy you, ἀγαπητή?” He asked you. You gave him a sour look. 

“You could have at least looked happy about it.” You stated. “This is supposed to be a happy trip and here you are looking as always.” His eyebrow went up. 

“And what do I always look like then?” 

“Like you’d rather be anywhere else… or bored. You look bored a lot.” You pointed out as you pulled out your camera and started taking pictures. “Let me guess, ‘I was here when it was being constructed, yada yada yada, why must I come when I saw it built with my own eyes'.” Your impression of Morpheus made his lips quirk. 

“I saw it when it was completed in 1762, actually.” Morpheus corrected you. You rolled your eyes. 

“Whatever,” You sighed, you then brandished your camera. “Now smile and look like you aren’t in pain. Hob wants more pictures of you.”

Thessaloniki wasn’t much better, regarding Morpheus’s attitude that is. All of the ruins you went to and he had seen each and every one as they were built to be, not in the current day ruins. It was getting to be exasperating if you were to be honest with yourself. Why was he on this trip with you? To be honest, Hob had been very reluctant to let you go on a month-long endeavor around the Mediterranean. Someone as young as you wandering around the Mediterranean alone? He wasn’t going to have it. Then Morpheus had invited himself onto your trip and Hob was suddenly much happier with you going. Talk about moody immortals. They changed their minds on a whim it seemed. At what point in your friendship had they become so protective of you? You didn’t know. 

Your fork poked the half-eaten falafel on your plate in front of you as you gazed out into the picturesque waters of Greece. 

“Do you not like it?” You glanced at Morpheus, who was studying you intently, his eyes drifted to your half-eaten meal in concern. Setting your fork down, you cleared your throat and shook your head. 

“No, I do, I’m just lost in thought,” You explained. Morpheus’s head tilted to the side in question, and you could feel his question before he asked it. 

“A dream for your thoughts?” A small chuckle escaped your lips and you leaned back in your seat, drumming your fingers on the tabletop. 

“Why were you and Hob so against this trip in the first place?” Morpheus blinked at you and considered your question. You certainly had a right to know and their immortal man nor Endless liked the appeal of lying to you… but at the same time, their reservations seemed from the mere fact that you were mortal and your life fleeting. Their immortal lives tended to attract dangers that they wished to keep you far from… but you had a proclivity to charge right into that which they tried their best to steer you away from. 

“It is not our desire to see you wandering strange lands with so little protection.” You suddenly weren’t so sure of your best friend status with either man. Well, either man or being…

“Try it,”

“I do not need to, aşkım. Surely you would like to enjoy them all to yourself.” Morpheus replies, dodging the mussel you were currently thrusting into his face. 

“No, try,” You insisted, stretching up on your toes. “You said you would humor me!” You complained, your wrist swerving as Morpheus carefully dodged your incoming fingers and grasped your arm. You pouted at him which made the little old lady that was manning the food cart start to chuckle. “Morpheus!” 

His blue eyes stared into yours and you stared just as hard, back, or perhaps not hard, but more puppy-like. Pleading. He and Hob could never resist your pleading face. But you could see the cracks in his composure. You pouted your lip a little more. Morpheus sighed and relaxed his posture.

“Aşkım, this trip is for y—“ You managed to shove the mussel into his mouth as he spoke and let out an exclamation of triumph. Morpheus jerked in surprise and as you laughed and beamed at him, the fact that you had just shoved food into his mouth was entirely forgotten as he stared down at you. He had seen you happy before, elated, but not like this. Not this exuberant, not this vibrant, not this illuminating. Morpheus was so taken by you at that moment he was oblivious to the fact that you had asked the old woman behind the stall to take a picture of you and Morpheus. It was only when you were trying to shove a second mussel into his mouth and a flash went off that he pulled himself from your bewitching elation. 

“Y/N!” He rumbled, scowling down at you. You giggled deviously at him and wrapped your arms around his neck.

“What?” You innocently asked. “This is supposed to be a fun trip, not a trip where I do everything alone.” 

“Listen to your wife, young man! You make a beautiful couple!” The old woman chortled. Both you and Morpheus flushed and just as you got a view of his ears turning pink as he thanked the old woman and dragged you off. As he walked, you kept sneaking looks at Morpheus. Oh yes, this Endless could in fact blush. At least you got a picture of you shoving those delicious mussels into his mouth or Hob would never believe you had actually gotten Morpheus to eat one. 

Your thoughts of your relationship with Morpheus and Hob went out the window as you explored the rest of Turkey. Istanbul and Ephesus were both beautiful and overwhelming with their historic history. You had run yourself ragged several times over the course of the nine days you spent in the country. Morpheus was not happy with you for doing such a thing to your body, had chided you on several occasions, and even had Hob call to give you a scolding. You had simply rolled your eyes at them, crossed your arms, and waited for the scolding to end. That had been three days ago, and after three days of radio silence on your part, you finally decided to put Hob out of his misery and face-timed him from your hotel room while Morpheus was out. 

