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Marcellus, a high born politician of the patrician class, stoically accepted his appointment as High Temple Priest for the Goddess Bellona; a great but dangerous honor which would mark the culmination of his civic life. The High Priest's chief responsibility was visiting the Temple of Bellona every one hundred years to present the Goddess with a worthy sacrifice in hopes that she might spare all of Rome her awful wrath. However, with the average life expectancy being around forty years, no one in the city was alive who could remember the prior pilgrimage. Many doubted that the Goddess was real at all, even though some had heard stories passed down through their grandparents of the beautiful but cruel Goddess who could destroy entire cities with her magic. According to legend, Goddess Bellona's Temple rests near the top of Mount Olympus, on the far side of the peak which is hidden across the horizon from Rome. The ancient scrolls demanded that the pilgrimage be taken alone, and without an army or weapons which could anger the Goddess. The Senate estimated that the arduous trek would take the better part of two months with six donkeys pulling carts filled with provisions, and a single slave to be presented as an offering to Goddess Bellona. Therefore, Marcellus would have a total of four months to complete his task. After seven months, the Senate would be forced to appoint a new High Priest and try again, leaving Marcellus' family dishonored as the task would be assumed incomplete.

By the time Marcellus found the Temple, he had lost four of his six donkeys and he wasn't sure he would have enough provisions to make it back to base camp. Walking his slave around the large reflecting pool and into the center of the large Temple courtyard, Marcellus waited for the Goddess to appear. The light of his surroundings dimmed as if a storm would soon set upon the mountain; the clouds overhead darkening at an unusually rapid pace. There, while peering through a brightened break in the atmosphere, Marcellus could make out a feminine figure descending upon the Temple as if riding atop one of the darkened clouds. She seemed no larger than an average Roman woman at first, but this illusion quickly faded away as she and her smokey chariot approached their position. Marcellus' slave fell to his knees, overcome with fear by the shear size of the Goddess. Marcellus too was frighten, but his noble birth and stoic training prevented him from falling to his knees in front of the Goddess; even as she hopped down from her cloud and landed with a thunderous crash in front of them - towering over the Temple by several hundred human feet. Why had none of the scrolls warned them of her incredible size?

Straining his neck and looking upwards at the unimaginable proportions of the Goddess gave Marcellus pause. He himself was only a half-believer until this moment. He wondered what he was supposed to say now. He wondered who was supposed to speak first. And he wondered if he should have brought a better sacrifice; fearing that one single human slave may be taken as an insult to a notoriously vengeful Goddess of Bellona's size. The thought of angering her made Marcellus sick to his stomach. He wondered if all the Goddesses were also all giants. He wondered if this meant that the afterlife was real too. He wondered if the next High Priest would bring more food and more slaves.

But most of all, he wondered if he would ever see Rome again.

Description

Marcellus, a high born politician of the patrician class, stoically accepted his appointment as High Temple Priest for the Goddess Bellona; a great but dangerous honor which would mark the culmination of his civic life. The High Priest's chief responsibility was visiting the Temple of Bellona every one hundred years to present the Goddess with a worthy sacrifice in hopes that she might spare all of Rome her awful wrath. However, with the average life expectancy being around forty years, no one in the city was alive who could remember the prior pilgrimage. Many doubted that the Goddess was real at all, even though some had heard stories passed down through their grandparents of the beautiful but cruel Goddess who could destroy entire cities with her magic. According to legend, Goddess Bellona's Temple rests near the top of Mount Olympus, on the far side of the peak which is hidden across the horizon from Rome. The ancient scrolls demanded that the pilgrimage be taken alone, and without an army or weapons which could anger the Goddess. The Senate estimated that the arduous trek would take the better part of two months with six donkeys pulling carts filled with provisions, and a single slave to be presented as an offering to Goddess Bellona. Therefore, Marcellus would have a total of four months to complete his task. After seven months, the Senate would be forced to appoint a new High Priest and try again, leaving Marcellus' family dishonored as the task would be assumed incomplete.

By the time Marcellus found the Temple, he had lost four of his six donkeys and he wasn't sure he would have enough provisions to make it back to base camp. Walking his slave around the large reflecting pool and into the center of the large Temple courtyard, Marcellus waited for the Goddess to appear. The light of his surroundings dimmed as if a storm would soon set upon the mountain; the clouds overhead darkening at an unusually rapid pace. There, while peering through a brightened break in the atmosphere, Marcellus could make out a feminine figure descending upon the Temple as if riding atop one of the darkened clouds. She seemed no larger than an average Roman woman at first, but this illusion quickly faded away as she and her smokey chariot approached their position. Marcellus' slave fell to his knees, overcome with fear by the shear size of the Goddess. Marcellus too was frighten, but his noble birth and stoic training prevented him from falling to his knees in front of the Goddess; even as she hopped down from her cloud and landed with a thunderous crash in front of them - towering over the Temple by several hundred human feet. Why had none of the scrolls warned them of her incredible size?

Straining his neck and looking upwards at the unimaginable proportions of the Goddess gave Marcellus pause. He himself was only a half-believer until this moment. He wondered what he was supposed to say now. He wondered who was supposed to speak first. And he wondered if he should have brought a better sacrifice; fearing that one single human slave may be taken as an insult to a notoriously vengeful Goddess of Bellona's size. The thought of angering her made Marcellus sick to his stomach. He wondered if all the Goddesses were also all giants. He wondered if this meant that the afterlife was real too. He wondered if the next High Priest would bring more food and more slaves.

But most of all, he wondered if he would ever see Rome again.