Legend:
๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐จ: Latin for Centurion, a company leader in a Roman Legion
๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ฌ: The main sword used by Roman Legionaries
๐๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฆ: The Iconic Square shield used by Legionaries
๐๐ข๐ฅ๐/๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฆ: Throwing spears used to break through shields
๐๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐๐: Roman name for armor.
๐๐๐ฅ๐๐: Helmet used by Legionaries during the Imperial period/
Aurelius opened his eyes and stared at the sun shining high above.
"Wait that isn't rightโฆ It's never this sunny in Britanniaโฆ" Aurelius thought to himself as he slowly sat up and looked around him.
He was on a beach with the remains of a Trireme just a bit to his left. All around the beach was the scattered remains of boxes, equipment, and the occasional Gladius half buried in the sand.
Now that Aurelius had his bearings, he remembered just how he got here. His Legion was on their way to Britannia due to the governor asking for reinforcements in the midst of multiple Pictish incursions on Roman land. While his Legion was sailing to Britannia, they were struck by a massive storm that tossed the ships all over the waters. The last thing Aurelius remembered was being thrown into the side of the Trireme before blacking out.
Aurelius stared at the sand below him before sighing and giving a small prayer to Neptune for allowing him to survive the storm. Aurelius slowly stood up and looked himself over.
His Lorica, though dirtied and other than a few dents, was in good condition though the tunic underneath was soaked with seawater. His Gladius was also still strapped to his hip which was a miracle that it hadn't slid out while he was struggling in the storm.
After Aurelius checked himself over, he decided to look through the wreckage for anything that may seem useful. He managed to find a few Pilums that managed to survive the storm, an intact Scutum that suffered only scratches to the paint, a surviving rucksack, and even a Galea made for a Centurio. Seeing as there was no Centurio to berate him for doing so, he decided to wear it.
Aurelius, carrying all he can, marched towards the large tree canopy that bordered the Beach he washed up on. It was a very tiring journey involving the sting of insects, the occasional trip on a large tree root, and of course copious amounts of chopping at the leaves and large vines all around him.
After what Aurelius thought was two days of trekking through the dense vegetation, he finally came to a clearing in the trees. He sighed in relief before moving towards the clearing.
He expected to see a plain or even a Barbarian village. What he found instead made him gasp in shock.
In front of him was what seemed to be a grand city. It was built with large bricks of stone that only a people with a modicum of civilization could achieve. The city had towering Pyramids that reminded Aurelius of the ones in Egypt, but they were of a different design. Instead of smooth brick they were built in a sort of large staircase pattern.
As he stared at the city an arrow imbedded itself into the tree beside him. Aurelius' Legionary training kicked in and he quickly raised his Scutum just in time for 2 more arrows to hit the shield. Aurelius looked over his shield to see the city gates slowly opening.
Instead of seeing an armored patrol like he expected. He instead saw multiple men wearing brightly colored, feathered clothes. They carried large clubs and spears with black stone imbedded at the ends instead of steel. Their shields had hideous faces painted in a myriad of colors upon them.
What truly caught Aurelius' attention though was their yelling in a language that sounded far too different from any language Aurelius had ever heard.
As the small troop of soldiers charged at Aurelius, he decided to start the battle off by quickly lobbing one of his Pila at the rushing men. The Pila easily penetrated the man he was aiming at and even went through to the man behind him.
As they dropped the rest of the rushing men raised their shields as a form of defense. Sadly, they never faced the penetrating power of a Roman Pilum. Aurelius quickly threw the rest of his Pila, each one smashing through a charging man's shield and imbedding into their bodies quickly killing them. Six dead for five Pila was a very good start to a battle. However, the rest of the brightly colored warriors were nearly upon Aurelius.
As Aurelius got into a stance, Scutum in front of him and Gladius unsheathed and aimed to stab the first man to get within it's reach, he could only think to himself over the screams of these odd colorful warriors.
"Truly, I am no longer anywhere near Britannia"