“Oh thank God, I thought you were still not talking to me,” Hob said dramatically but entirely truthful. Your lips quirked at him. 

“Still feeling like yelling at me for enjoying Turkey?” You asked, moving to step outside onto the balcony and take a seat to watch the sunset. Getting comfortable, you stared at Hob’s face, gauging his reaction. He sighed and rubbed his face. 

“I’ll give you that one, Y/N because it is far too painful to be ignored by you. Never again.” He moaned pathetically. “All I’ve been doing lately is marking papers and it is dreadfully boring without you.” You laughed in the face of his misery. 

“Oh come on, Hob, you aren’t missing me that much.” You chuckled, missing the look that flashed in his eyes. “But I will tell you, I’m getting tired of Morpheus telling me ‘I’ve been here before and it isn’t anything new, and I am highly unimpressed, and I will now sulk around and look bored for the rest of the time'. Surely he has to be amazed by something or at the very least, hasn’t been to one of the places? Is there anywhere he hasn’t been?” 

“Considering his age, probably not,” Hob replied, giving you a sympathetic look. “Y/N, if Morpheus was bored or didn’t want to be there, we both know he would be long gone.” You reluctantly nodded in agreement. 

“Well, I’ve certainly forced him into plenty of pictures it’s a miracle that he’s still humoring me. Do you think it’s possible to give an Endless an eye tick?” Hob started laughing at your words and you simply lifted your eyebrows. “Well? Pretty sure I’ve driven him up the wall with what I’ve put him through. You get that picture of him in Istanbul?” 

“The one where you were trying to shove mussels into his mouth? Distinctly.” You giggled in memory. 

“Let’s just say that the little old lady manning the food shop mistook him for my husband. Pretty sure his ears turned pink?” Hob’s eyebrows disappeared into his hairline in disbelief and you waved your hand at the camera. “I didn’t even know he could turn that color, it was quite endearing.” 

“Don’t let him hear you say that, he’ll take great offense.” You hummed with a short giggle. 

“Oh please, he lets me get away with almost anything these days. It’s actually kind of strange really…” You sigh out, taking a glance at the sunset shimmering along the horizon of the ocean. “You know you’re missing out right now, Alexandria is quite beautiful.” Hob sighed at your words. He knew exactly what he was missing, not just the views and sights, but missing out on a trip with you. Morpheus was a lucky bastard, getting to spend time with you when you were at your happiest. At the very least, locals had taken your picture for you so he could see your blinding smile… but still, there was nothing like being there to experience it. “Hob?”

“Sorry? Got lost in thought for a moment, what are you going to see next?”   

“Montazah Palace,” You replied. “I’m looking forward to the views and architecture.” 

You were walking through the gardens, enjoying the carefully selected plants throughout the garden, and occasionally looking up at the palace. Morpheus was walking behind you, watching as you flittered about the palace grounds once again bursting with facts and excitement. This was one of the reasons why he had joined you on this trip. Morpheus loved how passionate you were about your studies and what better way to enjoy your company than on a trip where it was only you and him? It was perhaps selfish of him to do so, but he had enjoyed every moment thus far. 

Walking over to the stone veranda that oversaw the incredible waters the palace was perched above, you leaned your arms against the stone railings and sighed. This picturesque view was incredibly mind-blowing to you, the idea of someone living with this view as their backyard? Absolutely incredible, but knowing Morpheus, he was probably not the least bit impressed. 

“Let me guess,” You stated, looking over your shoulder to give the Endless a pointed look. “You were here long before man came along and ruined the view with the buildings… am I right?” 

Morpheus raised an eyebrow and walked up beside you, observing the sunset that shimmered quite beautifully over the Egyptian waters. Yes, it was beautiful and extraordinary, but the only real beauty Morpheus could see right now was you. 

“I was here to witness this land long before man designed to set foot here.” He told you, much to your irritation. You threw your head back and gripped the stone railing tightly as you groaned. 

“Okay, I get it! You’ve been everywhere and at this point? I hardly think anything on this trip is going to be new or the least bit enjoyable.” You huffed out, at your wit's end. “Is there anywhere you haven’t been!?” Morpheus cocked his head to the side for a moment, then replied. 

“Yes,” It was a simple answer like you expected, just not the word you thought he would say. You blinked at him and raised your eyebrow. 

“And where would that be?” You asked in exasperation. Surely it was some cosmic destination that you’d never heard of before. Far, far away from Earth and hidden within the depths of the universe. Morpheus turned his head to look down at you. His face was devoid of emotion, or better described as unreadable. 

