SAUR
"Latin writing, Roman papyrus, looks like 1st, 2nd century CE production techniques, Baseline time. Great, it's another Roman alt. Lessee, what'll this one be? Rome with airships? Rome with guns? Rome reached the New World? Rome but everyone's a rabbit? Roman rabbits riding airships?"
"How about Roman humans riding dinosaurs?"
"Yeah, that'd actually be cool. Too bad it's not..."
(Sound of binoculars being handed over) "Well... damn."
The Pompei Rift
In 79 AD, on this world, Mount Vesuvius erupted, just as it did on Baseline. However, the after-effects were notably different. Earthquakes spread far from the volcano, up the Apennines and along the Alps, dealing widespread but generally minor damage. As the aftershocks subsided, reports began to come in from across the affected area of strange monsters unleashed, immense lizards stalking the land, leather-winged beasts in the skies, and even monstrous reptiles disrupting shipping in the Mediterranean. Titus reacted swiftly, concluding as this all started with Vesuvius, that is where it should be investigated. As aid and support was already flowing that way, he also tasked a small group of soldiers with escorting a trusted scout, not a man known for exaggeration or delusion, who was to search for the truth of these tales, and ideally an explanation.Weeks later, the scout, along with about half his guards, made a report to the main forces at the ruins of Pompei, which in turn dispatched a messenger back to Rome. Upon reading the report, Titus wondered if his chosen observer was not as sober and clear-headed as he'd thought, but he heeded the messages request for more troops, along with experts in various fields of study.
Later still, a procession astounding even by the standards of pageantry Rome was known for approached the city. The commander of the Pompei contingent rode atop an immense creature nearly 25 feet long, with an armored head bearing three horns. Trailing behind it, hauled by a dozen sweating men, was a cart carrying the corpse of a beast larger still, which in life had towered 40 feet, and its corpse, preserved in salt for the long journey, showed the many spears it had taken to bring it down.
The explorers explained that as they made their way carefully towards the great volcano, they saw (and tried to avoid) many different forms of strange and alien life, until they found a passage leading to underground chambers far more vast than could be easily measured (which is why a surveyor had been among those requested), illuminated from within, and host to jungles, plains, and swamps, all populated with monsters such as those brought back (alive and dead) to Rome. It was quickly shown that everywhere the tales of monsters had come from, similar cracks were found. An entire new world for Rome to conquer had been found literally beneath the Empire's feet.
Sauri Atque Urbani Romani
"Roman Lizards And Cityfolk"
(Please direct praise or blame for that acronym to [email protected] .) The creatures discovered were dangerous, but also quite useful. They thrived well enough outside their caves. The most vicious of them, from the small man-sized long-clawed predators, to the kin of the "monster king" brought back as a trophy, provided sport in the newly-built colosseum. Slow moving but immensely strong, the horned ones were used as draft animals, or when fully armored (their strength easily carried the heaviest defenses) as cavalry. (They were not fast, but they were almost unstoppable when it came to smashing down barricades.) Others were placed in different roles.Meanwhile, the Empire's expansion has turned downwards. The full extent of the underground world has not been charted. A few temporary forts have been set up near the largest entrances, and scouts are actively determining the extent of the Empire's new territories. It is widely believed that there are passages yet to be discovered, which could be a means for the Empire to send legions to strike at far distant targets, traveling past their guards and borders to arrive at the undefended heart of their territories, riding terrifying creatures that broke morale as easily as they broke flesh.
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