“Inside you.” Dead silence stretched out between you as your mind reeled in place. Your brain was very slowly computing what he said. Painfully slow. Then it clicked and your jaw went slack. Morpheus, who had been watching the gears turn in your head, gave you a smirk. He considered that payback for Istanbul, but in all honesty, his words were the truth. He would wait however long it took to be given the chance to explore that very place. You held up a finger, preparing to go off on him for teasing you in such a dirty-minded way, but then it occurred to you. He wasn’t teasing you, not at all. 

“You are a despicable Endless sometimes, do you know that?” You groused side-eyeing Morpheus. He just knowingly smirked at you and enjoyed the rest of his view. It was breathtaking. 

Date Published: 11/22/22

Last Edit: 11/22/22

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[twatd]

6,000 Years of Murder – Part Six: Things Fall Apart

Tim: The Wicked + The Divine #36 finally gave us a definitive list of every damn Recurrence that has occurred since Ananke first started exploding heads, so we thought we’d take a walk through the annals of history and provide some context for what was happening at the time. Welcome to 6,000 Years of Murder.

Our sixth octet of Recurrences bridges the gap between BC and AD, and sees two great powers rise, in the form of the Han Dynasty and the Roman Republic, only for them to crumble into bloodshed and chaos. Feels like an appropriate arc for WicDiv, no?

188BC – Eastern China When we last left China, the Zhou dynasty was starting to crumble back into a series of smaller territories, but since then, the Qin imperial dynasty has reunited the country. Now, we’ve begun the Han dynasty, considered a golden age in Chinese history, with China’s majority ethnic group still calling themselves the ‘Han Chinese’ and modern Chinese script often referred to as ‘Han characters’. 188BC sees Emperor Hui of Han die aged just 22 (maybe he was in the Pantheon?) and his domineering mother Empress Dowager Lü take the throne, having already been the power behind it.

Also occurring since we last checked in on China? The birth, life and death of Confucius, one of China’s most influential philosophers. His teaching, which emphasised personal and state morality, justice, sincerity and social harmony, will form one of the central schools of thought for the rest of China’s history. It emerged during a period called the Hundred Schools of Thought, a time of great cultural and intellectual expansion that occurred during the Warring States era. Alongside Confucianism, important Chinese philosophies like Taoism and Legalism were also developed, and their interplay will shape China for centuries to come.

96BC – Etruria The Roman Republic has been chugging along for around 300 years at this point, so we should probably pay some attention to it. As the name suggests, Rome is still a republic at this point, controlled by a Senate and giving at least the tip of a hat towards the notion of democracy popularised by the Greeks. However, little Julius Caesar, currently four years old, will soon put an end to that and transform the already successful republic into an Empire that will conquer much of Europe, the Middle East and beyond.

It’s worth noting that this Recurrence doesn’t take us to Rome itself but Etruria, the cradle of an earlier culture in Northern Italy that was assimilated into the Roman Republic around 300 years earlier. I couldn’t nail down a concrete reason for this choice, but my current working theory is that, as one of the first cultures absorbed into Rome, Etruria represents the way that the Empire will go on to suck in and process so many of the surrounding civilisations.

4BC – Judea When a series is focused on humans ascending to godhood throughout history, cultivating great followings and bringing about change before dying young, it makes sense that we ended up in Judea in time for Jesus’ birth (yes, contrary to what you’d think, Jesus was born between 6-4BC, to allow Herod to be King upon his birth). As you can imagine during this period, despite travelling almost 1,500 miles from our last Recurrence, we haven’t outpaced the Romans, who annexed Judea in 63BC, shortly before transforming from a republic into an empire.

Herod was designated “King of the Jews” shortly after the Roman conquest, gaining military control in 37BC. He dies just as we visit, in 4BC, and will split Judea up amongst his sons, who are largely inept and rejected by the people in favour of more direct Roman rule. Even then, Jews living in the province still maintained some form of independence, able to judge offenders by their own laws. This independence was also the root of several rebellions that brewed in the area over the next 150 years, eventually resulting in the Romans renaming large areas to try to erase the historical ties Jewish people had to the region. That didn’t really go over very well.

88AD – Teotihuacan We’ve crossed over into Anno Domini - the numbers start going up from here! To celebrate, let’s take a trip to the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas and the sixth largest city in the world: Teotihuacan. Located in a sub-valley of the Valley of Mexico, and just 25 miles from modern-day Mexico City, this metropolis boasted advanced building techniques including multi-storey residential blocks. Like other Mesoamerican sites, the urban planning was incredibly precise, oriented to the progression of the sun and stars, making the entire city a living calendar.

Quite who constructed Teotihuacan is unknown. Archaeological evidence suggests it was a multi-ethnic city, with distinct quarters occupied by the Otomi, Zapotec, Mixtec, Maya and Nahua peoples. Originally, it was presumed that the Toltecs were behind initial construction, based on colonial-era texts that quote Nahuatl-speaking Aztecs. However, the Nahuatl word “toltec” means “craftsman of the highest level”, and so might not refer specifically to the Toltec civilisation. It’s now generally assumed that settlement began around 300BC by the Totanac people, with the city reaching its zenith around 450AD.

181AD – South East Asia So far, our dalliances in Asia have mostly been centred on modern-day India and China, but that leaves large areas unaccounted for. Merchants throughout the region are busy establishing the Silk Road to China, but trade is also occurring via sea, taking you close to the Mekong Delta in present-day Vietnam. Right now, that area is part of the Funan network of states. Like Teotihuacan, modern understanding of Funan and the people that founded it is heavily debated. A lot of evidence, including the name we give it, comes from a single report by two Chinese diplomats, and given that China was often trying to conquer this part of the world, should be taken with a pinch of salt.

There’s a boss-ass folktale surrounding the region’s founding which involves a genie, a magic bow and a snake princess, but we can probably (unfortunately) also file that under “dubious”. What we do know is that Roman, Chinese and Indian goods have all been excavated in the area, suggesting a truly powerful trading centre. The Mekong Delta was perfect for both rice cultivation and fishing, further helping the area’s economy, and tactical conquests and colonies meant that at points, the kingdom controlled the entire trade route from Malaysia to central Vietnam.

271AD – Eastern China The Han period in China may have had a massive impact that continues to today, but it had to end at some point, that point being around 220, not long after the awesome Battle of Red Cliffs (see the great John Woo film starring Tony Leung for more details). Prior to this, there was already considerable infighting between various kingdoms and warlords as the Han dynasty weakened, and with it dissolved, we reach the Three Kingdoms period - a slight misnomer given that each of the states (Wei, Shu and Wu) had an emperor claiming the right to rule over all of China. By 271, the Shu have already conquered by the Wei, who shortly afterwards are usurped by the Jin dynasty, and in 280, the Jin will conquer the Wu, reuniting China.

While the Three Kingdoms period may only less than 100 years, from the Han Dynasty weakening to the Jin emerging triumphant, this period is the most bloodthirsty in the country’s history. As much as 60 per cent of the population may have been killed due to high conscription levels, brutal massacres and widespread famine. Despite this, the period also saw considerable advances in technology, include improvements on the repeating crossbow, mechanical puppet theatres and non-magnetic compasses that used differential gears. Still, Ananke’s visit seems remarkably tranquil for such a period of upheaval.

364AD – Eastern Europe The Roman Empire is still doing its thing, but change is on the horizon. Constantine has ended the persecution of Christians after converting, and has shifted the Roman capital to New Rome AKA Constantinople to be closer to his rivals the Sassanid Empire. Meanwhile, out in Central Asia, the Caucasus and Eastern Europe, a number of nomadic warrior tribes have formed a loose confederation called the Huns. While their best known leader Attila won’t be born for another 40 years, they are doing their best to disrupt things for both the Sassanids and the Romans, attacking settlements across Eastern Europe.

The Huns attacks didn’t come out of nowhere - it’s likely that the El Niño Southern Oscillation caused a megadrought in Inner Asia, causing them to migrate to the edges of their own lands. Whatever caused their sudden attacks, they terrified the Romans, who associated them with the Antichrist and Gog and Magog (whom Alexander the Great had captured behind mountains, according to legend). Those superstitions probably weren’t helped by a massive earthquake that hit the Eastern Mediterranean the year after our visit, destroying parts of Crete, Greece, Egypt, Libya, Sicily and Cyprus.

454AD – Germania Our first Recurrence that we’ve seen before, in the 455 Special. Persephone’s death takes place the year before the Roman Lucifer went all “meat-harpy”, and her placement in Germania suggests she may have been part of the Vandals, who we see invading Rome in the Special, rather than a Roman citizen like Lucifer and Bacchus. By this point, the Roman Empire has split in two following the death of Theodosius I, with the Eastern part to remain going as the Byzantine Empire, and the Western part (where we are) soon to fall.

Rome, as we find it, is beset on all sides. In the East, our old friends the Huns are attacking, Attila having just died and divided the Empire among his sons. The Visigoths are sometimes allies and sometimes enemies, depending on what they can get away with. Anglo-Saxons are settling Britain, and in Germania, tribes including the Suebi, the Alans and the Vandals have been ransacking towns and establishing their own kingdoms. The Vandals, led by Genseric (who also appears in the Special) establish a kingdom that includes Corsica, Malta and parts of Africa, and while originally thought to be part of the destruction of Rome, are now thought to have acted as inheritors of many Roman traditions. They’ve certainly inherited Ananke’s efficiency at disposing of heads.

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